Melanie Metheny, The Family’s Story

August 19, 2009

Melanie’s paternal Grandmother, Sandra Metheny, conducted her own investigation by canvassing for witnesses and interviewing everyone, and anyone, who might have the tiniest bit of knowledge of the whereabouts of Melanie Renee Metheny.  Names may be represented as initials or omitted to protect the innocent. This is her story.

After three years the relationship with the father of Nathan and Hannah, Matthew Harper, ended amicably.  When the 5 foot 3 inch, 100 pound, Melanie Metheny broke up with the father of her two youngest children she was drug free. Melanie continued to bring the children for scheduled weekend visits with their paternal Grandparents and Father.

Eight months later, Melanie shared an apartment with her boyfriend, Jarrett Davis.  She, and two of her children, lived part-time with Jarrett Davis, and part-time with her two younger brothers.  The day before Melanie’s disappearance, she was desperate to have her half sister, and / or the mother of the person who introduced her to Jarrett Davis, say the night and accompany her the next day as she ran errands.  Neither of them spent the night, or accompanied her.

First Stop to drop off Haley

At 7:30 a.m., July 19, 2006, Jarrett Davis left for work.  Melanie was busy with the three children in his apartment.  Michael Lilly’s (Ryan’s Dad) parents had Ryan (Melanie’s oldest son) at their house for the past month.  Melanie was getting Nathan, Hannah, and Jarrett Davis’s daughter, Haley, ready for the day ahead.  She had a lot on her mind as she packed the children into their car seats and drove away.  She would have to drive to Route 60, a mile and a half away, if she wanted to use her cell phone.

Taking the cut off, the drive reduced to about five minutes to reach the first stop.  Melanie was dropping off Haley, Jarrett Davis’s daughter, with her relatives.  It was about 7:40 a.m. and she had Nathan and Hannah in their car seats.

Second Stop..Midland Avenue

By 7:45 a.m., she arrived at the Midland Avenue location.  Relatives lived on the left and the right of the turn around driveway.  Relatives of Melanie who lived in the house on the right had no knowledge of her being there.  The relative of Melanie on the left has chosen not to say one way, or the other, about seeing her that morning.  Using her cell phone, she could have called either relative and not made the trip.  It is an estimate she was only in the driveway for a minute or two before leaving.

Stop sign on Midland Avenue

At 7:50 a.m., a reliable witness recalled seeing her van at the stop sign on Midland Avenue.  The witness was on the way to work and routinely crossed the Route 60 where Midland Avenues stop sign is clearly in view.  In fact, this witness has seen Melanie’s van at that place on numerous occasions while the witness was on his way to work in downtown Belle.

7-11 Convenience Store

Melanie’s next stop was at the 7-11 convenience store where she often purchased snacks and drinks for the children.  The 7-11 is located within two minutes driving time of the daycare.  Sandra, Melanie’s grandmother, interviewed an employee of the 7-11 who does remember seeing Melanie that morning, but cannot recall the exact time.  The witness said the police had not asked for an interview, which leaves Sandra to wonder why. Convenience Store.

Country Kids Daycare Center in Belle

Her next stop was the Country Kids Daycare Center in Belle.  Law enforcement told the family Melanie signed the children into daycare about 8:00 a.m., on the morning of July 19, 2006.  Sandra has not been able to obtain confirmation from the daycare center, or see Melanie’s signature signing the children in that morning.  Melanie was able to sign the children in that morning for free daycare, because she told the center she needed to pick up transcripts from the Garnet Career Center in Charleston.  The facts tell a different story.  Melanie knew the transferred transcripts were at the University; there was no reason for her to go to the Garnet Career Center.  Something else was going on that morning.

At about 9:00 a.m. there was an outgoing call from Melanie’s cell phone to the Wreck-A-Mended Paint & Body shop to confirm an appointment for repairs on her car and to inquire about an insurance check to cover the repairs.  The recently stolen, 1998 Chevy minivan, was recovered less than a month before she disappeared.  The (then) juvenile who stole and damaged it was JP.  Melanie knew both the car thief and his sidekick, JC, seen riding in the stolen van.  It appears many people knew about the insurance check for almost $1,200.00.  However, Kanawha Sheriff Detective Lane and Sandra Metheny are not certain it was Melanie who made the call.  They are not sure Melanie was in possession of her cell phone that day.

About a month, before she disappeared, Melanie confronted the person who stole her minivan.  During that confrontation, JP picked up a rock when Melanie turned her back to walk away.  A friend called out and he dropped the rock.  Jarrett Davis said Melanie, still shaken, was not over the incident.

Then a second call from her phone connected at 9:30 a.m. to the voice mail of her cell phone account.  That was the last call logged from her cell phone.

Beech Street intersection

Later that afternoon, an eyewitness saw Melanie’s Chevy minivan between 1:00-1:30 p.m. crossing Beech Street in West Charleston.  The neighborhood, West Charleston, has a reputation for drug activities.  The eyewitness (name omitted) recognized the license plate number and personally knew Melanie and her van.  This eyewitness spotted her while on a break from helping a friend move that afternoon.  Police did not believe it was Melanie in the van, if it was in fact Melanie’s van spotted by the witness.

The only person in Melanie’s life that knew people in this neighborhood is her boyfriend, Jarrett Davis, but Davis could think of no reason for Melanie to be in that neighborhood.

Speedway Convenience Gas and Grocery

Sometime during July 19, a witness saw her near the dumpster of the Speedway Convenience Gas and Grocery store.  Karen West said, Melanie along with JP, who is one of the suspects in the joyride theft of Melanie’s van, approached her.  This prompted a rumor that Melanie was the victim of a fit of jealousy by JP’s girlfriend.

At about 6:00 p.m. the father of Melanie’s two youngest children, Matthew Harper, while on a cigarette break at Air Gas in West Charleston, spotted a red SUV and heard Melanie call out, “What about my babies?”, and the appearance of a struggle.  He reported it, right away, to the police.  He also told Sandra where he spotted the SUV.

Sandra found the SUV exactly where Matthew said he saw it and took down the license number.  When Sandra returned home she had a message waiting for her from the owner of the SUV who did not appreciate her taking down the vehicle tag number.  Getting that phone message was peculiar because Sandra’s phone number was not on any of the flyers put out in that neighborhood, wasn’t in the news broadcasts, and she did not encounter the man when she was looking the SUV over and getting the tag number.  How did he know it was Sandra and how did he obtain her phone number so quickly?

By 6:00 p.m. an employee at the Country Kids Daycare Center called Donna Harper, paternal grandmother of Nathan and Hannah, because Melanie had not shown up to pick up her children.  Donna knew instantly something was wrong because Melanie is a good and attentive mother and had never failed to show up for the children.

Sandra Metheny, Melanie’s grandmother, filed a missing person report that evening and set out to look for her.  Sandra began to search in the Campbell’s Creek area beginning with the apartment Melanie shared part-time with Jarrett Davis.  When Sandra arrived at the apartment, Jarrett was there.  He told Sandra he did not want to go with her because he wanted to take a shower.  She picked up one of Melanie’s brothers and they set out to look for Melanie.

Matt Harper, father of the two youngest children, searched the West Charleston neighborhood with James Metheny, Melanie’s younger brother, until 3:30 a.m.  In the meantime, Jarrett Davis spent the evening visiting a friend by the name of Troy.

Melanie’s 1998 Chevy minivan

Five days later, Melanie’s minivan was located.  It was found parked and locked without a trace of a fingerprint.  The minivan sat at the intersection of Wyoming Street and Beuhring Avenue in West Charleston.  Inside the locked minivan, they found several documents including a hand written note containing a phone number referencing property for sale, an insurance check for almost $1,200.00 in the glove box, and a business card from a Law Enforcement officer.  People who know Melanie have a hard time believing she would place a check for almost $1,200.00 in the glove box, especially in light of the stolen minivan only recently returned.  Her cell phone and her purse are still missing.  The insurance company is holding the money for repairs until Melanie returns, or the court intervenes.

Belle Police Chief R. J. Sizemore related the card in her van 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.  Sandra Metheny would like to know the name of the woman and would like to speak to her.  She wonders if Belle Police interviewed this woman.  Sandra, concluded by her own investigation, that the Belle area (the area where Melanie lived for all but two months of her life) was not canvassed by law enforcement.

Information came to Sandra from HM.  HM told her two days following Melanie’s disappearance, and before “finding” the van, the police stopped the van.  Inside the van were JP and JC.  Rumor has it that when confronted with this information police asked how HM came by information not yet released.

Sandra recently followed up on a lead regarding another urban rumor of what happened to Melanie.  She traveled to a remote section of Kanawha County to meet with a stranger who said he knew what happened to Melanie.  This urban rumor involves crooked LE and drug dealing money owed.  Nevertheless, Sandra is dedicated and follows up every possible lead to find her granddaughter.  She also turns the leads over to Law Enforcement.  This particular lead included a suggestion to search Witcher’s Creek, where coal sludge ponds are located.  We might only imagine how much of Sandra’s efforts take a toll on the tender heart of a Grandmother.

Leads continue to come in, some of them directly to Sandra, or via her relentless efforts to find Melanie.  Although Kanawha Police continue to receive tips and continue to investigate, information from Kanawha Detectives to Sandra has all but dried up.  She feels left out, in the dark.  She is begging anyone out there with event the tiniest bit of information to please, contact her or Kanawha Detectives.  She believes, with conviction, there is someone or some persons out there who can help bring Melanie home.

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Melanie’s mother, Deborah Lee Daniel, wants us to know that she is satisfied with the work of the local law enforcement.  She tells me Detective Kelly and Detective Monica keep in regular contact with her and she feels lucky to have them on the case.  Debi believes, strongly, that Melanie is alive and is out there. We need to find her.

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Additional facts and questions:

Some facts seem to beg discussion, or at least speculation.  Are they coincidence or are they more?  You decide.

  • Melanie Renee Metheny’s son, Ryan, is the Godson of Jason Holstein.  In 2008, after the disappearance of Melanie, Jason Holstein posted disparaging comments regarding her and made statements referring to Melanie as deceased on the findmelanie.com/guestbook.
  • On July 29, 2009, Jason Holstein, 28, of Belle, WV, along with two other men, were formally indicted by the Grand Jury and arraigned for murder, burglary and attempted robbery during a home invasion on January 19, 2009, resulting in the fatal shooting of David L Scarbro.
  • Authorities said Mr. Scarbro sustained a single gunshot wound to the back and multiple blows to the head and said the three men planned to rob him of drugs and cash.
  • References: www.wvgazette.com/news/200907010789
  • Reference: www.dailymail.com/news/kanawha/200907010868
  • Sandra Metheny wants us to know Melanie’s best friend, who had never been outside the area, left the state permanently following Melanie’s disappearance.
  • She also points out Melanie, an animal lover, found her dog killed the first Saturday of July 2006.

Help bring Melanie home.  The smallest piece of information can make a big difference.  The family has raised a reward of $5,000.00 for information that will lead to finding Melanie.

Investigative Agency: 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 foot 3 inches

Weight: 100 pounds

Hair Color: Blond

Eye Color: Brown

Complexion: Light

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Deborah Lee Daniel, Melanie’s Mother, wants us to know she did reach out to many and found volunteers who have since become her “new” family.  She has spoken to me about some of the hardships she encountered from surprising places.  As a result, of reaching out to others who have missing persons, she found many families, and friends who had encountered similar bumps in that hard road.  She spoke about the tremendous guilt carried by family and friends of the missing.

Hearing her poignant story moves me to write about the bumps in the road, and the guilt families suffer, as they seek to locate their loved one or dear friend.  I want to invite anyone who wishes to share, to simply post a request for contact on the blog and I will contact you.

Written by Linda Johnson · Filed Under Melanie Renee Metheny, Missing Women 

Comments

2 Responses to “Melanie Metheny, The Family’s Story”

  1. Linda Johnson on August 20th, 2009 10:52 am

    Correction:

    The Detective working with Deborah Lee Daniels is Detective Lane, not Det. Kelly or Det. Monica.

  2. Mary C. on August 24th, 2009 1:59 pm

    Melanie’s grandmother, Sandra, did a great job of investigating! If Melanie were here, she would give her a big round of applause and a hug.

    Linda, thanks for this good coverage!

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