The Unsolved Murder of Melissa Witt | Morbid | Podcast - Video

On December 1, 1994, nineteen-year-old Melissa Witt planned to meet her mother at a FAort 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?

Currently, the nonprofit organization All the Lost Girls is offering a $29,000 reward for any information that will lead to the arrest and successful prosecution of her killer. Anyone with any information about the murder is encouraged to call the organization’s confidential hotline at 1-800-440-1922 or email confidentially at [email protected]

Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!

References
Alvey, 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.

Humphrey, LaDonna. 2022. The Girl I Never Knew: Who Killed Melissa Witt. Milwaukee, WI: Genius Books.

Kilby, Brenda. 1996. "Long-sought man awaits questioning ." Tulsa World , May 6: 29.

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