True Crime with Kimbyr - Part 1: Murderer Caught On Video - The Heartbreaking Case of Melanie Goodwin | True Crime Stories

Episode Date: January 12, 2026

A promising future, a normal night out, and a devastating ending. In this heartbreaking Texas case, True Crime with Kimbyr explores the tragic story of Melanie Goodwin — a talented actress and singer in her sophomore year at the University of North Texas. After dinner with friends and a work event, something went terribly wrong after midnight. What happened in those final hours, and why did a routine night turn fatal? True Crime with Kimbyr examines the details with compassion, analysis, and respect for the life Melanie should have had. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

She was a talented actress and singer in her sophomore year of college, and she had just met the man of her dreams. She had a great group of friends and a fun college job. They say that nothing good happens after midnight, and for Melanie Goodwin, she ran into a monster who proved that statement to be true. Own it all. Pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly, Big Board.

Buck slot machine by Aristocrat Gaming, Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is giving one person a $1.6 million dream package. The biggest prize in Yamaba's history. Club Serrano members can earn daily instant prizes and secure a spot in the finale May 29th. Don't pass go and own it all. Only at Yamava, celebrating its 40th anniversary. You win? Details at yamava.com must be 21-20. Please gamble responsibly.

Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro. Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion. Hi, everyone. Welcome back to my channel. My name is Kimberlea. if you've never been here before, nice to finally meet you. Today I have the absolute pleasure of introducing you to Melanie Goodwin. Melanie Teresa Goodwin was born in Arlington, Texas, just a little after midnight on August 4th, 1988, to Mother Peggy and Father Glenn Goodwin.

Melanie was the Goodwin's third child. They had an older daughter, Candace, and a son, Glenn David, named after his father. Peggy said that God gave him a beautiful gift with the birth of Melody. that they were blessed by her presence and she made their family complete. The Goodwin's were a Christian family and they raised their children with the values that they held near and dear to their hearts. And I swear this is relevant, but I saw a meme the other day and I'm going to put it up on the screen. It says, if you watch any Dateline episode, you learn real quick. There's nothing more dangerous than lighting up a room. It's on every episode.

That's why I don't light up anything. I make places worse when I get there. I know this is supposed to be funny and it is. And I think that there is a place for humor even in the most horrifying and devastating circumstances. But in my videos, I really try hard to stick to the seriousness of these situations. However, what makes that meme funny is that it's true. We do tend to use certain phrases when we describe the people we have lost. We hear the same ones over and over with a common one being that they were someone who would light up a room.

or that their laugh was infectious. Another one is to know them was to love them and maybe it's true or maybe we look for the best in our loved ones when something terrible happens to them. And we want them to be remembered for the positive things about them. I think we all know that no one is perfect. But for Melanie Goodwin, she was close to it, at least in the eyes of those closest to her. When I do these cases, I really try to get an understanding of the people I talk about. One of the best ways is to look on face. is to look on Facebook. That's my go-to place to really learn as much as I can. One person said,

Melanie was like a shooting star that even though just for a moment could light up the darkest of the night sky. I was intrigued as soon as I saw her beautiful face and read so many amazing things about her. What I gathered about Melanie and her family is that they were very devoted Christians. They love the Lord and dedicated all they did in his honor. The Goodwin family was very close. Candice and Glenn David adored their little sister. She was the baby of the family. She was daddy's little girl. And she was referred to as her mommy's tiny girl. She was always petite. So small actually that her wrists were so very tiny that her brother could hold them both in his one hand when he tickled her. And as Christians, the Goodwin believed in God and that God, God,

gave them their talents. And we can never be sure if it's nature or nurture, but in some cases, when it comes to something like singing, that is usually nature. And Melanie had a great singing voice. And as a child, she would constantly be entertaining her family and friends. She was naturally social and had a knack for making people laugh. She was also wise beyond her years, according to her mother. This natural characteristic made it easy for her to step into the shoes of other people, especially when it came to acting. Melanie was a natural born actress. At the age of only two,

she would be making faces in front of the mirror and just entertaining herself for hours. So her mother knew that this was a talent they should cultivate, especially for the glory of God, who they believed bestowed this gift upon Melanie. That being said, they signed her up for voice lessons and theater classes when she was around the third grade.

Melanie honed in on her passion by playing pretend with her best friend. Her name was DeMaio Pridgin, and they were always there to practice together. They had a vivid imagination, and they loved to sing and dance and just laugh together. It wasn't long before Melanie was doing live shows at the local theater. One of the first ones she participated in was Katz and Frosty the Snowman. In that one, Melanie played a snowflake. Theater became a huge passion for her, and it was something her family was very supportive of as well. and her singing in the church choir was another one of her passions. Melanie's father never missed one of her performances.

His personal favorite was when she played the fairy godmother in Cinderella. He just thought that she was the most beautiful fairy. When she walked out on stage with her scepter and crown, the crowd was actually speechless. You could hear the gasp from the audience. They were just in awe of her. And her dad was so proud, so very proud, to call her. Melanie his daughter. Melanie was a member of Theater Arlington. It's been an operation for almost 50 years now, and it is in the heart of Arlington, Texas. Kids can start lessons at as early as

three years old, and Theater Arlington is where most of Melanie's closest friendships were formed with her theater family. But she also dedicated a lot of her time to her high school theater group at Bowie High School. She played the lead in many of their productions. To give you an example of her personality. She was not the shy one in her group of friends. She would go off campus for lunch and when she got into her car, she would sing at the top of her lungs too wicked. She was a mixture fun and sophistication. People looked up to her. And to me, I don't know, I can just tell that she's just a sweet person. She radiates innocence and fun. It wasn't hard to like Melanie. She made things enjoyable and fun. She would intern at Arlington Theater during the summer and

clean the lobby and the bathrooms at the end of the day, which is normally quite a daunting task, but she knew how to instantly change that around. She would start singing wicked or another musical sing-along, and her energy would just transform even the most mundane activity. That and her outlook on life. She was someone that remained positive through the trials and tribulations in life, and she was there to help others do the same. She loved life. She was also a good friend. a type of friend that wouldn't just remember your birthday, but she would call you and she would sing happy birthday to you. She loved making other people feel special, and she would not hesitate to attribute all of it to her faith. Not only did people look up to her for her natural acting abilities,

but she had impeccable style. She always looked her best, and her friends couldn't help of being just a little bit envious of how she put together the cutest outfits. Melanie was gorgeous. She had these piercing blue, green eyes. eyes I've never seen before. I mean, just look at these eyes. I achieve those eyes with contact lenses, but hers are naturally that piercing and green. She also had this beautiful chestnut colored hair that she would sometimes put highlights in, but that smile, as they say, it was so bright that it could really light up a room. It's just one of those smiles that make me smile looking at it. By the time she was graduating from high school in 2006, she had grown into a smart,

funny, generous, loving, self-confident young woman. Here she is at the Senior Award Ceremony. Next in life was college, and she dreamed of possibly working as a news anchor one day. So she applied to the University of North Texas in Denton to study radio, television, and film in their communications department. She was accepted and started in the fall of 2006 as a communications major. This meant moving away from home. Denton is just north of Dallas and about 50 miles away from her home in Arlington, Texas. Her parents took the trip with her so that you could get settled into her dorm room, her freshman year. Denton is a fun place to live, especially for a college student because it's a college town. There's lots for you to do there and lots of people your own age.

Denton was home to the Eli Young Band and Bowling for Soup. You remember them? And the universities alumni include NFL legend mean Joe Green, Dr. Phil, probably know that one, and Nora Jones. The population at the time was about 120,000 people, but because of its nature, Denton attracted hundreds of thousands of people to the city every year for things like the North Texas State Fair and the rodeo or the Denton Art and Jazz Festival. These events bring in people from all over the country all year round. This is where Melanie planned to call home for the next few years. She moved in with her roommate, Jacqueline Williamson, and they became good friends. It didn't take long for Melanie to become well known in the Denton area. Right away, she began making friends by singing and a choir for the Denton Wesley Foundation,

which is a Christian student ministry affiliated with the United Methodist Church in that area. She even traveled all the way to Northern Ireland, where the group toured and performed at various churches throughout the country in May of 2007, right before her sophomore year. and it was in that sophomore year that she crossed paths with someone who would destroy everything. Melanie made friends very easily because of her bubbly personality. Her personality is what led her to finding the perfect job for her. College jobs can be a few things. They could either be serious and in furtherance of a related career path,

or they can be just for fun to pass time and to earn some extra cash on the side. And for Melanie, her college job was more of the latter. She became a brand ambassador for Red Bull Energy Drink. It was full of fun and socializing, but in a way, isn't that the perfect job for a communications major? It had some real advantages that a talented and personable girl like Melanie could leverage. It put her in all sorts of different social circles. Red Bull has its hands in everything. And to be honest, I hate to say it, but I always have one in my hand.

It's true, especially while I'm filming. I guess I'm somewhat of a Red Bull addict, but it's the only energy drink I've ever liked, and I've been drinking it as far back as I can remember. Here's a picture of me in law school. It's pretty much what got me through all of those sleepless nights studying. And if it wasn't for what I learned, I probably wouldn't be able to research these cases the way that I do. So thank you to Red Bull for some of that. Even though it's terrible for me, I know.

And you guys always tell me to stop drinking it and drink water. I will try. No promises. bull promote themselves on many different forms of media and there is no telling where a red bull ambassador will find themselves handing out samples and lifting the spirits of red bull fans this job allowed melling to interact with all kinds of people and learn how to communicate in many different circumstances even improvising the talking points that our supervisors would set out for her it's very similar to practicing her lines for acting it really was the perfect job for her even if it seemed as though it was

just a fun job, Melanie was smart. She knew what she was doing and as a sophomore at only 19 years old, studying communications at one of the top communications programs in the state, and already employed by a major brand, she was set up for success in many ways that put her ahead of girls her age. It's true that Melanie may have played fantasy characters in her plays, but she was also living quite her own fantasy in real life, especially when she met her own Prince Charming in the beginning of 2007. Her boyfriend, Jose Alejandro Valencia, he's known affectionately as Ali. He was a popular fraternity boy at UNT. He had the looks and the personality and he had Melanie's heart. They would call each other best friends that could not get enough of one another and they

fell in love. They were inseparable. It was forever for these two. They were in it for life. Forever. know how short forever would be for them. Eight months into their relationship in the fall of 2007, on September 24th, Ali gave Melanie a ride to the university parking lot around 4.45 p.m. to pick up her car. She was going to a dinner with her coworkers that night before they headed out to a big event they were working for Red Bull. When I say big event, it was huge for gamers across the world. Halo 3 was set to be released that night at midnight September 25th, 2007. If you don't, don't play video games. This may mean nothing to you and I totally get it, but Halo 3 is a first person shooter video game and it was made for the Xbox 360 console. This was the third

installment in the Halo series and this game in particular concluded the story arc that began back in 2001 with the original Halo game and was continued in Halo 2 in 2004. So it was a big deal for those who wanted to know what happened in the third game. Halo 3 grossed 170 million dollars its very first day of release and 300 million its first week to date halo three has sold in excess of 14.5 million copies these releases are a big deal there was a release party at game stop which is a video game store that began that night on the 24th and red bull was the sponsor people wait in line for hours so it makes sense for an energy drink company to be promoting its product you need to stay up all night and this is a perfect retailer with a perfect target audience.

College students just coming back to school for the fall semester and students that were looking forward to this release, students who spend a lot of their nights up late, playing video games and drinking energy drinks. It was being talked about on the UNT campus and gamers were excited about the game, but also about the release party itself because usually win things while you wait in line.

There could be a store credit like a gift card up for grabs. If you play a Halo 2 tournament, you could get a free copy of the game. game or you could win a trivia challenge and maybe get a free accessory. Melanie's job was to put Red Bull in the hands of everyone at that release party. The Red Bull models were local celebrities. They were on my college campus too. They would drive around in the Red Bull truck. I don't know if you've ever seen it. I'll put it on the screen and they would just hand out these drinks like they were Marty Grau beads. It was exciting, especially for the men because let's face it. The women that were

chosen to promote for a company like this as a brand ambassador were the best of the best. They were bubbly and outgoing and in shape and they wore outfits to show all of that off. The Red Bull colors are blue and white. So that night, the girls were told to wear a tight white tank top underneath a navy blue button down shirt that Red Bull provided and it had a logo on the sleeve. The girls wore it with most of the buttons opened at the chest area and they paired it with jeans skirts. I was able to find a few pictures. They're not that great of this night, and this is Melanie with one of the other Red Bull ambassadors. The release itself didn't happen until midnight, so this event went on until after 1 a.m. After the event was over, the plan was

for Melanie to go back to her boyfriends to his on-campus apartment. It's obvious that she made it to the event, since we just looked at pictures of her handing out drinks and smiling and having a great time, but what happened after this remained a mystery by the time the sun came up. On the morning of September 25, 2007, a 911 call comes in from a man who works at a company called TransTech. It's out in Carrollton, Texas, which is about 30 minutes south of Denton. He's standing in the parking lot telling the dispatcher that there is a deceased female's body in the grassy area behind the building. Even the dispatcher who takes calls all day long

had to ask the caller to clarify what he was saying. His exact words were, ma'am, there is a burnt female body over here. The dispatcher told him not to touch anything, and he was like, oh, I'm not going to touch anything. And she said she wanted everyone to stay away from that area and let the police handle it. And authorities were sent out there immediately,

including homicide detective Greg Freid, from the Carrollton Police Department, who took the lead on this case. Now, this area is clearly not the same as it was back in 2007. I pulled up this location on Google Maps. It used to have a lot of bushes and trees in between TransTech and this new organization that was built right next to it. Before, this was a lot more desolate. If you don't know by now, I'm an overly detailed obsessed person,

and I was able to pinpoint exactly where the body was found. Of course, there was an address. that I had located on a report of 3220 Keller Springs Road. But I wanted to know more. I used pictures that you will see in just a moment and other evidence to pinpoint where the body actually was. And to my surprise, it was found right when you come into this parking lot. I assumed it would be much further back,

like towards the way back around the corner, no. And I will show you later how I know that this is where the body. body was found. But when you come into this parking lot in 2022, there are no trees here anymore. However, back in 2007, there were. While investigating this on Google Maps, I was shocked when I tried to click in this area and boom, it took me right back to image capture from 2018 and all of the bushes and the trees reappeared. I love when things like this happen. This is what it looked like when the body was found except there was also a large embankment that sloped down a deep ditch area. But at the very least, I'm able to show you a similar view of what the tree line looked like back

then. You can see here how dense these trees are. And this is the exact area where the body was found. But of course, in a downward slope that we can no longer see because it had been filled in. However, it was right on this line between where the cement is in the parking lot. So you pull your car up and look down into this grassy area and you could see what that man who called the dispatcher was seeing. And this tree right here marks the exact spot next to where the body was. This was a very shocking discovery. I mean, it would be anyway, but for something to be so visible is very shocking. It's not something you imagine seeing when you're pulling into work on a Tuesday morning.

This is what Detective Freed saw when he arrived on the scene at 11 a.m. Unfortunately, there wasn't much for detectives to go off of. It was clear that they were looking at a deceased female, but she was burned beyond recognition. They assumed it was a female because she had long hair and French nails. They could also see some clothing. some artifacts like a belt, which you can actually see in this photo that I'm showing you on the screen.

But sadly, as far as the body was concerned as a whole, it was there, but what was left was not recognizable. They could not identify who the body belonged to. The person who left this body here most likely assumed they wouldn't be seen leaving it behind because the fact it was in this wooded type area off this road in a location where businesses were not open at the time. However, this is a tech company.

And not only did they have a surveillance system, but it was a pretty advanced system. They had cameras all over this parking lot. And when they looked up at the building, they could see a camera that was facing this area. So investigators knew what their next step was. They had to get that footage. But while they were in the process of subpoenas

and the appropriate paperwork to get access to that surveillance footage, Detective Freid was analyzing this crime scene, and he thought he might be dealing with a serial killer. And that was because the way the body was positioned. Her legs were facing the parking lot and bent at the knees. To him, it was quite suggestive, and he thought that the killer might be sending a message. It was so close to where you would park your car. The investigators are combing this entire area trying to find even the smallest clue,

and they were able to locate a ring, and it had an inscription on it, as well as some other articles of clothing that we will talk about more in just a second. But this surveillance footage was very important. And I'm going to tell you something that I don't usually say in these cases, but this case was pretty much solved within the first 24 hours because of technology. And I can't wait to explain how all of this came together and how amazing the detective work was. And that's why they were able to find out who did this in such a short amount of time. But it didn't mean that this case was closed just because they knew what happened. that was going to take a while and a lot more effort.

Within an hour, they get a hold of that surveillance video. Now, if you've watched my videos before, you know I always complain about the quality of surveillance footage. I just do not understand why we still do not have a clear image of what's going on on these video cameras. But in this case, the footage was pretty good. And we're going to see some more footage that's even better. but when detectives received the surveillance footage, they were able to get a good enough quality video. They were able to understand how this person's body ended up in the stitch. They could clearly see somebody pulling a vehicle into the parking lot.

I'm showing as much as I can up on the screen. They park it right here where I'm showing you near this tree that I showed you earlier. Now remember when I told you that I knew that this was the exact area, well, that's because of this surveillance footage. I was able to pinpoint this lamp post. There was only one of those in this parking lot. I was also looking at the parking spots themselves and there were handicapped areas right here. You can see the white stripes here on the surveillance video

and I was able to pinpoint that exact location right here, right in the front of TransTech. Here are the handicapped parking spots. Here is the lamp post. And as you can see now in 2022, there are no trees there. So of course, I was a little bit confused at first, but as I moved forward with my cursor, I jumped back in time.

And now we are in 2018, the way it looked, and there is the lamp post. And as I turn, you can see this is the tree right here where that vehicle was parked. In the video, someone gets out of the driver's side. They walk around to the passenger side, and this is absolutely chilling. To see this play out is horrifying. Even though we have this black and white footage and it's grainy, you know what's happening here. And to a trained detective that's been doing this for 23 years, like Detective Freid, it was obvious to him that this was a male subject. And he sees him going to the passenger side.

He said he could tell by the clothing and the stature, and he's done this such a long time, even the height of the individual. But what they were wearing looked like a white short sleeve shirt and long jean shorts. He opened the passenger side, removed the individual's body from that area of the vehicle and you actually see him dragging this body across the pavement and into that grassy area that I showed you earlier. She then dropped into that ditch and then he makes his way back to the car to retrieve something and then back to that area where the body was. But what you see next is just incredibly horrifying because at that moment he was setting a person on fire. On this video, all of a sudden the entire screen lights up.

There is just this huge explosion on camera. It's actually a surprise that this individual did not get burned because you can see just how large this explosion was. But right afterward, you see this person and he's running away from the fire and getting back inside that driver's side of that vehicle while this fire still rages on. And he just pulls backward and drives out of that parking lot.

The time still. stamp on this video was 406 a.m. Unfortunately, as per usual, the video is not going to have the quality where you can see a person's facial features or who they are or anything that can identify them, either of them, the person who was brought to the ditch or the person who did this. But as I said, the detective could tell that he was wearing a short sleeve white shirt and jean shorts that were about past his knees. But there was something that investigators did have, that they could

could go on and that was the vehicle because every vehicle has a style make and model and there's different things that are very specific to a certain type of vehicle like different lights and the positions of those lights and different body styles they were able to pinpoint that this was a saturn now they couldn't tell what color it was because as i said black and white footage but they were able to enhance the video enough to ascertain that the vehicle and the way the lights were positioned was indeed a saturn they were confident about that, but they didn't have much else, like they didn't have a license plane number or anything like that to go on. But because we do have technology, they do have the ability to search whether a Saturn anywhere in the area was reported by officers,

like being involved in a crime or other situations. If there was a Saturn in the database from the night before, and to their surprise, there was a report that involved a Saturn. It was a report from 5 a.m. the same morning, an officer named Otis Koo was on patrol in the Carrollton area. He was called out to an area with a report of a lot of thefts that had been going on, and he made his way into an apartment complex. And as he's patrolling, just having the expertise and the experience, he sees something that kind of caught him off guard. It was at the back of the apartment complex in a spot where compact cars don't usually park.

It was in between these little storage units. He sees a red Saturn. It's just abandoned. But it didn't look right. And because he's investigating these thefts, he's just doing his due diligence. He goes up to the car and he checks it out. He gives it a once over.

This area is usually used by oversized vehicles. So that itself was a little peculiar to see this vehicle there. And then he notices it does have a Texas plate. So that's not out of the ordinary. There wasn't any damage that he could see to the vehicle. However, as he got closer, he could smell the car. He noticed a strong scent of gasoline and it really stood out to him. He thought that that was definitely odd.

And when he looked inside the passenger side, he saw a red gas can on the seat. And that really picked his interest. There wasn't much else to go on other than calling this a suspicious vehicle. So that's exactly what he did. He reported a suspicious vehicle being parked in this location and he added the make, the model of the year of the vehicle to that report. And this is the report that Detective Freid got that morning that he's investigating this crime. The car may not have been very significant to Officer Koo when he saw it out there, but when Detective Freed put everything together, the time frame that this vehicle was seen,

the location was in, the type of car, he didn't have a doubt. He knew that this was the car he was looking for. And this apartment complex wasn't far from the TransTech parking lot. So he sends officers over there, but by the time they get there, that red vehicle is gone. However, where it was parked, they find a burned sock and a gas cap to a vehicle. This is the cap that's usually over the gas tank, the one that we undo to put gas in the car. They immediately run the license plate because they need to know who this car belongs to. And they find out that the owner is back in Arlington, Texas. So at this point, they're thinking this is their prime suspect.

They're going to find that driver of the vehicle because it was linked to a male's name. they were expecting that man to answer the door when they arrived at the address, but instead, when they knocked, a woman came to the door. When the detective asked her if she knew the person who owned the red Saturn, she said, yes, my husband owns the vehicle, but my daughter drives it. Well, this was Melanie Goodwin's mother, Peggy. She was the one that answered the door. The car belonged to Glenn Goodwin, Melanie's father, but it was Melanie's car. Her mother and father had purchase the car for her and were paying her insurance, as many parents do. Right when Detective Freid heard her say that the car belonged to her daughter and that her daughter was in college, a UNT, red flags went up. He had done this long enough that in his heart and in his gut,

which isn't accurate all the time, he just knew. He knew that he was looking at the victim's mother. It just made sense to him. Here he was expecting to find his first suspect, and now he's confronted with the fact that this is this poor girl's mother. He doesn't even have a name of the victim in his mind at this point. So he's certainly not ready to give a death notification. He doesn't have all the facts, but he is in this situation. So he just keeps asking Peggy all of the routine questions. And meanwhile, Peggy is saying things like, is she missing?

Did you find her car? But then he asked for a picture of her. He also talked about finding a ring. And it was just this gut feeling, a feeling that went right through Peggy Goodwin. And she just blatantly asked him, do you have a body? The officer did not lie to her. He said, we do. And we need a photograph to be able to identify our piece together what was left behind.

He admitted to her that they had found the charred body of a female. He could not confirm that it was her daughter, but it was a female. Peggy went to her room to get a photograph of Melanie, and that is when she dropped to her knees and she started praying and just saying, God, do not let this be Melanie. Do not let this be my daughter. At this moment, Detective Freight is also realizing they have the victim's vehicle. And it made sense looking back because the car, had a license plate frame that said angels are watching over me.

It also had this Christian symbol on the right hand side of the trunk, a little fish with a cross in it, and a sticker on the window from Theater Arlington. This was Melanie Goodwin's car, and someone else drove it. Someone else put her inside of it and dragged her out of it. However, Peggy knew it was her daughter. Because of the ring, there was a ring that was a ring that was found and it had an inscription on it. Melanie's dad and mom had given her that ring. They knew it

belonged to her. So as soon as they piece that together, they knew that their daughter was most likely the victim in this case. Her parents have said that they didn't know how to feel in this moment because they knew that she was dead. And her mother had this gut feeling that she was gone. But she didn't want to know what happened. She said she didn't want the details. And you are suspended in this timeless moment. Everything is standing still. You can't go backwards and you can't go forward. You have no answers.

It's like being in purgatory. At this point, Detective Freid is more eager than ever to find out what Melanie was doing the night that she was killed. And guess who was more than willing to help? Melanie's own mother. Peggy was a software programmer. She was very good with technology. And she offers to grab as much information as she can from the internet by getting Melanie's phone records, as well as her bank statements right away, to aid detectives in their investigation. And she also informed Detective Frey that Melanie had been dating someone for the last few months, and his name was Ali Valencia.

She provided all this information to authorities. They now had to track him down and ask him when he saw Melanie last. They wanted to know if he had anything to do with this her authority. crime. Detective Freed's theory had changed from it being a possible serial killer to it being someone that Melanie may have known, someone with access to her vehicle, someone she trusted enough to get into her car with her, someone like a boyfriend perhaps. They locate Ali at his apartment and they ask him when the last time he saw Melanie Goodman was and he looks confused and very concerned. But he fully cooperates with detectives telling them the last time he saw her was at four

45 p.m. the evening before when he took her to her car in the university parking lot. He explained that he didn't hear from her again until she was done with the event, which was around 1 a.m. He said that Melanie called to check in with him and to let him know that she was on her way back to his place. Detectives want to understand the timeline here because they're a little bit confused. They wonder if Melanie ever made it back to Ali's. So they ask him, did she come home that night and he says, I fell asleep after speaking with her and I woke up a couple hours later in the middle of the night and I noticed she wasn't there. But he never called the police. So detectives are wondering if this story was even true. Ali says he called her numerous times

that never got an answer. He even went out into the dorm and the university asking people if they had seen her. He said he didn't call the police because he figured there was an innocent reason as to why she hadn't shown up. But he was worried. They wanted to know the last. last thing he remembers Melanie telling him. And he explained that she asked him if he needed anything. And in the spur of the moment, he asked her to stop at a quick trip nearby. This is a convenience store to grab him a bag of Cheetos and a chocolate milk. Melanie being Melanie was more than happy to make the stop and pick up some snacks for her boyfriend. So she obliged. And then he says, she called him again when she was leaving the store to let him know she was checking him.

out and that she would be over soon. Well, this store is very close by the university. I'm going to show you and he apparently lived on campus from what I gathered. So I don't blame detectives for thinking this a little bit fishy because he falls asleep between the time she says she's leaving the store and when. It only takes a few minutes, but it wasn't a few minutes. It was a lot longer. And this decision to ask her to get him some snacks was something that Ali would have guilt about for the rest of his life. A brief stop at the quick trip would be the last thing Melanie Goodwin ever did. So as usual, I went ahead and mapped these locations.

Here's the game stop. Here is the quick trip. And here's the university. She was only minutes from getting back to all these apartments, as far as what we can gather from the information that was provided to the authorities. So what happened? What happened between those two? locations, the quick trip and her boyfriend's apartment, and who was responsible? Well, at this point,

they do have those phone records. Peggy Goodwin, Melanie's mom, was able to pull her phone records with a quickness because of technology being at our fingertips. So they didn't have to wait to subpoena the records from a phone company and piece all of this together. And this is why this case was being solved so fast. But in Peggy's grief and her sadness, she was still able to have the wherewithal and the willingness to help investigators piece all of this together. And when they get a hold of those records, they're able to confirm that those phone calls were made between Melanie and Ali. Now they don't have like phone pings or anything like that. They're only looking at what they can see when you download the report from your provider online. They can just see

the timestamps and the phone numbers that were incoming and outgoing.