IN-Melinda Karen Creech, Missing for 24 years [Archive] - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

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Kelly

08-25-2004, 01:38 AM

Melinda Creech
Missing since September 4, 1979 from Anderson, Madison County, Indiana.
Classification: Endangered Runaway

Vital Statistics

Date Of Birth: September 21, 1963
Age at Time of Disappearance: 16 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: N/A
Distinguishing Characteristics: Blonde hair; blue eyes. Possibly wavey hair.
Dentals: Available

Circumstances of Disappearance
Melinda Creech ran away from home several times. When she ran away from home in 1979 she was never seen again. At least not by her siblings who were led to believe, by their mother, that she had been found dead in New York. This was untrue according to documents found after the mothers death. Creech could use a different last name.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Madison County Sheriffs Office
Detective Callahan
765-646-9281

Family website: http://www.geocities.com/mindyscandle/index.html

Kelly Jolkowski
President and Founder,
Project Jason
www.projectjason.org

2sisters

08-28-2004, 09:02 PM

Maybe if she ran away, Melinda went to one of the bigger cities in Indiana. Maybe if the family did searches there and put her story one the local news and newspapers (if they haven't) in places like Indianapolis, Lafayette, Fort Wayne, Evansville, or even Louisville, Ky and Chicago. they could get a lead. Maybe billboards on theiterstate would be an option. I'm sure they have done or thought of this, but I just thought I would throw it out there.

AuntieKaren

08-29-2004, 02:50 AM

WasBlind

08-29-2004, 06:00 AM

http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/1297dfin.html

Interesting link for a "Melinda Creech" I found on yahoo, which states "Photos of worship banners designed and created by Melinda Creech."

http://www.seminext.com/synapse/photoalbum/album_view.cfm?albumid=4579&website=rrcreech.com

Might be somehow related to them.

All matches for Melinda Creech on yahoo are here

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=%22Melinda+Creech%22&ei=UTF-8&fr=FP-tab-web-t&cop=mss&tab=

Prayers for this family. Thanks for the info, Kelly.

With HOPE, Lanie
Help For The Missing
HelpForTheMissing@yahoo.com

Kelly

09-11-2004, 06:53 PM

http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=2265077&nav=9TaiQckX

Anderson, September 6 - Fourteen-year-old Melinda Karen Creech disappeared September 4, 1979. Twenty-five years later her brother Daryl Creech of Oklahoma hopes to find her.

Melinda lived in Anderson, Indiana in the 2900 block of West Cross Street along with her siblings.

They say their mother assured them their lost sister passed away after a body turned up in New Jersey. But now there are lots of questions.

"What would cause a 14-year-old girl to disappear and never be seen or heard from again," asks Madison County Sheriff Terry Richwine

Years after their mother's death and a search through her personal belongings raised more questions.

Melinda's siblings found an unsent letter by Melinda to a possible boyfriend named Ricky Williams, an invitation someone gave Melinda to a party, her address book and the most shocking discovery,
a letter disclosing unmatched dental records indicating that the body found was not Melinda.

"That brings into question why she put that information out when she knew it was not true," said
Richwine.

Doe Network is an organization dedicated to heating up cold missing persons cases. They, just like Melinda's siblings, would like to know why Melinda's mother gave out false information about her death.

"Maybe she was afraid the other kids, her sisters and brothers might do everything they could to see that she got back home," said Julie Mearing of Doe Network.

After 25 years, the Creechs hope to find not only a missing sister, but answers as well..

emma l

09-13-2004, 09:39 AM

Melindas poor family. I can think of another reason that Melindas mother might want people to give up and think she was dead. I hope I am wrong. Bless her. :angel:

WasBlind

12-11-2004, 03:40 PM

Praying for Melinda.

With love and HOPE, Lanie

KT Can

07-29-2005, 08:03 PM

Bumping for Melinda.....

Kelly, do you know if there have been any updates on Melinda's case? Has the family received any new leads? Did they get any response to the letters that they sent out? I think of Melinda often and hold out hope that this family can be reunited.

Kelly

07-29-2005, 08:42 PM

I have not heard from Melinda's family in a very long time, even though I have emailed them. I wish I could tell you more. (sigh) Thanks for asking, though.

Kelly

dmvpenn

07-30-2005, 02:49 PM

Oh My, what a strange twist for the family to find information that their mom put forth false information. Truth is stranger then fiction.

Prayers to the family for strengh as they search for the answers.

Kimberly1

10-21-2005, 11:19 PM

Paradise

10-23-2005, 09:36 PM

Emma I also thought of a reason Melindas mother would want people to believe she was dead. Maybe her mother didn't bother to show up at her court case and sometime later Melinda confronted her about it. Later a terrible fight took place and Melinda was killed. The mother convinced her family that Melinda was dead (Princess Doe) so they would not question her about Melindas whereabouts as they became older.
I was also thinking this too as I read this thread. I wonder if her mother or someone close to her killed her, and her mother was just saying that her body was found to protect someone.

meggilyweggily

10-24-2005, 02:09 AM

I can think of a more benign explanation: the mother simply wanted to forget about the whole experience.

pugsley

10-24-2005, 01:16 PM

The family is trying to obtain DNA so they can do testing against a few Jane doe's. More info at her website, but a big CAUTION as there is an actual coroner photo of one of the Jane's.

http://www.geocities.com/mindyscandle/

hoping4truth

06-14-2006, 05:28 PM

I saw this Jane Doe on the DOE network a while back. And when I was looking for something else today in regards to Franklin Floyd (Sharon Marshall thread) I came upon Melinda and immediately thought of her.

Jane Doe (http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/264uftn.html)

Melinda Creech (http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewChildDetail&caseNum=1036765&orgPrefix=NCMC&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US)

I hope I'm wrong. Do any of you see a resemblance?

The only thing that bothers me is that this DOE was found 5 years after Melinda went missing.

Khavna

06-15-2006, 06:25 PM

i see a resemblance the only thing is that the jane doe's estimated time of death is 3-6 weeks and was found in 1985(?) she went missing in 1979 thats 6 years not 6 weeks :(

hoping4truth

06-15-2006, 07:45 PM

Khavna

06-15-2006, 07:49 PM

Yeah, I know. :(

The only reason I put it out there is because Melissa ran away from an abusive homelife. I put it here thinking it could be possible that she lived on her own for a while, and met a horrible fate, later. The Jane Doe was in the right age range for it to have been Melissa. If Melissa ran away and got involved with the wrong people, then this is possible. Especially since she was 6 wks pregnant.

Like I said, I hope I'm wrong. I'd rather her be alive and just contemplating contacting her family.

she was pregnant and only 14?! well, that could be a reason for her to runaway meaning that her parents did not know and she didn't want them to find out, then something tragic could have happened to her along the way of her running away. mind you when i looked at the two pictures they look very similar uncanny that is.

hoping4truth

06-15-2006, 08:03 PM

Melinda wasn't pregnant. The Jane Doe was. Sorry for the confusion.

Khavna

06-15-2006, 08:28 PM

Melinda wasn't pregnant. The Jane Doe was. Sorry for the confusion.
Ahh o.k i see now :banghead: maybe melinda could have been pregnant? there is a possiblity that this Jane doe could be Melinda they look VERY similar. the only differences i see is when the jane doe was found the estimated time of death is way out, mind you it is a estimate but i don't believe it was a skeleton either, who knows Melinda went missing when she was 14 right, she might have went to another state as this Jane Doe was found in Tennesse with someone or by herself (or kidnapped) got pregnant then was murdered the age range of the jane doe is 15-17 years old not too far off from Melinda's age range. just a theory

Khavna

06-15-2006, 08:32 PM

laini

06-16-2006, 01:00 AM

What about this Jane Doe?

www.doenetwork.us/cases/81ufar.html (http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/81ufar.html)

hoping4truth

06-16-2006, 02:37 AM

another note is you say thay melinda ran away from an abusive home,however it has her listed as lost,Injured,Missing and has not listed her as a runaway. i believe there is no evidence or her being a runaway. there have been so many children snatched from their own homes sadly, this could be the case with Melinda :(

Earlier in this thread there was a post made by another member that has a link to the family's webpage (post 14).

On that web page, it says that Melissa ran away and that the youngest brother Caryl tried to convince her to stay:

"Until then I just try to stay very busy so I don’t worry about her all of the time. I have felt such a huge loss and void from never knowing what happened to her. The hardest hit was our younger brother Caryl (pronounced as Carl). He remembers watching her run down the road and him yelling, “Please don’t go!” He regrets not being able to stop her from running away. Even knowing she never wanted to see us again, would hurt much less than not knowing anything and it would release Caryl from his guilt of not being big enough, old enough, or strong enough to stop her. He still feels as if it was his fault in some way."

Khavna

06-16-2006, 08:43 PM

could it be that them saying that she was a runaway a cover-up to the truth?:twocents:

2sisters

09-12-2006, 12:02 PM

http://community.cnhi.com/eve/forums/a/cfrm/f/181105623
this is an Anderson, IN community forum, maybe a post on there would generate some leads?

2sisters

10-01-2006, 12:12 PM

Has her falimy been invited to come to websleuths yet? does anyone think I should post about her on the local anderson, in forum? who knows, she may read it.

laini

10-01-2006, 11:13 PM

I think that is a good idea to invite them to websleuths. I also think the Arizona Jane Doe someone posted above resembles Melinda a Lot.

2sisters

10-01-2006, 11:38 PM

Ok ,i left a message on Melinda's guestbook letting them know we are here. i am sure they have been here before but I guess every little bit helps. I think they have a real good chance of finding her alive.

missacorah

10-02-2006, 05:35 AM

I really hope so but I just cant imagine why the mother claimed Melinda had died. Even if she wanted to forget, this would just be adding more fuel to the fire.

mjak

10-02-2006, 10:42 AM

What about this Jane Doe?

www.doenetwork.us/cases/81ufar.html (http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/81ufar.html)
Wow, I think there is a real strong resembalnce between Melinda and this Jane doe!! Good match up.

mjak

reb

10-02-2006, 01:27 PM

i'm surprised no one has brought this up yet:
she could have been killed at the detention center/youth home, and there could have been some kind of cover-up (maybe someone took her away & dumped or buried her, to save themselves). have all the employees from that time been investigated to see if there were any reports of abuse-- that is, if any records were kept?

sometimes things happen semi-accidently, from use of restraints, solitary confinement, or a person has an unseen heart condition that kills them during a struggle, and the employees don't get medical help for them in time... i wonder if this youth home still exists or what kind of place it was. if it was a sketchy place, there could have been all kinds of abuses going on.
another possibility- a sexual predator worked there... or she could have threatened to tell people about something going on there.. and she 'disappears'. just a thought.
i wonder if the family has checked morgue records in that area from that time frame to see what kind of anonymous people were buried or cremated.
in the old days, many asylums had their own graveyards (!!!!!!) you gotta wonder about that.. how many suspicious deaths occured. but probably by the 1970's, and for a juvenile detention home, that wouldn't be the case (at least,, legally).
probably, her running away from the place and getting mixed up with the wrong people is a more likely scenario. perhaps she hitched a ride with a trucker or someone else who was intent on murdering young girls.

i wonder if dalles from the cold cases thread (who wrote the book about his trucker father murdering several young people, still yet to be identified) has looked at her photo...?

i would think if she got out of that place alive, she would have either stayed with the friends or acquaintances of someone she knew closeby for a night or 2, and then they might hae hopped on a greyhound bus or hitchhiked straight to california, or maybe vegas... with promises of work and money. i hope any jane does along those routes (& in those areas) have been thoroughly checked.

what about this one:
http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/255ufok.html
it says some teeth are out of alignment (which mindy's appear to be, although we don't know if mindy had gotten extensive dental work done? maybe she did after she left the youth home, and someone else paid for it?) and she could have given herself some crude tattoos while in the youth home. the only thing is they say she is 18-25, and mindy would have been 14-15.
i wasn't clear (from her brother's website) if she ran away from HOME, or from the youth home in sept '79. but the remains were found in april 1980, so... well, anyway they've probably already seen her.

reb

10-02-2006, 01:28 PM

OK.... this one's probably been ruled out also, but she is a spitting image of mindy!:
http://www.doenetwork.us/

2sisters

10-02-2006, 02:21 PM

reb, the link just goes to the home page, can you repost it please? I am hoping her family comes on over her to talk to us. i never thought about an accidental death at the detention center. I hope that didn't happen.

laini

10-02-2006, 02:53 PM

reb

10-02-2006, 06:09 PM

oops, sorry, here it is again. i think the resemblance is shocking.. but again, her family must have seen it already.. if not, they should!

http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/258ufnv.html

as for the theory about her accidental death at the detention center... my idea was that NOBODY knew about it. just the staff member (or members) who were involved. perhaps he/they used too much force to subdue her when she was acting out, or trying to run away, or she ran and they brought her back... and they cold sheet-rapped her (a common practive in psych hospitals & youth homes even in the 1980's.. maybe not used much anymore...?) or restained her some other way, tackled her, hit her, cut off her oxygen, she hit her head, she suffocated, who knows... and then instead of getting in trouble, he or they took the body away in secret and disposed of it. it would probably be difficult for this to happen without anyone else knowing about it, but you never know. there may have been no witnesses. or, perhaps she was raped by some psycho who worked there and then he got rid of the body at night... took her out with a huge bag of dirty laundry, or something,, in case anyone saw him. loaded it into his vehicle in the dark, and dumped her somewhere. (just brainstorming here.) and then her mother never knew about it, just heard she ran away, searched for her years later, saw the story about jane doe in NY and assumed it must be her; looked into it with the help of police, then when the police told her it WASN'T her, she was crushed because she could not get closure. so she just decided to convince herself it really was her, and tell her siblings that, so they could have closure too. or maybe as a "see, this is what you get when you run away" lesson. i think she just felt more comfortable believing it was her, no matter what the cop told her. she just had to close that chapter in her life.

i've also noticed something about the whole runaway issue... it seems that in the old days, a female runaway was considerd a shame upon the family. a young girl who did that was considerd a loose, girl, a bad girl, wild, etc.. and i think mothers back then were more likely to just disown their daughter, and write them off. times have changed and parents now seem to do anything possible to get help for their kids, love them no matter what. etc. but i think in earlier times, female runaways were just kind of forgotten about. who knows how mindy's mom felt about her, but she obviously cared enough to try to look for her. and of course there was no internet- and less efficient communications then, so it was harder to look for someone. but she may have been angry at mindy, or angry at the fact that she couldn't find any answers on her whereabouts. so that's why she stuck with the lie of her being murdered.

i coudn't find anything about the 'old blake house' online (including images). but one thing that clued me to the fact that the place might be kind of shabby is that her brother said it was an informal detention center for youths. perhaps this means it was not very well run or well-funded.

reb

10-02-2006, 07:01 PM

OK (correction!), i see now that the mother told her remaining children in 1982, that mindy was killed. then the articles about the unidentified homicide victims, and the letter from the detective saying that it wasn't mindy-- that were found later by mindy's brother after their mom's death in 2003- were from the late 80's.
so...... even though their mom- in '82- had not yet followed that lead and reached a dead end,, she could have still told the lie about mindy being found dead, just to end the whole thing. and perhaps she felt in some way, that 'she would have deserved it'.
strange though-- about her protectiveness of the shed with her husband's tools in it- and the fact that mindy's friends were so convinced that it had some connection to her disappearance.. and that 'their beliefs were so strong they said it was if they could hear mindy calling out to them'......!!! what is up with that??
one thing i'm confused about though-- is that the idea of mindy & her mom having a fight & her being killed suggests that she must have come home AFTER being in the detention center.. right? but everything else on her site suggests that she ran away from center, & was never seen again. so i'm not very clear on that.

another thing that really baffles me--- how no one really know if "she escaped or tried to escape" from the center...? how could you not know which one it was? didn't her mother demand answers??? so if she escaped, then she'd either be in hiding (or not) or living under a different identity to this day (perhaps even in another country),, homeless & unaware that people are looking for her, or something bad happened to her out there & she's dead. if she 'tried to escape'.. what does that mean? does that mean she did escape but was brought back? does it mean she was planning to, but was caught? this implies to me that she may have been punished. in mental hospitals, escaping is a very bad thing... because that means the hospital is liable if something happens to you. so normally they take away ALL privileges, or put you in solitary confinement for a few days, or use whatever other punishments they have. and juvenile centers are much the same, if not worse.

reb

10-02-2006, 07:17 PM

this is also strange.. the charley project states that in 1994, shirley (the mother) informed her kids that mindy had been found dead. must be a misprint, since her brother says shirley told them the lie in '82. it also says they consider her an 'extremely abusive parent'. i also wonder why there is no mention of a father, other than his tools being in the shed.. was the father around, did they know their father? was he alive? and why was there no photo of him on mindy's website (on the family page)? the CP also says that she is of hispanic descent! wow, could've fooled me!! shirley definitely looks like she could be, maybe even part black. but the kids, and especially mindy- look completely irish to me! i wonder if there is more to this story.. is their mom really their mom? how come her kids didn't inherit her skin tone, which appears to be quite dark (maybe the photos aren't very accurate though)? if she was abusive, did that come from her rage at being abandoned by her husband/her kids' father? maybe mindy reminded her of him.
also it states that mindy had a previously fractured left arm~! i wonder if that was from abuse....????

also.. what is on the grounds on the old blake house now? is it still a youth center, or changed to something else? has the property around there been searched- are there any woods (or areas that were wooded in '79) or a pond/lake nearby?

2sisters

10-03-2006, 12:27 AM

Reb, i think you should contact Doe Network about it or email melinda's family about her. you never know, they may not have seen it. on the website, they have an email on there. Is there anyone from Anderson, In on ehre that can answer a few questions about the Blake House?

reb

10-03-2006, 12:52 AM

OK, i sent an e-mail to the address on mindy's brother's website. better safe than sorry, right?
if it's not her, then it sure is an amazing likeness! and the body was found about a week after death so the drawing is probably quite accurate. good ol' wesley neville!! what a talented guy, as are so many of those forensic artists. what an amazing thing that they do!

laini

10-03-2006, 01:31 AM

Reb, you have lots of good thoughts.

Hmm. I wonder if maybe there was a Jane Doe in/around 1994 and their mom knew it was Melinda but never identified her to LE. She told her kids Melinda was murdered in 1994? Or she told them in 1994? Ok, now I am confusing myself. LOL

laini

10-03-2006, 01:33 AM

Ok. So, it looks like their mom told them Melinda was murdered in 1982? (not 1994)

laini

10-03-2006, 01:39 AM

www.doenetwork.us/cases/491ufin.html (http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/491ufin.html)

This jane doe was found in 1982 and in Indiana. She resembles Melinda some I think. Same state and same year?

2sisters

10-03-2006, 10:56 AM

I wouldn't pay too much attention to dates in this case b/c there seems to be alot of misinformation and the Creech children seem have started from square one too many years later with not alot to go on. i am still crossing my fingers and hoping they come on over here.

lymom3

10-04-2006, 06:27 PM

"We think we found Melinda alive and well, but she won’t respond. We are still trying to fill in the blanks to prove this. We over nighted her a birthday card and it has not been returned yet. That was 14 days ago. She can’t be removed from the list of missing until she does."

That was posted as of today....hope it's true for the family's sake.

2sisters

10-04-2006, 10:44 PM

can you post a link to that?i hope she will see her family, they seem to really want to see her again

lymom3

10-05-2006, 07:15 AM

http://porchlightinternationalformissinguid.com/

It won't link to the actual thread but it is under The Cabinet Forum and The Cabinet.

reb

10-05-2006, 03:10 PM

i couldn't find that forum,, but wow, what great news for them!! even if she doesn't want to respond for whatever reason.. i'm sure her siblings can rest easier knowing she is alive & at least might read what they have to say to her. it might be incredibly difficult for her to respond if she has been cut off from them for so long.

mfmangel1

10-06-2006, 02:29 AM

http://porchlightinternationalformissinguid.com/

It won't link to the actual thread but it is under The Cabinet Forum and The Cabinet.
I couldn't find any heading for "The Cabinet" or "The Cabinet Forum" at that site.

The listing I found for Melinda Creech was the original thread posted in August 2006....There were no updates.

Please help! :confused:

docwho3

10-06-2006, 03:58 AM

Here are some links, maybe they have already been seen and if so "ooops, sorry 'bout that."

http://www.geocities.com/mindyscandle/latestFindings.html

http://www.wthr.com/global/story.asp?s=2265077&ClientType=Printable

http://www.dogpile.com/info.dogpl/search/web/%252522Melinda%252BKaren%252BCreech%252522/1/-/1/-/-/-/1/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/417/top/-/-/-/1

http://www.bgct.org/TexasBaptists/Document.Doc?&id=366

meggilyweggily

10-06-2006, 07:56 AM

I couldn't find any heading for "The Cabinet" or "The Cabinet Forum" at that site. You have to be a special member to see the Cabinet.

lymom3

10-06-2006, 08:45 AM

I guess that's why the link wouldn't post...I didn't think about that...I'll let you know if I see any updates though....

2sisters

10-16-2006, 10:27 AM

bumping her thread up

2sisters

11-20-2006, 12:08 PM

bumping her up. my thoughts are with the creech family during the upcoming holidays.

kaylenbabysims

08-24-2007, 04:48 PM

not sure if this has been posted but just incase it hasnt i came across this unidentified doe.. and this missing person and it seems on a few sites that there's different answers when it comes to the hair color.... but here's a girll... i think the sketch kinda looks like the missing girl (race says white/hisp for the unidentified and for the missing on 2 of these links.. so that caught my eye too)

Unidentified
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/mpch/UnidentifiedDetails.asp?id=U9105002

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/543uftx.html
missing girl http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewChildDetail&caseNum=1036765&orgPrefix=NCMC&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1297dfin.html

anthrobones

06-10-2008, 03:11 PM

Bumping up

SeriouslySearching

06-11-2008, 09:44 AM

The name Creech caught my attention on another case in Oklahoma recently. Timothy P. Creech is listed as sexual offender and drug dealer. His birthdate is: 01/16/1965

http://docapp065p.doc.state.ok.us/servlet/page?_pageid=394&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&doc_num=176500&offender_book_id=219644&imageindex=1

I noticed the mention of Oklahoma early on in this thread. Relative perhaps?!