Morbid - Episode 639: The Unsolved Murder of Melissa Witt

Episode Date: January 23, 2025

On December 1, 1994, nineteen-year-old Melissa Witt planned to meet her mother at a Fort Smith, Arkansas bowling alley, but by all appearances, she only made it as far as the parking lot. Two days later, investigators discovered Melissa’s car abandoned in the Bowling World parking lot, a trail of blood leading away from the vehicle. Six weeks later, animal trackers located Melissa’s nude body in an isolated part of the Ozark National Forest and the hunt was on to find her killer.In the thirty years since Melissa Witt’s murder, a number of strong suspects have popped up on investigators’ radars, including serial killer Charles Ray Vines, yet to this date no one has been charged with her death. After three decades of unanswered questions, Witt’s family are desperate to know, what happened to Melissa on the night she went missing, and will detectives ever be able to hold her killer responsible for her tragic death?If you have information regarding the murder of Melissa Witt, please call the Fort Smith Police Department at 479-709-5116 or email them at [e-mail] you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!ReferencesAlvey, Tina. 1995. "Fort Smith teen's body found near Turner Bend." Madison County Record, Janaury 19: 4.Associated Press. 1995. "Man questioned about girl; police say he's not a suspect." Batesville Guard, June 14: 6.Cavallier, Andrea. 2024. "A teenager was snatched from the parking lot of a bowling." The Independent, August 10.Kilby, Brenda. 1996. "Long-sought man awaits questioning ." Tulsa World , May 6: 29.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey Weirdos, before we unleash today's macabre mystery, we were wondering, have you ever heard of Wondery Plus? It's like a secret passage to an ad-free lair with early access to episodes. You can join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or in Apple Podcasts or Spotify. You're listening to a Morbid Network Podcast. Hey Weirdos, I'm Ash. And I'm Elena. And this is Morbid.

This is morbid in 2025. It's been that way probably for a long time. But not for us. I think this is only our second episode of 2025. Is it? Okay. I was like, am I like six weeks into 2025 being like, happy new year, you're new us. No, I think, I mean for the listener, for the listener.

For the listener. Hello out there listener, the weirdos. It's definitely probably like the 45th episode of 2025. Probably. But for us, it's number two. Yeah. So it's still new. It's new probably like the 45th episode of 2025. Probably. But for us, it's number two. Yeah. So it's still new. It's new for us. It's still, Mikey's looking to make you tell us.

It's only January 8th right now. It is. It's early. It's crazy. Early days yet. Mikey said, I don't know. Mikey's doing quick math. Today is the 23rd.

That was Mikey letting you know today is the 23rd. It is. But for us, it's the eighth. There you go. Which means it's David Bowie's birthday. Happy birthday, David Bowie. Happy birthday, David Bowie. Actually, okay, perfect segue.

I was watching Real Housewives of Beverly Hills last night. Thank you. Love it. And Garcelle Bouvet's son is modeling. And she was like, oh my God, there are so many great models of like during my time. It was like Naomi, it was Iman, it was, who else did she name? Oh, is it Beverly Johnson? Yeah, yeah, Beverly Johnson. And he goes, I don't know any of those people, which like he wouldn't because he's super young. But I was like, even I was like, oh my God. It really hits you in the head sometimes. Life comes at you so fast.

Yeah, it really does. Like what? It hits you in the head. Cause at first I was like, are you fucking kidding me? And then I was like, oh, you're like, he's not even in his twenties. Like, why would you know? I mean, you know, why would you really know

those people I guess? It's when like, it's when you have to answer to children when they're like, did you have this when you were younger? And you're like, not only did I not have that, there wasn't even the capability to have that. Like we were talking about, because like Roblox is a big thing among like children right now, but my children are not allowed to use it.

Helicopter mom. Helicopter mom. I don't give a fuck. I don't blame you. But yeah, they're not allowed to use it and they will never be allowed to use it. Fuck Roblox. And fuck Roblox.

I think there's a bunch of predators there, but that's a story for another time. But they had brought it up because now they feel like they're fine with it. They understand the reasons and they're totally fine. And they had brought it up at one point about like one of their friends got to use it and they were just telling me some story. And then they were like, oh, did you get to use roblox when you were younger mom? And I was like, we didn't even have an iPad. I was like, babe, you said we didn't even know what a tablet was. Not only that, we didn't have the internet when I was your age.

You said the only tablets we knew of were in the fucking ancient pyramids. I said, now you're in Rimsurt. ancient pyramids. Ow, ow. Now your ribs hurt. Oh, I cracked myself up. I said, not only did Roblox not exist, the internet didn't exist. They were still working. I did not have a computer and tablets were not a thing.

Tablets were in the pyramids, babes. Did not exist. So no. Did that? Nope, I did not have to go. Did that blow their fucking minds? They were like, what? Wow.

And there's been times they've asked me if pictures were in color when I was little. That's such an insult. And I was like, okay, yes, all right. I did have color. Well, because to them, our generation was born in the 1900s. Oh, they say that all the time. Like, damn. Yeah.

Damn. They're like, well, you're from the, and they love to say you're from the 1970s. And I'm like, no, I'm not. I'm not even from there. I wasn't even a thought. Yeah. Mikey's like, fuck you guys. Mikey's like, I'm from the 1970s and what of it? But I'm always like, can you not like send me further back into time? Like, I'm like, you're already like, they're already dogging me for being born in the 1900s. And then they want to make me even, I'm like, all right. Yeah, that's rough. At least give me an accurate date. Okay. My favorite is that your youngest thinks that I'm older than you. Oh, all the time. Because I'm taller.

And they ask every time. She asks all the time. Is Gigi older than you? I'm like, no, I am 10 years younger. The kids just equate almost 11 with older. It's so weird. I mean it makes perfect sense but I'm like no no no I'm so much younger than mama. So much younger. But honestly at this point I wish I was older. Drew is gonna turn 30 in the 30 club. He's about to join the 30 club and I said to him last night I was like does that feel like weird? Like are you are you like mourning your 20s at all?" And he was like, fuck no. He was like, I am so excited to turn 30. Honestly, as he should be. And I felt kind of jealous.

I feel a little bit jealous of him that he's turning 30. You get the anticipation of it. I know, but I'm not going to be 30 for another year and a half. That's going to fly by, babe. I know. Let's hope. It will. I'm determined to make it fly by. Yeah, babe. I know. Let's hope. It will. I'm determined to make it fly by.

Yeah, same. Retweet. Yeah. If you heard me earlier crying as I was laughing, that's because I sat here and I talked to Elena. We're just having like some banter, okay? It's been a minute. It's just, you know, New Year. New Year, same us. But maybe not the same, because I left a lot of me on the floor. You did. On the cutting room lot of me on the floor. You did. On the cutting room floor. On the shower floor.

I got, if you, and it's going around, so I'm sure a lot of you have probably faced this in the past couple weeks, the neurovirus is going around. Wash your motherfucking hands. Yeah, wash your hands, man. I don't know if I got the neurovirus or if it was like a food poisoning thing because I did eat like a sketchy burger. You know who I am, a Captain Crunch Slurpee girl. Yeah, a fuh-fuh-fuh. A fuh-fuh-fuh. The violence that was inflicted upon me. And I had literally just been sitting here telling Elena, I'm drinking colostrum. So I'm like, I'll never get sick. I have colostrum

and it's an immunity booster. You've all been so sick and not me." Yep, it's true. That same day. Literally, it was like a day later. If that, the universe said, bitch, check yourself before you wreck yourself. Actually, let me wreck you. The universe said, oh yeah? Oh yeah? I died for three days and my ribs are still hurting. This was Saturday night. It's Wednesday now. My ribs are still hurting. This was like Saturday night, it's Wednesday now. My ribs are still hurting. I know that's crazy. The violence with which I yacked. Damn.

Yeah, I'm still recovering, but you know what? I woke up this morning, I chose myself. Had a little pep talk with Lux, my cat. Yeah, I love that. I ate my breakfast. It was great, it was wonderful. We're trying to, you know, I like resolutions. Some people hate resolutions. I like them. I've never been a huge resolution girly.

I never really have been either. I've always thought it was a nice concept, but I've never really participated that much. I've always had concepts of a resolution. Yeah, I've always had, I like the ideas, but I'll be the first one to admit that I like, I never really stick to them. I don't even really set them that hard.

I'll be like, yeah, I really, I want to start working out this year. But I never give myself like this plan of action, which is most of the problem. And this year I went in being like, my first resolution is I'm going to be nicer to me. Me too. And I think that is the, if any of you are like,

I would like a resolution or you're struggling, your first resolution should be, be nicer to you. Because it changes. It's like when your youngest goes, this changes everything. Yes. From Bluey. But it changes everything. Because if you are like being a dick to yourself, like for instance, this morning, I did not

want to wake up early. I felt like shit the past couple days. I saw that alarm, I turned it off. And then I said, no girl, bet on yourself. Don't give up on yourself. And you didn't say like, get up you lazy sack of shit. You were like, hey, you can do this. If you wouldn't say it to someone you love and care about, don't fucking say it to yourself, man. I tell my kids that all the time. If you wouldn't say it to someone you love, if you wouldn't say it to me, if you wouldn't

say it to Dada or anybody else you love, then don't say it to you. No. Because you need to be nice to yourself. And it's like being nice to yourself also makes it so that you don't take shit from anyone else. And you shouldn't. Because you don't accept that kind of shit from outside sources. Hell no.

So be nice to yourself and you will suddenly find yourself being like, oh no, I'm not taking your nasty ass comments. I'm better than that. So that's my words of wisdom to you. One page I suggest following if you're on like a journey to like just a morning routine or like a fitness routine, any kind of routine, just like the habit stacking. I love Shelby Socko.

She's sad to savage on Instagram. Oh, okay. She has like a podcast and everything. I love her. Oh, I love Shelby Sacco. She's, um, sad to Savage on Instagram. Okay. She has like a podcast and everything. I love her. She just, she starts her mornings and she like has this whole morning routine, but she's where I learned habit stacking, which I like habit stacking is the, the move. There's so much actual scientific research behind it. Like you just slowly add things to your day that you want to be part of your routine. Yeah. And once you're comfortable with one thing, you add a little more. Like

she said, she was like, I too much expectation on yourself. Yeah. She was like, I used to wake up at like nine o'clock for my nine AM job. And I was like, same sister. And she was like, and then I slowly started waking up 20 minutes earlier. Did that for a little bit, like a little out of time. Just don't be hard on yourselves. And like if you want to do stuff, you can, but just be nice to yourself and do it slowly and you'll get there. Don't let people make you feel like you got to do it all at once or see that's part of being nice to yourself is you won't let those people tell you what to do because you'll be like, no, I deserve more than that. Thank you. See, I trust me. I'm going to do what I say. Yeah. I love that. It's a nicer, more

peaceful existence. It really is. People will try to drag into bullshit. Don't let them. We're claiming our peace this year. That's right. 2025 is the year of peace for us. Hell yeah. And peace for morbid listeners. Hey, yo. All right. Well, since you're morbid listeners and we just bantered your ears off for like 45 minutes, thank you for letting us do that. Yeah. We just went back to our roots. Yeah. Sometimes we got a feeling that we don't do it all the time, but we're feeling our roots. I just love going back to our roots. Yes. I love it. But let's go back to what you're here for, which is a case. And this case is really important because it's an unsolved case. So it's a little bit shorter, obviously, because when it an unsolved murder of Melissa Witt. And it's so sad because she was 19 when she went missing.

SONIA And that's when you look back at 19, that's a baby. You look great. And you're beautiful. So going back to the story, let's talk about Melissa Ann Witt before she disappeared, obviously. Melissa Ann Witt was born April 20th, 1975. She too was from the seventies in Arkansas to John and Mary Ann Witt. She was raised in Fort Smith. I always want to say Arizona, but it's Arkansas. I look at AR and my brain says Arizona. I feel that. That's Arkansas. Arkansas. Arkansas. Don't yell at us. We're yeah. And my brain says Arizona. I feel that. Arkansas. Arkansas. Arkansas. Arkansas. Don't yell at us. We're kidding. I know. I'm kidding. I promise. But she was raised alongside her brother Ronnie and her sisters, Caroline and Barbara. She was a good

student. She was very active in her church community at the Grand Avenue Baptist Church. And she always had really good relationships with her family, particularly her mother. They were super close. After Melissa's death, her mother would say how she never really had any trouble with Melissa at all. They were just best friends. They were always there for each other. And while a lot of teenagers usually, you know, obviously try to distance themselves from their parents, Melissa's relationship with her mom was always a source of pride for the two of them. All her friends and family knew just how close they were and specifically they knew how protective Marianne was over Melissa. Oh,

that's so beautiful. I know and especially like at 19. That's the thing. To have that relationship with your mom. Wow. Because obviously that's the dream. Yeah, I mean teenagers usually try to distance themselves from their parents around those years. Oh, this is already breaking my heart. I know. So after graduating from Northside High School in 1993, Melissa enrolled at West Dark Community College with plans of becoming a dental hygienist. Oh damn. Yeah.

Not long after starting her first semester, she actually became an ambassador for the school. Holy shit. Which meant that she would go out and recruit students to go there, promoting the school and its programs to any prospective students in the area. And the school has to trust you to send you out there and rep them like that. Also dreams of becoming a dental hygienist, dental like school in any capacity, hygienist or dentist, like full-blown dentist, so hard, like so much involved in that. And you see some of the gnarliest shit. Yeah.

I was friends with a girl who went to dental hygienist school and she saw like spiders in somebody's mouth before. That was something I feel like I was better for not knowing. Well, now you're worse. But I was better before that, I feel. You know how many times- Holy shit. You've done so many info drops on me like that. That's true. I've been better before that, I feel. You know how many times- Holy shit. You've done so many info drops on me like that.

That's true. I've been better before. Oh, but can- No, I can't. And also, how do you just sit there and calmly, I guess, remove the spiders from said mouth and then be like, hey, we gotta be good about brushing around the molars because spiders- There was some arachnids taking up space in there. That's horrific. Arachnids were holding space in your mouth. No, I can't.

That's awful. I cannot. That's awful. I gotta go. Woof. Well, KFSM reporter Charlene Schirk told ABC News in 2024, the college had her go and recruit students because they wanted students like her. She was already a hard worker. She had big dreams for her life. And it just goes to show that she

was willing to put in the work to make her dreams reality. Because in her spare time, Melissa actually worked as an assistant for a local dental practice in town. So she was like, I want to do this. I'm going to start now. Yeah, she's already like in the, you know, I'm going to get the on on-site experience. Yes. The office manager, Anita Dodson, said, Missy was a very good kid. She was friendly.

She didn't have any enemies. Everyone loved her and she was a good student, although she would still joke around with us. Being an actual royal is never about finding your happy ending, but the worst part is, if they step out of line or fall in love with the wrong person, it changes the course of history. I'm Arisha Skidmore Williams. And I'm Brooke Zephyrin.

We've been telling the stories of the rich and famous on the hit, wonder-y show, Even the Rich, and talking about the latest celebrity news on Rich and Daily. We're going all over the world on our new show, Even the Royals. We'll be diving headfirst into the lives of the world's kings, queens, and all the wannabes in their orbit throughout history. Think succession meets the crown meets real life. We're going to pull back the gilded curtain and show how royal status might be bright and shiny, but it comes at the expense of, well, everything else. Like your freedom, your privacy, and sometimes even your head.

Follow Even The Royals on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Even The Royals early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. UFO lands in Suffolk, and that's official, said the News of the World. But what really happened across two nights in December 1980, when US servicemen saw mysterious lights in the forest near RAF Woodbridge and claimed to have had a close encounter with an actual craft? Encounters, a new podcast available exclusively on Wondery+, takes a deep dive into one of the most famous and still unresolved UFO encounters to ever take place in the UK. Featuring shocking

testimony from first-hand witnesses, hosts, journalist, podcaster and UFO researcher Andy McGillin, that's me, and producer Elle Scott take us back to the nights in question and examine all of the evidence and conflicting theories about what was encountered in the middle of a snowy Suffolk forest 40 years ago. Are we alone? Encounters is a podcast which is going to find out. Listen to Encounters exclusively in ad free on Wondry+.

Join Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or in Apple podcasts. And according to Dodson, Melissa brought an invaluable warmth and brightness to the office whenever she was in the building. And after her disappearance, she said the absence of that brightness could be felt by everyone. She said, the staff here are close like family and we did all we could to support each other when Missy went missing. Everyone was upset for such a long time. She was so sweet and so nice. Oh, sounds like she just left a gaping void. Yeah. And left like a mark on everybody that she met in such a good way.

Yeah. So on the morning of December 1st, 1994, Melissa had breakfast with her mother. And unfortunately, which doesn't sound like it was very like them at all, they got into an argument with each other that morning. And it was over money. According to Marianne, Melissa wanted to borrow some money. And hoping to teach her daughter a valuable lesson about the value of money, she said no. And that of course left Melissa frustrated and she left the house frustrated. Oh, no. So not wanting to end the discussion in anger before she left for work, Marianne wrote her daughter a short note reminding her that she herself, Marianne, had bowling league that

evening and she said in the note, Melissa, why don't you come to bowling world after school and after work and I'll buy you dinner. Like I just want to end the day on a good note. Yeah, like let's kind of put this behind us. So Melissa went to school that day, left work at 5 p.m., but when she tried to start her car that night, the engine wouldn't turn over. Later during her investigation, detectives were able to determine that the dome light in her car had been accidentally left on while she was at work.

Maybe like the door didn't close all the way or something. So the car's battery was drained. But fortunately, she and a co-worker were able to flag down a local business owner who gave her car a jump start and she was able to get the engine started. Once the car was started, she headed home to change out of her work clothes, which investigators later found on her bedroom floor. They also assumed that she must have seen the note that Marianne left for her because after she changed her clothes, she headed to the bowling world, arriving sometime between 6 and 6 30 and parking her car in the northwest corner of the lot okay where her mom was inside with her

bowling league the bowling alley unfortunately had no security cameras in the parking lot you have to remember this is early 90s it wasn't super common for everywhere to have true like now we'd be like, what? But back then it would be like, wait, they had security cameras? Exactly. It would be more shocking the other way. And it's also like, back then, I'm sure banks and that kind of place had security cameras, but it's like a bowling alley. It's a local bowling alley. For sure. So because they didn't have security cameras, whatever happened after Melissa parked her car is almost entirely

unknown. According to statements from witnesses, she was last seen quote arguing with a black male at bowling world around 6 p.m. and that was the last time anybody saw her. A little before 8 p.m somebody found her keys in the parking lot of the bowling alley and turned them into the cashier at the front desk, but at that time nobody noticed that there was actually small splatters of blood dried onto the keys and nobody at the alley would later remember who had turned those keys in. Oh no. Yeah. So later that night when Marianne returned home, she was surprised to find that Melissa

hadn't returned home yet. However, she figured that maybe she'd gone out with some friends and would come back later that night. It wasn't something she was super worried about right away. But the next morning, when Melissa still hadn't returned, that's when Mary Ann became really worried. She wouldn't have spent the night out without calling her and contacting her somehow. So she contacted the police a little after 9am to report her daughter missing. Over the course of the next two days, Melissa's friends and family and the local police spread out across Fort Smith looking for her. They handed out over 6,000 flyers with her photograph, but nobody had seen or heard anything. And just having to make that phone call

as a mother to report your child missing, I feel't, that, I feel like every time I hear that, I'm always like, I can't even bring myself to be in that position. I can't, that alone. You know? And then to hear that no one's seen her, there's just no one being able to be like, oh, no, no, no, she's here, like I saw her here. And knowing that you just had like a run of the mill argument before, and just knowing that that's like the last contact you had with her before she just disappeared.

Which is so normal and so like every day. Of course. Like I said, run of the mill. Like everybody has argued with their mom in the morning before heading out to go somewhere. And her mom did the right thing by being like, you know what, like I don't want to end on this note. Let's put this behind us. Like meet up later. Like let's not end the day on a bad note. Exactly. But oh, it's so sad. At least, at least she

knew that her daughter saw the note. Yeah, you know, I know that is a good thing. But then of course she lived with guilt because she was the one who said, come to the bowling alley. Oh God, I hate that. I know. So it wasn't until Monday, December 4th that Melissa's car was discovered in the parking lot of the bowling world after an employee realized that the keys had blood smeared on them finally and bore the name Missy on the key chain. More importantly, there was also a pool of blood found near the car and one gold earring and a hair clip believed to have belonged to Melissa, which I'm like, why did it take people that long to realize that was there? She was parked in like the far corner, the far corner. So I think that had a lot to do with it, but I was like, why did it take people that long to realize that was there? She was parked in like the corner, the far corner. So I think that had a lot to do with it, but I was like, damn investigators.

Yeah. But when they did discover all that, they cordoned off the area and they started taking samples and processing the vehicle for evidence until that moment. Melissa's case had actually been labeled a runaway shocked crazy, but the discovery of the blood and the personal item shifted the focus to a potential kidnapping at that moment. They still didn't think that she was murdered or anything. Several police officers contacted the employees of the bowling alley and the customers who were known to have been there that night. But this is interesting. One person recalled hearing what sounded like a

young woman's voice shouting for help at one point that evening. But they said they couldn't be sure what they heard and nobody else remembered anything. I never get these. Like I don't, I'm like, you heard someone yelling for help? Did you say anything in the moment to anyone else? I think it's so easy to talk yourself out of what you heard in the moment. I think I've probably even done it and hopefully, actually, it's been something where I talked myself into what it actually was kind of thing. It's easy to do it from hindsight kind of thing and from looking at it from an outside

point of view. But I always just think, and I'm like, and maybe it's because we do this. I thought, well, now I think my focus has shifted so much or my perspective has shifted so much. Because I'm like wicked on like high alerts. So if I hear something that I think is somebody yelling, I always say something to somebody just to be like, did you hear that?

Like, am I going crazy? Like, I always like to know that I'm not the only one hearing it. No, I think doing this has made us hyper aware, almost like to a bad point. Sometimes honestly. Yeah, there's been points when I'm like, we like kind of spiral. Yeah. So I heard a coyote in the woods the other night and I was convinced that a woman was in the woods, like being abducted and Drew was like, that's absolutely coyote.

I was like, should we like call someone though? He was like, Ash, that is 100% coyote. Yeah, he's like, we are, that's absolutely coyotes. And I was like, should we call someone though? He was like, Ash, that is 100% coyotes. Yeah, he's like, we are not calling someone for coyotes. I was like, okay. Okay. Back to the story though. Two weeks later, Fort Smith police arrested a local man, Larry Landrum, on suspicion of sexual assault and a string of other crimes unrelated to Melissa's disappearance. Landrum would later be convicted for the murder of another young woman in Arkansas, Lucille Hassler. So they probably thought they had their guy. At a loss for productive leads, investigators hoped that his arrest would

be the break that they needed to find Melissa or at least get some kind of answers because usually people like that are not associated with other great people. Yeah, criminals know criminals. His body language and evasiveness during the interview also raised a lot of red flags and the results of his polygraph examination showed deception, but they were never able to collect any evidence linking him to the crime. Oh, that's frustrating. Every lead that they get in this case is so frustrating because it falls apart so quickly. Or it's like the lead up and then it just like completely fizzles out. It's rough.

So a week later, on December 21st, Fort Smith police held a press conference to provide an update on the case. And at that time, they disclosed that Melissa had last been seen arguing with a man in the parking lot of the bowling world on the night that she went missing. The individual was described as a quote black male, probably in his early twenties with short hair, a medium build and approximately six feet tall. After three weeks of dead-end leads and very little evidence, the local authorities were starting to express their concern that something pretty terrible could have happened to Melissa. The kidnapping angle is seeming less likely at this point. Yeah, definitely as time is going.

But they assured reporters that they did remain committed to the case. Sergeant David Overton said, It's becoming frustrating, but we continue to look for quality leads and we hope to still find her alive. But again, when that much time goes by, it becomes less likely. And one thing about this case is, like I was saying, like they dropped everything. There were other cases being worked on at this point in time,

and multiple police officers dropped those cases that were like obviously important, but of lesser importance. And everybody committed their time to finding Melissa. Oh, wow. So by that time, two large full color billboards had been donated in town, showing a picture of Melissa alongside the number for Crimestoppers. And the Fort Smith Bank was offering a $30,000 reward for any information that would have led to her safe return, but neither yielded productive results.

That's so crazy to me. That's a big reward. So $30,000 in 1994 or 1995 would be about $64,000 today. Damn. So almost more than double. Damn. That's crazy. That's crazy. A few weeks later on January 13th 1995, investigators got the break that they'd been waiting for, but it definitely was not the outcome that anybody was hoping for. Oh no. At about 930 a.m. two hunters in Ozark, Arkansas, about 40 miles from Fort Smith, reported to the Franklin County Sheriff's officer that they had been walking through the woods and they came upon what they thought was a mannequin lying face down in the woods,

about 30 feet from the main road. According to the hunters, they had actually been out in those same woods and walked the same exact road the day before, but they didn't recall seeing anything at the time. And I remember she's been missing for weeks at this point, like over three weeks, close to a month. That's interesting. Yeah. Detective Ryder and his team, along with several crime scene technicians, went out to the spot in the Ozark National Forest where Melissa's body had been discovered. And while they couldn't be positive it was Melissa at the time, they were reasonably confident that they had found their missing person. And while they couldn't be theorized that the killer was probably local, or at least somebody who had appeared to be a blow from a heavy object. And based on the location, Ryder and the other investigators theorized that the killer was probably local,

or at least somebody who had frequented the area often enough to be familiar with this particular section of the forest, so possibly a hiker or a camper, somebody like that. As they surveyed the crime scene, investigators also noticed something strange. There was a human-sized indentation in the earth behind two large rocks just several feet away

from where her body had been discovered. So they theorized that the killer had actually initially placed the body behind the rock after the murder occurred, like probably closer to when it occurred, which would explain why hunters hadn't seen her the previous day. What, so he moved her? They think that he did move her.

What the fuck? There's two sides. previous night. So he moved her. They think that he did. What the fuck? There's, there's two sides. There's some people who think he moved her and then we'll talk about what the other people think because why the killer would have returned and moved the body about 20 feet was a total mystery. My only theory is that they were feeling some kind of something about the fact that she hadn't been found yet. Like stranger things have happened.

But I don't know. There were also visible finger marks on her wrists where the killer grabbed her body and dragged it from one location to the other. LS If the killer moved the body, then I think they did so because they were frustrated that she hadn't been found yet. KS I was actually just thinking about what I had just said. I don't think they felt bad. They wanted the- LS I don't think there was, I want her to be found because you don't leave

your murder victim nude, you know, in the middle of the forest just begin to be like, oh, I feel bad. I want them to know. I think they want, they want her to be found. They just don't want to be found. I agree with you. On the other side of things, some investigators believed that it was equally possible that animals in the forest had moved the body. But there was visible finger marks on her wrists from dragging. And that would be... That'd be tough, I think, for animals to move a full body.

Yeah. I mean, it's happened, I suppose. But usually it's pieces of the body, which I hate to be that cross. I know it's gruesome, but it's just reality. Yeah. And I don't know. I feel like you would be able to tell. Well, and you would be able, obviously,

you've done autopsy, so you know. Yeah. They can tell the difference between fresh finger marks and finger mark indentations that actually happened. Yeah, which it sounds like they were saying, this looks like it was more fresh. Yeah. Yeah.

Interesting. Jinx. This looks like it was more fresh. Yeah, yeah. Interesting. Interesting. Jinx. Behind the closed doors of government offices and military compounds, there are hidden stories and buried secrets from the darkest corners of history. From covert experiments pushing the boundaries of science, to operations so secretive they were barely whispered about. Each week, unredacted, declassified mysteries,

we pull back the curtain on these hidden histories. 100% true and verifiable stories that expose the shadowy underbelly of power. Consider Operation Paperclip, where former Nazi scientists were brought to America after World War II, not as prisoners, but as assets to advance U.S. intelligence during the Cold War. These aren't just old conspiracy theories. They're thoroughly investigated accounts that reveal the uncomfortable truths still shaping our world today. The stories

are real. The secrets are shocking. Follow redacted, declassified mysteries with me, Luke Lamanna on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. To listen ad free, join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. State Police Lieutenant Dale Bess said, we believe the body had been moved. It looked like by animals. We did find the location where she had been in the wooded area and it looks like she'd been there for quite some time. Now, this is also just coming to me in the moment.

On the other side of things, I wonder if they said that it was animals who moved the body because they're not gonna wanna sit there and say that the killer was in those woods, like right under their noses a few days ago when they can't find him. Like he went there twice. So it's easier to say that animals. killer was in those woods like right under their noses a few days ago when they can't find him. Like he went there twice.

So it's easier to say that animal. It is easier to say than like you just said, admit that he came back and had free rein to move the whole thing. You know? Who knows? Who knows? But just a day or two earlier, and this will give you chills, this freaked me out. And it's just awful. Two days earlier or sorry

just a day or two earlier an anonymous caller had left a message at the Fort Smith major crimes unit and an older woman with a thick southern accent can be heard saying go ahead and tell them what you found and then a younger voice which was probably male they said can be heard saying no I can't and then the call just disconnected. What the fuck? Just a day or two before Melissa was found, Melissa's body was found. What? Yeah. In the woods that day when they did finally discover her, Detective Ryder couldn't help but wonder if somebody had found Melissa's body before those hunters did, but didn't want to get involved.

I think that is absolutely a possibility. And they never were able to figure out where that call came from or who it was. Oh, my God. This makes me so mad. Yeah. Or I should say no other information came out about it. But other than the body in the mud and the impressions, the human-sized impression in the dirt behind the rocks, the scene was devoid of evidence or anything unusual

that might have helped point them in the right direction. And her killer took her clothing and her jewelry. She was found with nothing. Wow. Yeah, there was no sign of her clothes or personal items anywhere. Technicians did take samples of the soil and the natural debris from the location. And Melissa's body was then moved to Little Rock to be autopsied by the state medical examiner. In his autopsy report, he listed the cause of death as asphyxiation by strangulation, and noted that leaves and soil from the area were found in her airway, indicating that she had, quote, been strangled face down and she inhaled debris from the forest floor. So she- Holy shit.

And she was killed out there. Out there. Yeah. She was brought from one location to the other. Cause I figured she was killed somewhere else. Yeah. Brought there. No, it sounds like she was killed in the forest. Holy shit. Which is horrifying. Yeah.

Based on the evidence collected during the autopsy, investor investigators concluded that Melissa's killer had, like we were just saying, abducted her from the bowling world parking lot and then taken her to that area off the logging road. She was also sexually assaulted and then strangled. So the news of the discovery of Melissa's body in the Ozark woods came as a shock to everybody who obviously were out there doing the work,

passing out flyers all the while hoping that she would be found alive. But for some, it was a disappointing end to a frustrating mystery. Fort Smith detective Clay Thomas said, "'I hate to say it, but finding her body was the first break we've had in this case. At least it gives us a direction.

Before this, we didn't have that.'" So I guess you can, I guess- I mean, at least there was that. It's like, it's such a double edged sword because obviously the aim was to find Melissa alive and bring her home. This is the last thing you want to find, but at least finding someone's body can give you anything, you know, like it gives you any, because before that you're just kind of blind, especially with no security cameras, you know, this isn't the time of like digital footprints and shit.

Right. And for her family to actually have a place to go visit her where they know she's laid to rest, like that... Which again... ...means a lot to me. The last thing you want to happen... Of course. ...in these scenarios, but I'm glad they were at least able to have something to go on at this point. It's just awful. It is. Reverend Ed, I think it's Saucier from the family's church

conveyed similar sentiments telling reporter, this is a difficult time, but the family feels a little relief and finally knowing something. Yeah, because I imagine that the unknown must be just completely unbearable. Because we've said it before, your mind fills in the blanks. And a lot of times that's, you're coming up with somehow even darker things sometimes. Absolutely. But unfortunately, both John and Marion Witt passed away in 2004 and then 2011 respectively. So they never got the answers that they just waited the rest of their lives to hear. That makes me so sad.

They never got it. Now in a city of nearly 300,000 residents, Fort Smith obviously had its fair share of violent crime. In fact, around the time that Melissa Witt disappeared, there were a number of other young women who either disappeared or were also murdered. In 1995, just nine months after Melissa was killed, another Fort Smith woman named Lori Murchison went missing after she was released from jail on a public intoxication charge. She

was on her way to pick up her paycheck with a plan to return back to the jail and bail out her boyfriend, but she never returned and has never been seen since. Damn. Just vanished into thin air. Those are always the scariest man. Yeah. A year later in 1996, Fort Smith resident Summer Wilkinson disappeared and her remains were later discovered near a racetrack in Oklahoma. Oh. In 2000, a man named Jonathan Cole was convicted of her death. And at the time, he was already serving a life sentence for the 1997 murder of a 13-year-old Fort Smith girl whose remains were also found in Oklahoma.

Holy shit. The most alarming of these incidents occurred on June 9th, 1995 when six year old Morgan Nick disappeared from a Little League game in Alma, Arkansas, just 20 miles from Fort Smith, so not far at all. Morgan had gone off with some friends to catch fireflies, which just absolutely ruins you. She was last seen standing by her own parents' car talking to an unknown man before she disappeared. A few weeks before her disappearance, there were actually two separate incidents of attempted kidnappings in the area, including one where a man tried to pull a four-year-old girl

into his own pickup truck in Alma, and another in which a man tried to abduct a nine-year-old girl from a convenience store in Fort Smith. Holy shit. Yeah, it was a dangerous area. My god. Now, despite the obvious difference in their ages, investigators at the time did consider that Melissa's killer might also be responsible for the attempted kidnapping of the girls in Alma and Fort Smith, and the disappearance of Morgan Nick. Oh my god. Scary. That's horrifying.

Scary. Despite the surprising number of assaults, attempted abductions, and murders of young women in this area, investigators on Melissa's case had pretty much nothing to work with, very little to work with, and even less luck when it came to finding leads. In June of 1995, they set up roadblocks in the area, Arkansas State Police did, in the hopes that a passing motorist might have seen or heard anything that could lead them to help find Melissa's killer or help them find Morgan Nick. Lieutenant Dale Best told a reporter, we will follow leads until we've exhausted them.

Somewhere out there, there is that one lead. Somewhere a person knows this suspect. The information is out there if we can just reach out to the right person and get them to call. But despite their best efforts, the roadblocks turned up zero useful leads, which is nuts. That's crazy to me. That many girls going missing, ending up dead, like attempted kidnappings and nobody knows anything.

That's the thing. They're not like these people who are doing this are not that smart. No. No. Like they know people. They've said things. They've done things. Like come on. And people just don't want to get... People don't get involved. People don't want to get involved, especially in like smaller towns. Oh yeah. You see it so much more often. It's a very different mindset. There's a whole like, you know, set of small town politics that comes into play.

Yes, big time. That's a perfect way to say it. It wasn't until nearly a year later, in April 1996, that investigators finally got their best lead in Melissa Witt's murder case. Among the stronger suspects in her murder was a local man named William Taylor, who Detective Ryder described as somebody with a quote, But the problem was, after warrants were issued for his arrest in September of 1995, he went on the run and law enforcement officials hadn't been able to find him. But finally, in April of 1996, they used phone records to track him to Mulberry, Arkansas, and he was finally arrested on those 95 warrants. According to Ryder, quote, Taylor was wanted for questioning in the Witt case because several

coincidences make him a possible suspect. Taylor is known to have frequented bowling alleys in the region and was living in the area at the time Witt disappeared, about 10 miles from where her body was discovered. Oh shit. Yeah. Unfortunately, investigators were never able to connect Taylor to Melissa Witt's case or the Morgan Nick case. He was only one of a handful of suspects who investigators focused on very intensely after the discovery of Melissa's body in the woods. The earliest suspect was actually the Good Samaritan

who helped Melissa after her car wouldn't start on the night of her disappearance. Under the circumstances, the timing of his appearance was pretty suspicious to investigators, but that man was interviewed several times by investigators and ultimately cleared. At the time Melissa's body was discovered, anyone with a criminal past and connection to Melissa, no matter how trivial, seemed like a promising suspect. But as the years passed and the case evolved, those early suspects were pretty much more than likely

just pretty desperate grasps at finding any leads. Yeah. I mean, they had to. They had to. They had to go for anything. When you don't have anything, you have to chase down what you can. You do.

Since then, several other suspects have emerged who quickly became a focus of the investigation and are actually far more serious than the Good Samaritan and Roger Wood. Yeah. You understand why they chase them down. Of course. But these next people we're going to talk about are actually like make you scratch your head a little. In 1999, Marcus Blair, a Fort Smith reporter, was covering the crime beat for the Times

record when he came across an interesting story from a Texas paper about a man named Larry Swearingen. At the time, Swearingen had been arrested for the murder of 19-year-old Melissa Trotter, who he was accused of sexually assaulting, strangling, and dumping in the Sam Houston National Forest in Texas. So literally the same exact thing. Same exact thing. Even dumping the body in a national forest. And same victim profile.

Same victim profile. And actually, if you look at a picture of both Melissa's, they bear a striking resemblance. When Blair brought the story to detective Ryder's attention, which again, see something, say something, we love to see it, the detective felt like he had finally gotten a break in the case that he'd been desperately seeking. Yeah. And they do look a lot alike. They look a lot alike. when you put them next to each other. See, and we're on the same age. Yep. Unfortunately murdered in the same manner,

assaulted and placed in the same dumping location. Or similar dumping locations. Yeah, like forests. Things looked even more promising when Ryder discovered that Larry had been in Arkansas visiting his grandparents just days before Melissa went missing. Oh, come on. Add that to the fact that he had a history of kidnapping and sexual assault of women, and he was starting to look like a pretty strong suspect in Melissa's case. Now, despite these coincidences, very strong coincidences between the cases, Swearingen maintained his innocence in the Witt case until the day of his execution in fall of 2019. For years, investigators tried to get him to cooperate with an interview and sought any evidence that could tie him to Melissa's death, but he refused to speak

to them and they were never able to produce anything of substance. He feels like a really good suspect. He does. And the fact that he refused to speak about it just wouldn't talk about it and was like, I'm being executed in any way. Yeah. So. Like what the fuck? Yeah. Another prominent suspect in Melissa's abduction and murder was convicted rapist, Travis Dale

Crouch. At the time of Melissa's disappearance, he was working as a handyman at a church camp, not far from where Melissa's body was discovered. Wow. Okay. A fucking rapist? Yeah. Really? Okay. Working at a church camp.

Awesome. And it was not far from where her body was discovered. A convicted rapist working at a church camp. Yeah, fantastic. Great. He had grown up in Ozark and spent the late 1980s riding around the country with several motorcycle gangs before being sent to prison in the early 90s for stabbing a man in Minneapolis. In October 1994, he was released from prison and returned to Ozark to live with his parents.

Having grown up in the area, he was very intimately familiar with the region and he had actually been seen driving in the area of the bowling world at the time of Melissa's disappearance. In interviews with law enforcement, he has no alibi, he had no alibi for the night that Melissa went missing, and couldn't account for his whereabouts during the weeks that followed. Oh shit. Yeah. In 1998, investigators took hair, fiber, and stained samples from the car that he was driving at the time, but the test results were inconclusive. Oh, I fucking hate that.

Mm-hmm. Otherwise he has denied playing any role in Melissa's death. But again, he also looks like a good one. Another strong suspect. In 1997, he was convicted of sexually assaulting a 20-year-old woman in Broomfield, Colorado. And in this case, he kidnapped the woman in her own car and drove her to a remote location in the mountains where he violently sexually assaulted her. This victim was able to escape after he passed out in the front seat. Oh my God. And at that time, she obviously reported the assault to police. As of now, he still maintains his innocence

and is serving a 64 year sentence in Colorado. Holy shit. But maintains his innocence as far as the Melissa Witt case. With each new suspect that emerged in this case, it seemed like investigators were getting closer to finding the identity of Melissa's killer finally, but they were never able to make any actual case against any individual. But there was always one man that many investigators strongly

suspected of involvement in Melissa's murder, and more than any other suspect, he had the criminal history to justify their opinions. Really? Yes. In 2000, detectives in Arkansas arrested Charles Ray Vines. That name might sound familiar. Yeah. He was arrested after he violently attacked a 16-year-old girl, breaking into her home, raping her, and almost killing her. Holy shit. Not long after that arrest, the investigation uncovered additional evidence that proved he was the notorious serial killer that the press had dubbed the River Valley killer. He was responsible for the brutal killings of 89 year old

Lily Jones in 1993. I was like why did I know that name? And the murder of 58 year old Juanita Wofford two months later. A little over a year later a local Fort Smith resident Danny Bennett confessed to those murders and was actually sent to prison for them. But whatever relief that brought was short-lived because in August of that year, while Danny Bennett was sitting in jail, or prison rather, 74-year-old Ruth Henderson was murdered and the killing and crime scene were remarkably similar to the murders of Jones and Wofford. So the murder of Ruth Henderson was determined to have been committed by the same killer and authorities were then forced to let Danny Bennett go. It wasn't

until five years later when Vines was arrested for this assault on the teenage girl that investigators finally started connecting those previous cases to him and he was arrested. After his arrest he made a deal with the prosecutor's office in which he agreed to provide details of his previous murders in exchange for their agreeing not to pursue the death penalty, at which point he confessed to the other murders. He had lived in Fort Smith for many years, including the period that Melissa Witt disappeared and was killed in. An investigator strongly suspected him of being Melissa's killer, but when he was directly confronted about the murder after

his arrest, he denied abducting or killing Melissa. Given that he had confessed to killing the other women, it really wouldn't make a lot of sense for him to deny Melissa's murder if he was responsible, but law enforcement still remains suspicious. According to Rob Allen, who was one of the FBI agents who pursued the case in 2019, he said there was a lady who had emailed a detective, she worked with Charlie Vines' mother, and Charlie Vines sometimes would show up to his mother's work, and that witness reported she saw him wearing a bowling league shirt of some sort. Oh, that is very interesting. The report about the bowling league shirt is obviously sort. Oh, so that's interesting. That is very interesting.

The report about the bowling league shirt is obviously circumstantial at best, but it was just one of several things about Charlie Vines, Charles Vines, that made him a strong suspect. He worked about eight minutes from where Melissa's body was discovered. Was known to be very familiar with the area. Like I said, he lived there most of his life and was very familiar with the logging trails in Ozark. There's a big one.

Which not a lot of people are. Yeah. In 2021, 27 years after Melissa's murder, an investigatory team of FBI agents and local law enforcement officers were sent out to the area where Melissa's body was discovered in the Ozark forest and they brought several tracking dogs with them. And despite having nearly three decades having passed, those dogs located an old mattress in the woods with Charles Ray Vine's DNA on it. Shut the fuck up. As well as several old Cambridge cigarette butts containing DNA. What? And this is crazy. When the original investigators processed the scene in 1994, when Melissa's

body was found, they located several Cambridge cigarette butts right near where her body was discovered. This again, this feels like it's it. Feels so strong. Yeah. He was ultimately convicted and sentenced to three life terms for the murders of Lily Jones, Juanita Wilford, and Ruth Henderson. But despite the best efforts of FBI and local law enforcement, he refused to talk on the record about Melissa Witt. And he died in prison in September 2019.

And he is a disgusting looking man. Just so everybody knows. Gross. His heinous. So as of 2024, Melissa Witt's murder still remains unsolved. If you have any information regarding the murder of Melissa Witt, you're asked to please call the Fort Smith Police Department

at 479-709-5116, or you can email them at info at Fort Smith PD dot org. This is just such a frustrating case. Such a frustrating case, because every time they felt like they got close and that they had their guy, it was just that the person wouldn't cooperate and they didn't have anything else to hold them there on that or to completely, you know,

seal the deal. It's like, there's a couple of really good. Yeah. Like I feel like he's in there for me, Charles Ray vines. And I would say Larry, Larry, Larry swearing gin are probably those are my two. And I was really stuck on Larry until I found that the cigarette butts Charles, the kind that's Charles rewind smoked were right near the body. That's very, very interesting. And an old mattress with his DNA the body. That's very, very interesting. And an old mattress with his DNA on it. It's like, why was there an old mattress out there?

Yeah. And that's the thing. It's like, what the fuck? Yeah. Bizarre. Yeah. And just such a tragic, tragic. Oh, it's an awful, awful case. The fact that her parents died not knowing. Yeah. Not having any answers of what happened to their 19 year old daughter. That makes me sick. Who had everything going for her. Yeah.

Everything going for her. She came from a good family. She was beautiful. She was well liked. She was going to be a dental hygienist. Involved in her community. Doing the damn thing. Yeah.

Yeah. And just went to the bowling alley to hang out with her mom one night after work. That makes me sick. So sad. So guys, if you have, if anybody if anybody listening knows anybody with any information or if you have any information, again, the number that I provided and the email, you can submit an email confidentially. And again, submit a tip to that number. Confidential.

It's completely confidential. If you know anyone, if you saw anything, if your family member remembers something, if you're from the area. Do you ever heard anything at all? If you ever heard a damn thing, it's like these kinds of things, I'm like, this can be solved. Absolutely. This can be solved.

100%. Oh, I want it to happen. I know. I'm glad that we did an unsolved case at the top of the year. Yes. I like to... Let's start the year with some fresh years on it. Let's get it solved.

But you know what, if the Lady of the Dunes, the Boy in the Box, the Somerton Man, if all those things can be solved, I mean, decades and decades and decades later, this can be solved. But yeah, no, I completely agree with you. And so guys, remember, see something, say something. Yeah. We love you. Be nice to yourselves.

Be nice to listening, be nice to yourselves, and keep it weird. But not so weird that if you see something, you don't say something, and not so weird that if you have a tip, you don't submit it, because you could help a whole entire family, and to get justice for a wonderful woman

who was killed by a terrible monster. So I'm sorry. If you like Morbid, you can listen early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery+, in the Wondery app, or on Apple podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey.