SheWhoMustNotBeNamed
Former Member
Missing Since: September 4, 1979 from Anderson, Indiana
Classification: Endangered Runaway
Date of Birth: September 21, 1965
Age: 13 years old
Height and Weight: 5'3, 110 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Hispanic female. Blonde to light brown hair, blue eyes. Melinda's nickname is Mindy. She may use the alias first name Mandy or the alias middle name Dawn. Melinda has previously fractured her lower arm. Some agencies give her date of birth as September 21, 1964.
Details of Disappearance
Melinda was placed in a juvenile detention facility in 1979 after she and another teenager were caught stealing motorcycles. She ran away from the facility on September 4 of that year. In 1994, Melinda's mother, Shirley Creech, told her other four children that a badly decomposed body found in New Jersey had been identified as Melinda. They believed her, although no funeral service was ever conducted for the child.
When Shirley died in 2003, Melinda's siblings found letters among her personal effects which stated that dental records had proved that the New Jersey body was not Melinda's. In 2004, police re-opened Melinda's missing persons case. They are currently tracking down and interviewing her old friends to see if any of them have heard from her. They do not know why Shirley lied to her family about Melinda's supposed death. Melinda's siblings have described Shirley as an extremely abusive parent.
Melinda's case remains unsolved. Some agencies give the date of her disappearance as September 5, 1979.
Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Madison County Sheriff's Office
765-646-9281
OR
765-642-0221
OR
765-646-4028