SheWhoMustNotBeNamed
Former Member
Missing Since: September 1991 from Brooksville, Florida
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date of Birth: July 1988
Age: 3 years old
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Megan's middle name may be spelled "LeeAnn" by some agencies.
Details of Disappearance
Pratt was last seen sometime in September 1991 at her home west of Brooksville, Florida. She lived with her stepfather, Jesse James Schober, and her mother, Vicki Ann Schober. After her disappearance, Jesse and Vicki told others that Pratt had been killed in a car accident. Later that year, they were evicted from their mobile home and left Florida. They eventually divorced and Pratt's mother married someone else.
Pratt's disappearance did not draw official notice until 2002, when Pratt's paternal grandmother contacted the Hernando County Sheriff's Office and asked them to find her. She had looked for records of the child's supposed accidental death and could not find any. Investigators interviewed Pratt's mother and stepfather, who gave conflicting accounts of what happened to Pratt. An acquaintance of theirs told police that Pratt was dead and buried in the woods. Authorities were initially unable to file charges without Pratt's body.
A cold case squad was assigned to Pratt's case. They interviewed people who knew the Schoebers, and social workers who had had contact with them, over a period of months. Vicki and Jesse were arrested and charged with Pratt's murder in August 2003. Vicki pleaded no contest to aggravated child abuse and agreed to testify against Jesse in return for a six-year sentence; there was no evidence to tie her to her daughter's death, but she admitted she was responsible because she did not seek medical help for the child after she was injured. She stated that Jesse became enraged by Pratt's splashing in the bathtub and hit her head on the side of the tub, and the child was knocked unconscious and died several days later. Jesse put her body in a sleeping bag and burned and buried the remains in the woods west of Brooksville.
Jesse had been charged with first-degree murder in connection with Pratt's disappearance, but in January 2005 he reached a plea deal with prosecutors. He pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder and was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison; he is expected to serve about fourteen or fifteen years. If convicted of the original charge, Jesse could have been sentenced to sixty years in prison. He lead authorities to the spot where he says he disposed of Pratt's body, but nothing was found there.
Pratt's remains have not been found, but foul play is suspected in her disappearance due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Hernando County Sheriff's Office
352-754-6830