He was active in the area at that time, and he had attacked another teenager in Arkansas. It could not be determined how she was killed. Fort Smith unsolved murder subject of new billboard campaign, Nonprofit launches billboard campaign to bring attention to 27-year-old cold case, Were not giving up: Search still alive 27 years after Melissa Witts disappearance and death, Nonprofit making sure Missy Witt cold case stays front & center, Who Killed Missy Witt team holds press conference on 27th anniversary of kidnapping, Non-profit group asking for information on 27-year-old Fort Smith murder case, More than a story: Nonprofit works to bring awareness to Melissa Witt case, Missy Witt: Cave Springs woman writes book about unsolved murder, Police Say Suspected Killer's Grandparents Withheld Evidence, Arrested man not suspect in girl's kidnap, cops say, Strangled (Who Killed Melissa Witt? The girl's stepfather found him in the midst of the attack and tried to beat him to death, although a sheriff's deputy arrived and intervened, according to local Fox affiliate station KNWA. Instead, we looked at the hard numbers from the FBI's last year of reporting. If you have information on their whereabouts, please contact the Detective Division at (479) 709-5116 . All charges were dropped in 2005. There was no one in the store, and there should have been, said Pevehouse. She had been brutally murdered and left to die along a logging trail in the Ozark National Forest about 50 miles from where she was abducted. The News-Leader contacted Kelle Ann Workman's brother, Marc. Each of these victims were submitted by families or law enforcement through our submission page. Melissas friends and family begin to hand out missing person flyers throughout the River Valley area. 322 South Main Streeet, Suite 615 Little Rock, AR 72201 (501) 682-2222 / Visit Website. While a murder just blocks or even a couple of towns away from your house would make anyone uneasy, in the long run, most likely, where you live is relatively safe. You just cant accept that your child is gone. She was very sweet, but timid and scared to death of her boyfriend. . The city with highest murder rate in Arkansas? The following persons have active warrants for their arrest. He weighed anestimated150 to 160 pounds. Arkansas is famous for many homeowners. Faces of Unsolved Homicide - Project: Cold Case. She was a 1967 graduate of Nixa High and her maiden name was Horton. Taxes and utilities also rank low on the national scale allowing those searching for dens in early October and early November. Download the Uncovered Citizen Detective Guide to learn more about how thoughtful and safe online sleuthing. Smith confessed that he raped Ash and stabbed her to death at theTV repair shop where he worked in Mountain Home, Arkansas. However, Missy's clothes and personal belongings were missing from the scene and were never found. The Colorado Cold Case Database features unsolved homicides, missing person, and unidentified person cases to assist law enforcement agencies in the development of information, which can lead to the identification, and arrest of any person (s) who may have committed any crime described on this page. So we wanted to get the facts straight and dug into the FBI crime data in order to identify the places with the most murders and the highest murder rates per capita in Arkansas. 1. The Missing Person Active/Expired Analysis and the Unidentified Person Active/Expired Analysis reports are available upon request. Updated: 6:31 AM CDT October 4, 2021. Did the River Valley Killer Have Other Victims? Dana had been very well-liked, her cousin Kristy said she didnt have any problems with anyone. Ashley County Obituaries, 1965-present from the Ashley County Ledger - also includes cemetery listings. An autopsy could not determine cause of death; she was not shot and apparently was not raped. Contact. If you have any possible . The body wasdecomposed. The victim is identified as 35-year-old . Her husband slept thatday because he worked a third shift at Springday, a Springfield manufacturer. Fort Smith shares its status with Greenwood as the county seat of Sebastian County. Smith has also confessed to killing several women while a U.S. Marine in West Germanyin the 1960s. She loves exploring the trails around the Buffalo National River and has yet to find a waterfall that wasn't her favorite. She resides in Western Arkansas' Mountain Frontier but calls NWA home as well. I wanted a better life for him than I had. The man told Davis "vigilantes" who suspected him of killing Workman had shot up his mobile home. Vine's disturbing and vicious rape and killing spree is further explored in theOxygenspecial "Snapped Notorious: The River Valley Killer." If you have any information regarding the missing persons or homicide victims on this website, please contact the Sheriff's Office Homicide Unit at 727-582-6153 or by email at jsuessiv@pcsonet.com. Records in the Missing Person File are retained indefinitely or until the individual is located or the record is canceled by the entering agency. 18 unsolved slayings in this area in five years. The IMCA sanctioned 3/8 mile oval and I situated in the unsolved murders in arkansas of 2005 was $207,000; however, in both your criminal trial and any penalties imposed by the unsolved murders in arkansas of the unsolved murders in arkansas can request to play the unsolved murders in arkansas if you do the responsible thing! Danas personal belongings, however, were not inside the car. "I kind of bonded with her. It is our seventh time ranking the most places with the most murders per capita in Arkansas and is updated for 2021. The majority of law enforcement officials consider photographs to be the most important tool in missing person cases. Ron Davis, the reporter, interviewed one of them. 6) Morton S. ROSENFELD (79C-083) LCSO-79-5249 DOD: 05/19/1979 . At approximately 7:45 PM, a person found Melissa's car keys and turned them in at the front desk at Bowling World. Mary Anne had assumed her daughter went to hang with friends and never made it to the bowling alley. She parked her car, and before she would even make it inside the bowling alley, investigators believe Missy was abducted from the parking lot. William Scott Smith Unemployed cook, Salem, Ore. . The murder of two grandparents tears a family apart; two decades later, a detective races to solve the cold case that has haunted him since he was a child. Early in the history of Arkansas and the city, Fort Smith was an important point of contact to the American West. Denver Post . If you have any information, you can call the River Valley crime stoppers at (479)-78-CRIME. Over a month after she went missing, her body was found in the Ozark National Forest. if(window.innerWidth<700){ezoicSiteSpeed(jQuery(document),String(/documentReady/).substring(1).slice(0,-1),String(/jQuery-document-dot-ready/).substring(1).slice(0,-1),function($){$("#skip_expand").html("(Expand+)");$("#toc ul").css("display","none");$("#skip_expand").on("click",function(){$("#toc ul").toggle()});$("#toc h3").on("click",function(){$("#toc ul").toggle()});});}. Sergeant Shannon Jenkins of the Benton County Sheriff's Office told Dateline that they received a phone call from Danas brother, Larry, at 9:15 p.m. on the 25th to report Dana missing. In December 1977 a man was arrested in connection to the death and questioned. We were together all the time, Kristy said. Once inside, the responders found the brutalized bodies of four teenage girls-Amy Ayers, Jennifer Harbison, Sarah Harbison and Eliza Thomas. ARKANSAS (KNWA/KFTA) In 2020, Fayetteville has had seven homicides/murders; there were five in 2019, according to the Fayetteville police department (FPD). True Crime Garage - Melissa Witt Part 2 /// 162, True Crime Garage - Melissa Witt Part 1/// 161, Murder in the Hills, episode 1: The Unsolved Murder of Melissa Witt & The Abduction of Morgan Nick, Local Documentarians Develop New Leads in Melissa Witt Cold Case, 304 // Who Killed Melissa Witt? The suspect had passed a polygraph test and told Davis that when he had talked about killing Workman he was "joking.". Crime News is your destination for true crime stories from around the world, breaking crime news, and information about Oxygen's original true crime shows and documentaries. They denied ever suggesting Lamb was involvedbut stood firm in their belief Lamb was incompetent as a criminal investigator. He was looking for his cattle when he saw a white object in a grove of cedar trees, near a fallen tree;it was the skull of Carol Blades. Dana agreed to run out for her father and left the home to make the four-mile drive in her grey Dodge Omni around 3:00 p.m. Georgia said she got home after work around 4:00 p.m., and Lawrence told her Dana had not yet returned. Unsolved Cases . That caused him to jerk the coat down. Arkansas Death Records Indexes, Obituaries and Cemeteries by County. She was considering studying business at university. We aim to deliver infotainment about where you live that your real estate agent won't tell you. Blades' husband, Larry, and her parents Louis and Geraldine Horton took issue with the sheriff's comments. Sure, that's fiction. The 2019 Fort Smith crime rate rose by 17% compared to 2018. The Fort Smith Police Department investigated her disappearance as a missing person case until they found her body days later off Highway 71 and Treece Road. Larry Swearingen was looked at as a person of interest in this case. Your chance of being a victim of violent crime in Fort Smith is 1 in 90 and property crime is 1 in 18. A kind stranger came along and gave her a jump start. Melissa asked her mom to borrow some money and told her she would pay her back with her next paycheck. Bowling World didnt have security cameras in the parking lot, and though some convenience stores in the vicinity did have cameras, they were too far away from the crime scene to be useful. You may also email information to the Detectives, by clicking on the link. Murder! All rights reserved. There is no required waiting period to report a missing person. A trail of blood was later found in the parking lot. Chasing Chains, LLC. Three people in a vehicle spotted the Blades' car as it pulled off of northbound Highway 160 onto the shoulder; a man, possibly the killer,exited the passenger side. Would you dare investigate what clawed monster lives in the deep? "Since her death in 1989 our family has reached out to the law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation on numerous occasions," he said. Both cases remain unsolved. We use data, analytics, and a sense of humor to determine the dirt on places across the country. But Melissa never came home, and Mary Anne grew worried. Arkansas law requires all missing persons to be entered immediately. If I did, I would certainly honor your most understandable request.. The court determined that the events were not foreseeable and the case was ultimately dismissed. Tragically, we'll never know who murdered these young men. Helena-West Helena Source: Public domain Overall SnackAbility 1 /10 Population: 10,187 Rank Last Year: 8 Murders: 11 (4th Most) Murders Per 100k: 108.0 (Most) More on Helena-West Helena: Data | Photos 2. Mark Alan SMITH: 1966 - 1970: 4 - 12: Arkansas, USA : Richard Wayne SNELL: 1983 / 1984: 2: Arkansas, USA . On December 6, 1991, Austin, Texas was shell-shocked by a vicious crime. If you send me images or newspaper clippings I assume that I may use them on my website. Compare Fort Smith crime data to other cities, states, and neighborhoods in the U.S. on NeighborhoodScout. However, with a period of no less than 90 days of community service. We all know she was really responsible, and she knew her dad was waiting on the medicine. The two Thackers were sentenced to the Arkansas Department of Correction in August 2011 after pleading guilty in Sebastian County Circuit Court each to a charge of attempted capital murder in. 1. Lambblamed the Blades family for starting rumors that he was involved in the murder. Six weeks after the abduction, two hunters in the Ozark National Forest discovered Missy's body on January 13, 199545 miles from her home in Fort Smith.