Fort Smith, Arkansas. It was 1994, and 19-year-old Melissa Witt was a student at Westark Community College who also worked as a dental assistant in her free time.
Everyone called Melissa Missy though, and this lovely and kind teen’s dream was to one day grow up to be a dental hygienist.
On the evening of December 1st, 1994, Missy finished up at the dental office where she was employed, and she drove her car over to Bowling World, a local bowling alley where her mom Mary Ann was involved in their league.
Missy pulled into the bowling alley’s parking lot, found a parking spot, and shut off her car.
Moments before heading inside of Bowling World to see her mom, Missy was kidnapped out of the parking lot.
The only clues left behind that evening were her keys, one of the hoop shaped-earrings she had been wearing, and some drops of her blood. Clearly, Missy had fought back against her kidnapper.
Days went by, which turned into weeks. Then Christmas came and went, without Missy there to celebrate the holiday along with her family.
The residents of Fort Smith welcomed in the new year, 1995, and still, Missy remained missing.
Facebook; pictured above is Missy
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It was on January 13th that Missy was sadly found dead on a trail that wove through the Ozark National Forest. She had been strangled, and all of her clothing was removed.
That was 27 years ago that Missy was discovered in the woods, and her killer has never been identified.
Although it’s closing in on 3 decades that Missy has gone without receiving justice, 2 people have steadfastly tried to solve her case.
One of these people is none other than the detective who initially handled her case; Jay C. Rider. Though Jay C. has retired from the department, he hasn’t given up on Missy.
The second person who is committed to seeing justice in Missy’s case is a woman by the name of LaDonna Humphrey.
Together, Jay C. and LaDonna have created a website to drive awareness for Missy, and they recently launched a local billboard campaign that begs the question, “Who Killed Missy Witt?”
Jay C. and LaDonna also have a Facebook page, where Jay C. recently addressed who he thinks Missy’s killer really is.
According to Jay C., he doesn’t believe the serial killer Charles Ray Vines took Missy’s life, as many have speculated over the years.
“Whoever killed Melissa Witt went to great lengths to hide their crimes against her,” Jay C. explained.
Facebook; pictured above Missy smiles
“Instead of being viciously attacked when she was at home by herself before traveling to meet her mother at Bowling World, her attacker struck her one time on the side of her head with some type of blunt instrument in the bowling alley parking lot.”
“She was then loaded into her attacker’s vehicle and transported to a location 50 miles away in the Ozark National Forrest.”
“Her attacker killed her by choking her to death face down, then placed her body behind a huge alter looking bolder, where her body remained for 45 days before it was moved by unknown person(s) to a spot where it would be discovered.”
“Melissa’s cause of death was manual strangulation in a very remote location. She was not beaten or stabbed to death.”
“There’s nothing similar in the crime scene investigations or the methods of operation in carrying out the crimes in the Witt case and Vines’ actual victims.”
If you have any information related to Missy’s case, you can submit a tip to Jay C. and LaDonna on their website here.