AL AL - Melinda Wall McGhee, 31, Atmore, 24 March 2003

Melinda McGhee was last seen in her Atmore home almost five years ago. Today (Friday), the Escambia County Sheriff's Office followed up on a tip about the unsolved case.

Sheriff Grover Smith with the Escambia County Alabama Sheriff's Office says McGhee was 31 years old when she went missing. Authorities say the mother of two was asleep at her Atmore home on Gravel Lake Road when she was assaulted and then abducted on March 24th, 2003.

Authorities say McGhee hasn't been seen or heard from since.

http://wkrg.com/news/article/atmore_a_buzz_over_missing_womans_case/9835/

bump...

missing 5 years now

Rle7 said:

bump...

missing 5 years now

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It is amazing that it has been this long. I am sure not for her family as they must grieve every single day. I still believe Derrick Todd Lee could have been the culprit in this abduction and murder.

In addition to the source info you posted he was known to travel to Atlanta (that is where he was captured). From Baton Rouge the most likely avenue to Atlanta is I-10 to I-65 to I-85. He could have seen her going home from work and followed her as he would have been in the general direction. She also looks like several of his other victims.

http://www.northescambia.com/?p=6285
Authorities Search Gravel Pit For Missing Woman’s Body
February 1, 2009

Authorities spent Saturday morning searching a gravel pit north of Atmore for the body of woman that went missing from her home almost five years ago. Searchers did not locate a body.

The search centered around a water-filled gravel pit off Jack Springs Roads near the Judson Cemetary between Atmore and Poarch. Authorities were searching for the body of Melinda Wall McGhee who was reported missing from her residence on Kent Road on March 24, 2003. She was 31 at the time.

Authorities said there was no strong evidence that there was a body buried on the property owned by the Poarch Creek Indians, but they were following up on a tip.

“We have no concrete evidence that Mrs. McGhee’s body is here,” Escambia County Sheriff Grover Smith said. “But we are conducting a follow-up on an ongoing investigation.”

Cadaver dogs from Florida and Alabama were used in the search, along with sonar equipment from the North Baldwin Search and Rescue Squad. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and several Alabama agencies participated in the search.

Anyone with information on McGhee’s disappearance is asked to call the Escambia County (Ala.) Sheriff’s Department at (251) 809-0741.

Must have been a strong tip due to the amount of resources used in the search and, after all this time. I would love to know who gave the tip.

A Six-Year Old Missing Person Mystery

Six years ago this morning, something went terribly wrong at a home on Kent Road north of Atmore. Melinda Wall McGhee, then 31, returned to her home about 8 a.m. after working the night shift as a nurse at a Bay Minette nursing home.
Her husband, Troy McGhee, was at work at Masland Carpets in Atmore. Their two children were at a babysitter, and Troy’s son from a previous relationship was at a dentist’s office. At about 8:30 the morning of March 24, 2003, Melinda McGhee spoke to her mother on the phone. It was the last time anyone known to Melinda would ever hear from her.

http://www.northescambia.com/?p=7132

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/08/theyve_never_found_her_body_bu.html

Published: Friday, August 27, 2010, 6:28 PM
By Press-Register staff Press-Register

ATMORE, Alabama -- Melinda Wall McGhee's body has never been found since the 31-year-old disappeared March 24, 2003.

Nonetheless, authorities recently issued a death certificate for the mother of two sons, the Atmore Advance reports.

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How sad - and scary. I also work the overnight shift and sleep - usually alone in the house - during the day. If her car was parked in a garage, it could very well have been a simple burglary gone tragically wrong.

Search Continues For Melinda Wall McGhee, Missing For Nine Years

Nine years ago the morning of March 24, something went terribly wrong at a home on Kent Road north of Atmore. Melinda Wall McGhee, then 31, returned to her home about 8 a.m. after working the night shift as a nurse at a Bay Minette nursing home.

Her husband, Troy McGhee, was at work at Masland Carpets in Atmore. Their two children were at a babysitter, and Troy’s son from a previous relationship was at a dentist’s office. At about 8:30 the morning of March 24, 2003, Melinda McGhee spoke to her mother on the phone. It was the last time anyone known to Melinda would ever hear from her.

More: http://www.northescambia.com/2012/03/search-continues-for-melinda-wall-mcghee-missing-for-nine-years

My first thought was that it was someone that not only knew when her work shift ended, but also that her kids were at the sitters, her stepson was at the dentist and her husband was still at work.

also, this is eerily similar to Tara Grinstead's story.....

http://www.northescambia.com/2012/07/authorities-search-septic-tank-for-missing-woman’s-body

Authorities Search Septic Tank For Body Of Woman Missing For 9 Years

Alabama authorities continued their search Wednesday for Melinda Wall McGhee, an Atmore area woman that has been missing for over nine years.

The Escambia County (Ala.) Sheriff’s Department used cadaver dogs to search a septic tank on Ewing Farm Road about five miles northwest of Atmore and just a short distance from the Kent Road home at which McGhee was last seen in 2003.

“We searched at an old home place that we had never searched before after getting a tip,” Escambia County (Ala.) Chief Deputy Mike Lambert said.

After pumping the septic tank, Lambert said nothing suspicious was found.

Missing For 10 Years: Search Continues For Melinda Wall McGhee

http://www.northescambia.com/2013/03/missing-for-10-years-search-continues-for-melinda-wall-mcghee

Does anyone hink she favors this doe. http://doenetwork.org/cases/653ufal.html ??

I would love to see this case get some traction and solved; unfortunately, I doubt the family will ever get closure.

I grew up in Bay Minette, where Melinda worked, and now, as I did when she disappeared, live less than 5 miles from where she lived. I did not know her or any of her family, but I have friends who worked at the nursing home with her and knew her well. They have their opinions and theories about what happened, but those have no legitimate place in this forum.

After her disappearance, there were fliers up in every break room of the company I worked for and in most gas stations and local restaurants in the area. She was on the news regularly for a week or so then nothing. Rumors abounded as to what happened to her and more than once I have heard, “…well, I heard she was buried under [insert some new local building]”. But I imagine this is typical for such cases.

One thing that amazes me is how little detail has been released, in the media, on her timeline and movements that day.

Here is a timeline that I have put together of her morning; not much to go on, sadly.

Oakwood’s night nurses typically work 6:30PM to 6:30AM; we can assume this was the case for Melinda this day.

7:00 AM - Last seen at a local convenience store.
8:30 AM - She spoke with her mother and husband.
4:00 PM - Husband arrives home from work with kids and discovers signs of a struggle and blood.

I’m really torn as to the possibility that she was possibly a victim of DTL. It’s a 30 minute drive to her home via several routes from Bay Minette. I’m not sure which convenience store she was seen in, but this information would go a long way to determining which route she took home. A couple of these routes are all county/state roads where she would not have had much exposure to non-locals, unless the convenience store she stopped at was one directly off the interstate.

The access to Kent Rd, down Ewing Farm Rd (dirt road), from Baldwin County 61 would have been less distance on the dirt road than from the Poarch (Escambia County) end of the road. However, given that she was from the Poarch area, she most likely came to her home this way, rather than through the Baldwin County back roads. Going through Poarch would have likely had her travel north up I-65 from exit 37 (Bay Minette) to exit 54 (Poarch). This would have exposed her to non-local traffic where a DTL, or some other individual up to no good, could have targeted her. Yet, as I said, the roads through Poarch to her home were, and still are, in disrepair and might have likely spooked non locals with fear of getting lost or observed; it’s not just a quick jaunt to her home from the interstate.

If anyone has anything else to add to this timeline, or to my theories on her travel that morning, please let me know.
Also, several of the articles quoted above in this thread are now gone, but there are text copies of many articles at the link below.

http://z13.invisionfree.com/PorchlightUSA/ar/t42.htm

SoAlJohn, the Poarch exit route from work would be my guess also. Its a few miles longer but probably just as quick given the interstate speeds. I can see that taking around 30 minutes to get to from her work, the BP there at that exit could be the store where she was seen. Because of the phone calls we know all seemed well 1 1/2 hours after the store sighting, this seems to go against the notion of someone especially a stranger following her home. That's quite a while to wait around in the middle of the morning on a bright sunny day before setting upon her.

The DTL OR Jeremy Jones possibilities are interesting, Jones according to some accounts was back and forth between Georgia and Mobile/New Orleans at some point during those years. I don't know if I buy that theory though, the chances of her crossing either of their paths on that day would seem slim. I agree that it would be unlikely a stranger would follow her down those roads not knowing what might be waiting for him as he pulls up in her driveway.

One article said her car was found near her house with the keys locked inside. Near as opposed to at her house, I've wondered what they meant by that if anything. The archived footage of her house that day or the next show a mini van and a small blue car with its trunk open at her house, I'm wondering which if either was her daily driver. There's a lot of woods and dirt trails around the place but it seems like something would have turned up by now if she was left nearby. I didn't see any organized searches mentioned.

She's been declared dead and likely is dead but if someone wanted her dead or did something resulting in her death why not leave her at the house? Did they want her or did they not want what was done to her be known, and whats with her keys being locked inside her car?

LR1,
The keys being locked in the vehicle was very strange to me too, but I hadn't thought that "near her house" would mean anything other than AT her house. Good point. As to what vehicle she drove, I picture an SUV, but this may be an assumption on my part due to them being so ubiquitous.

Another article, archived in the link above, stated that she was “asleep at her Atmore home on Gravel Lake Road when she was assaulted and then abducted". This article stated that her home was on Gravel Lake Road, but everywhere else states Kent Rd.

I presume that she had showered, removed work scrubs, was in house/sleeping clothes and that her bed was obviously slept in. This would indicate that she had been home for some time, again making me think it less likely to be a truly unknown abductor. But the fact that there was no mention of forced entry was another indicator that she may have known the person.

I think someone wanted her to “go away” and didn’t want evidence. There was mention in one article about extensive searches of the woods in the months following her disappearance, as well as the two searches, years later, mentioned in a couple of articles. But there are miles and miles of woods in all directions around here that it would be nearly impossible to search it all. And the fact that she disappeared in March, hunting season was over and any remains or disturbed earth for a grave would have been well masked before the hunters got out and about that fall.

From what I can tell she lived on the end of Kent Rd. It turns north off of Ewing and then turns back east into a clearing where there were three houses at the time that were spaced a good distance apart but not too far as to be totally isolated. Her driveway would have been between the two other homes with hers backed up to the woodline.

Lynn McGhee Dr. is about a mile north of where she lived and its on what google calls "off-Reservation trust land" I was wondering if there was any relation, I haven't laid eyes on husband, do you know if he is PC?