Melanie Renee Metheny

July 26, 2009

Charleston, the capital of West Virginia, is nestled into the west side of the Appalachian Mountains affording the residents a milder winter.  The city proudly traces its history all the way back to the Revolutionary War, and its legacy sister industries, of salt and coal mining, still sustain much of the population.  It boasts a full range of cultural amenities for its citizens to enjoy including, but not limited to, Symphony Orchestras, Ballet, Museums, Theater, and a Junior Theater for their children.  With a population of 300,000 plus, the metro area of Charleston has a number of bedroom communities, including Campbells Creek.

On Wednesday, July 19, 2006, Jared David left his home in the suburb of Campbells Creek, and headed off to work at 7:00 a.m.  When he left, Melanie Metheny, his twenty-one-years-old girlfriend of five months, was still getting herself and her children ready for the day.

In the past, Melanie’s life was full of hardships and disappointments, making her even more determined to provide a better life for her children.  Everything she hoped for was finally starting to happen.  She and Jared were planning to marry, they were saving money for a bigger house to live in, she had agreed to be the new face on billboards across West Virginia for the West Virginia Adult Basic Education Program, and her career as a nurse was within reach.

Melanie was excited about the day ahead.  As she buckled her one-year-old Hannah, two-years-old Nathan, and four-years-old Ryan into their car seats, Melanie thought about the things she needed to accomplish that day, and the bright future that lay ahead.  She would drop the children off at Country Kids Daycare in Belle, W. V., and pick up transcripts of her courses from Garnet Career Center.  It would not be long before she could take the entrance exams for the West Virginia State University Nursing program.

The direct route to the daycare is to take U.S. Route 60.  The highway hugs the Kanawha River providing a glimpse, or two, of a coal barge in its heavily polluted waters.  The river snaked its way, first left and then right, on the way to the riverfront city of Belle.  Melanie Renee Metheny and her three children arrived at the Country Kids Daycare between 7:40 a.m. and 8:00 a.m.  She dropped them off at the daycare centers entrance, and the three children trotted inside.  No one at the daycare remembers seeing Melanie on that Wednesday morning.

As excited as she was about enrolling at University, everyone assumes Melanie headed directly for the Garnet Career Center, in Charleston, to pick up her transcripts.  It is 15.5 miles from the daycare to Garnet Career Center.  However, Melanie Metheny has not shown up to collect her transcipts.

Melanie’s minivan had some minor damages.  It was stolen and missing for nearly a month.  Weeks ago, they found the damaged minivan in Ravenswood.  Melanie knew the juvenile who stole her Chevy minivan.  Only a week had passed since she had an altercation with the juvenile.  According to Jared Davis, the boy picked up a rock, when Melanie turned to walk away.  A friend, who was with Melanie, shouted out and the youth dropped the rock.  Those close to Melanie say she was still upset about the encounter.

At 9:09 a.m., Melanie made a cell phone call to Wreck-A-Mended Paint & Body to confirm an appointment for repairs on her van, and to inquire about an insurance check to cover the repairs.  Kanawha Sheriff Detective R. A. Lane is not certain it was Melanie, who made that call.

Then a second call from her cell phone connected at 9:30 a.m.  This time the call was to Melanie’s voice mailbox. That was the last activity on the call log.

Jared Davis said Melanie usually called him at noon, not hearing from her, he called her cell phone, but she did not answer.

The 5′3″ Melanie Renee Metheny had vanished.  Hours passed before anyone realized she was missing.

Days later a witness recalled an event on the same afternoon Melanie vanished.  The witness, described only as someone who knew Melanie, reported seeing a Red SUV on the West Side, a community within Charleston.  The witness reported seeing a woman resembling Melanie, struggling inside the SUV and heard her yelling, “What about my babies?”  The witness said she appeared to be trying to free herself.  Kanawha Sheriff’s Detective R. A. Lane said they have not been able to locate the Sport Utility Vehicle.

At 6:00 p.m., an employee at the Country Kids Daycare called Donna Harper, Grandmother of Nathan and Hannah, because Melanie failed to pick up the three children.  Donna Harper rushed over to the daycare and picked up the children.  She knew immediately something was wrong.  Donna had never known Melanie to be anything but a responsible and caring mother to the children.

Sandra Winnings, Melanie’s Grandmother, filed a missing person report that evening.

According to Detective Lane, on July 21, two days after Melanie disappeared, they received tips which prompted them to send out rescue crews and a K-9 unit.  They ardently searched Spring Fork Drive, in the Witcher Creek area.  Nothing from that search led to Melanie.

July 23, 2006, tips came in leading to the location of Melanie’s minivan.  Residents in the West Side (a community within Charleston) neighborhood said the 1998 gold and tan Chevrolet Ventrua minivan, parked at the corner of Wyoming Street and Beuhring Avenue, had been there since, at least, 2:00 p.m. the afternoon Melanie vanished.  This Charleston neighborhood, known for its drug activity, immediately raised questions about Melanie and drugs as a possible reason for her menivan being there.  Melanie only used drugs in a social setting; she did not have any connection to durg activites.

The search of the locked Chevy Minivan yielded several documents and phone numbers, including a handwritten note and a business card, found on the front seat.  The note had a St. Albans phone number and the handwritten words, “3 bedroom, 2 bath, 15,000″, on it.  The business card belonged to a Belle police officer.  Belle Police Chief R. J. Sizemore related the card to Melanie filing a report, not long before she disappeared.  The incident involved a woman approaching Melanie about speeding through their neighborhood.  They argued, and that is when the woman threatened to beat Melanie up.  Melanie’s cell phone and purse are still missing.  Investigators were not able to lift any fingerprints from the vehicle.

Jared Davis told investigators he knew people in the West Side, but not in that area.  He did not think Melanie knew anyone there, and that she would not go into that area without him.

After three years together Matt Harper, father of Nathan and Hannah, had broken up with Melanie eight months before she vanished.  He could not recall Melanie going to West Side to visit anyone.  He and James Metheny, Melanie’s brother, drove the streets of the West Side looking for her until 3:30 a.m.  They found a few peole who said they saw a woman matching Melanie’s description, but when followed up by law enforcement, it led nowhere.

The following day, Donna Harper covered the West Side in flyers, speaking to everyone along the way.

The family and friends of Melanie Renee Metheny set up a website.  On that website, there is mention of a crisis in the days preceding her disappearance.  Detective Lane had no information that would confirm a crisis in her life at that time.  Rumors were circulating that Melanie was in the West Side neighborhood because she owed $300.00, to a drug dealer.  He was aware of the rumors and commented he did not believe she owed anyone a large sum of money.  He called it, “asinine”, when reminded of the $300.00 rumor and knowing her untouched savings were more than adaquate to cover a problem like that.

Everyone seemed to agree, Melanie only traveled into Charleston to attend classes.  The junction of Beuhring and Wyoming Street was an odd place to find her parked minivan.

July 28, 2006, a logger discovered the nude body, of a 5′8″ white woman with long dark hair, in a rural area of Eastern Jackson County.  She was wearing only a thin gold necklace and her pink top was nearby.  There were no missing persons reported in Jackson County, causing many to speculate it might be Melanie.  A detective went to Jackson County from Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department to assist in investigating the murder.  A few days later, Jackson County Sheriff Michael Bright announced they were 99% positive it was not Melanie.  This became a new missing person case

By July 30, 2006, Kanawha County Sheriff’s Lt. Brian Stover indicated the leads and tips in the Metheny case have not led to anything significant.  The Metheny family has offered a reward for information on the disappearance.

June 8, 2007, Kanawha County Lt. Sean Crosier announced they are extremely encouraged by new information that has just surfaced in the case of Melanie Metheny.  It was information from one of the famly members who have been trying to track down clues.  They are hoping for a positive resolution in the case.  Detective are following up and conducting interviews, but would not say more.

July 19, 2007, marks the first anniversay of Melanie Renee Metheny’s disappearance.

November 2007, Donna Harper’s mother passed away.  Nathan and Hannah were old enough to realize her passing and missed her.  Little Nathan noticed how sad his Grandmother Donna was and said, “Well, Mamaw, I already lost my Mommy.”

March 13, 2008, Kanawha County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Johnny Rutherford announced the sighting of a woman matching Melanie’s description in South Carolina.  They have sent a detective to South Carolina and are working with officials there.  In the tight-lipped fashion of investigators, they indicated they had not substaniated the lead.  They continue to follow up all leads in the case.

July 19, 2008, marks the second anniversary of the disappearance of Melanie Renee Metheny.

The leads in the case seem to have dried up, but Melanie is still out there, and she needs to come home.

July 19, 2009, Melanie Renee Metheny is still missing.  It is the thrid anniversay of the day she vanished.

Melanie loved her children, and more than anything, she wanted to be with them.  On March 13, 2006, Melanie wrote an essay titled, ‘The Best Things In My Life’.  It is an out-pouring of heart-felt warmth for her children.  In the essay, she writes about each of her children with sweetness and tenderness.  The last paragraph puts a lump in my throat, and I do not think she would mind sharing it here:

‘Being a single mom is not easy at all but watching my kids grow up and watching them learn new things for the first time is the greatest feeling I’ve ever had.  I would not change them for the world and I don’t know where I’d be right now if I didn’t have them but I know my life wouldn’t have as much meaning.’

Melanie Renee Metheny is a lovely sweet and gentle person.  She quietly dedicated herself to her children, her family, and to making sure her children would have a better chance at life.  Melanie dreamed of being a nurse and taking care of others.  She cared for others, outwardly.  Even though, she and Matt Harper had broken up, she brought his children over to visit him, and their Grandparents, every other weekend.  She worked hard on making it into Nursing.

She is missed and needed and loved, by her brothers James and Michael, by her step Mom Donna, by her cousins Aaron Chaz and Allison, by her Aunt Lisa Wellington, by her Father Jimmy Metheny, by her Uncle Rocky Metheny, by her Mother Debi Metheny, by her Grandmother Sandra Winnings, by her son Ryan (now 7), by her son Nathan (now 5), by her daughter Hannah (now 4), and by all her friends and the people of her community.

Donna Harper has had custody of Hannah and Nathan since picking up the children from the daycare center. Melanie’s son, Ryan, continues to live with his paternal Grandparents since the disappearance of his mother.

The Grandmother of Melanie, Sandra Winnings, had dedicated herself to finding the granddaughter she helped raise.  She dedicated a website to Melanie.  Sandra begs for any leads, of any kind, reminding everyone they can choose to remain anonymous.

The family raised a $5,000.00 reward for information on Melanie Renee Metheny.  If you have information, any at all, please contact them or the Kanawha County Police Department at the number listed below.

Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office

Phone: (304) 357-0169

Investigative Case #: 71924

Melanie Renee Metheny

Date of Birth: June 21, 1985

Date Missing: July 19, 2006

Missing from: Belle, West Virginia, U.S.A.

Age at disappearance: 21

Age today: 24

Gender: Female

Race: White

Height: 5′3″

Weight: 100 lbs

Hair color: Blonde

Eye color: Brown

Complexion: Light

Identifying characteristics:  Pierced ears, metal pins and surgical scar on left ankle, cesarean scar, small birthmark on chin, a tooth growing behind the other on the right side.

For additinoal information: Help Find The Missing

References:

National Center for MIssing Adults

Help Find Melanie Renee Metheny

Texas EquuSearch

America’s Most Wanted

Find Melanie guestbook

Melanie Metheny

Charley Project

Project Jason

Sunday Gazette mail

WTAP

Daily Mail

State Journal

WCHSTV

WV Gazette

WSAZ

Wikipedia

Written by Linda Johnson · Filed Under Cold Cases, Melanie Renee Metheny, Missing Women | 20 Comments 

Brooke Leigh Henson

July 18, 2009

The tiny mountain town of Travelers Rest, South Carolina, population hovering around 1,000, has only one unsolved missing person case. It is the case of Brooke Leigh Henson, or “Brookey”, as her friends know her. July 4, 2009, is the tenth year Brooke has remained missing.

Brooke’s friends describe her as being a carefree person who enjoys fresh air and sunshine. She is comfortable hiking the mountain trials and hanging out at Bald Rock with her friends. She is a natural beauty seldom wearing makeup. Her friends describe her personality as easy going. Brooke also enjoyed spending time with her mother and going on shopping trips. Brooke is a homebody. They tell us Brooke Henson enjoys the waterfalls in Northern Greenville County. Some have surmised it would be accurate to describe her as a beautiful free spirited young woman. She is a sweet person, and by any one’s account, well loved in her community. She was only 20 years old when she disappeared.

On July 3, 1999, Brooke’s parents attended an Allman Brothers concert in Charlotte, N. C. The then 20 year old Brooke had scheduled her first party, at home, without her parents. She invited her friends. Most of Brooke’s friends left the party, or were leaving, before 2:00 in the early morning hours of July 4. As they left, Brooke told some of them she was going to sit on the porch with her boyfriend while waiting for her parents to get home.

Brooke’s parents, Martin and Cathy Henson, arrived home from the concert in Charlotte, about 2:00 a.m. Shaun Shirley, Brooke’s 30 year old boyfriend, was on the porch with Brooke. Cathy Henson, Brooke’s mother, overheard Brooke and Shaun arguing and overheard her say she was leaving the area. Shaun left. Brooke told her mother she did not intend to go anywhere and had only said that to get attention from Shaun Shirley. Another account has her parents returning home to find Brooke alone on the porch crying because she had broken up with her boyfriend. According to her Aunt, at some point, Brooke told her father, Martin Henson, that she was going to leave town for 5 years to get away from Shaun.

After the argument and after Shaun Shirely left, Brooke told her mother, Cathy, she was going to take a walk down to the local convenience store, W. E. Willis, to purchase cigarettes. The W. E. Willis store is approximately a block and a half from their home. The 5′4″ Brooke Leigh Henson was last seen walking down tree lined Henderson Drive. Brooke disappeared between 2:30 a.m. and 2:43 a.m.

U.S. Highway 25 begins in Brunswick, Ga., goes through Travelers Rest, S. C., and ends in Ashville, N.C..

U.S. Highway 276 traverses northwest from Travelers Rest to smaller mountain towns, as well as southeast from Travelers Rest into the center of the city of Greenville, S.C., where it becomes part of U.S. Highway 25.

Some notes on the location:

Travelers Rest is a beautiful small town. The skyline silhouettes the Blue Ridge Mountains and it has spectacular views, waterfalls, parks, and numerous hiking trails. It is a peaceful community, loving its children and its heritage. Most of the portion of Greenville County, where Travelers Rest is located, is full of wooded areas.

Three weeks passed before Travelers Rest Police took steps to find Brooke Henson. By then it had rained, and the search dogs could not catch the scent. According to Brookes Aunt Christie Metcalf, the police thought she was off on her own and would come back. When they did begin to look for Brooke, patrol officers were initially following up leads and questioning individuals and friends.

Detective Jon Campbell, said this delay, along with patrol officers taking statements, were mistakes. There seems to be a mistake in the handling of the paperwork. Detective Campbell says the lieutenant should have turned the case over to the Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s Office would have placed the case in the trained hands of the Homicide detectives, and they would have conducted the initial interviews in the investigation, not patrol officers. Current officers deeply regret the previous departments’ handing of the case.

Eventually, the case landed on the desk of Detective Jon Campbell. Many theories presented themselves, as does happen in missing person cases. One theory was Brooke simply went away of her own free will. Another theory held that Brooke had planned to renew a relationship with a previous boyfriend. Detective Campbell wanted to follow up on this, but was not able to because the person was, by that time, deceased. He had overdosed and died. There was some speculation, by the public, that his death could have been a suicide, accident, or murder. Another theory held that Brooke was abducted. And lastly, a theory that Brooke was deceased, a murder victim. Detective Campbell believed she was deceased and was murdered in the area of River Falls, a popular hang out and party place for young people.

Shaun Shirley, the handsome 30 year old boyfriend of Brooke Henson, was someone Detective Jon Campbell very much wanted to interview. The records show, Shaun Shirley, a local contractor, arrested on the weekend following Brooke’s disappearance. His arrest was for assaulting two minors. When he realized Detective Campbell wanted to speak with him, he quickly called an attorney. That put an end to any candid interviews. Shaun Shirley had a rap sheet with a history of violent episodes leading to arrests. He has since moved to a more remote area in the mountains.

Then in 2006, a phone call from the NYC Police Department offered hope. In fact, they called the Travelers Rest Police Department to report they had found Brooke Henson. The NYCPD said Brooke Henson was living in Manhattan as a student.

Detective Campbell asked the NYCPD to get a DNA test performed to prove it was Brooke. They set up an appointment for the test, and Detective Campbell notified Cathy Henson they would need a sample from her for a DNA comparison. Cathy Henson was very ill, by this time, suffering from terrible anxiety. They had to carry her to the car to get her to the facility.

The imposter failed to appear to give an agreed upon DNA sample. The NYCPD had to force their way into the apartment only to find nothing left behind that could provide a DNA comparison. She had taken her cat, her toothbrush, and hairbrushes, and fled.

Detective Campbell pursued the case of the imposter using Brooke’s identity. He played a major role in assimilating information, until his promotion to the State Law Enforcement Division. He felt confident they would find this person, and left the department saying he would make himself available as much as possible to assist in the case.

Two and one half years later, they captured the 30 year old, Ester Elizabeth Reed. Ester Reed was represented by Attorney Ann Marie Fitz. She awaited trial in the Greenville County jail. She faced charges of mail fraud, possession of false identity documents, and identity theft. In August 2008, she pled guilty to the Federal charges, and in February 2009, her sentence was to serve four years in prison, out of a possible 41 years. Ester Reed did not have any role in the disappearance of Brooke Henson.

Lisa Henson, Brooke’s Aunt, confronted Ester Reed letting her know she may have stolen Brooke’s identification, but she was nothing like the sweet person that is her niece.

The crimes of Ester Reed speak nothing to the pain of false hope the family suffered.

From Detective Jon Campbell’s work, we know that Ester Reed was able to get access to Brooke’s social security through a Law Enforcement computer in Vermont. He reasons Reed must have known someone there who had access to the computer. At that time, only criminals, on the most wanted list, had social security numbers set up to flag if someone accessed them. A missing person would not be flagged. It is possible Reed saw the website for Brooke Henson that her Aunt put up in 2002, and arrived at the idea of impersonating her.

In the aftermath of all this, Cathy and Martin Henson have divorced. After Brooke went missing, Cathy fell victim to debilitating anxiety, and could no longer remain employed. Martin Henson, a former brick mason, is a victim of multiple sclerosis. He keeps to himself and lives a solitary life. He clings to the hope that Brooke will return, as each year passes.

Brooke Leigh Henson is missing. Her parents, Cathy and Martin miss their daughter. Her Aunts, Lisa Henson, Cathy Henson, and Christy Metcalf miss their neice. Her many friends, neighbors and people of her community miss this lovely person with each passing day.

Each year, Brooke’s family and friends hold a vigil at the Travelers Rest Police Department, on the anniversary of the day she disappeared, July 4. This year marks the tenth year since they last saw Brookey, but they have not given up hope. They will not give up hope that Brooke is out there.

Brooke Leigh Henson

Female

White

Disappeared: age 20

Age today: 30

Height: 5′4″

Weight: 104 lbs.

Hair: Brown, straight

Eyes: Brown

If you have seen Brooke Leigh Henson, or have any information about the case, please contact, Clark Brazier. He is the investigator on the case. There is a $7,000.00 reward associated with the case.

Clark Brazier, Investigator

(864) 834-9029

JusticeForBrooke@trpolice.com

For more information on this case:

http://www.helpfindthemissing.org/forum/showthread.php?t=39&highlight=brooke+henson

References:

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/h/henson_brooke.html

http://www.myspace.com/justiceforbrookehenson

http://www.amw.com/missing_persons/case.cfm?id=42966

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/ohio-news/id-theif-mothers-death-led-to-identity=thefts-112723.html

http://foxnews.com/wires/2009Feb11/0,3670,IdentityTheftIvyLeague,00.html

http://www.wyff4.com/news/16791196/detail.html

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/399933_conartist13.html

http://www.angelfire.com/mi3/mpccn/bhenson.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vicky-ward/esther-reed-how-an-ordina_b_166188.html

Written by Linda Johnson · Filed Under Brooke Henson, Cold Cases, Missing Women | 1 Comment