MA MA - Melanie Melanson, 14, Woburn, 27 Oct 1989

Anyone out there have details on this crime? A young girl disapperas into the woods with six young men and is never seen again? And the police theorize that she "ran away to Florida". Uh, yeah, 'cause that's what all teenage girls do after they walk off into the woods to party. And the police are that stupid? I can find very little on this case. Anyone out there remember it or have details on the six young men?

I googled Melanie and her family has set up a myspace. Much more info there...I pasted the link below- I hope it works...



http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=79745485

I wanted to start a discussion thread for Melanie after I saw her case in the "Missing Children" forum (no discussion allowed). If you haven't read about this case, you should. I would love to have the experienced people of WS take a fresh look at this case. It seems that there were a number of "witnesses" the night that Melanie went missing but guess what? No one is talking and they haven't talked in 19 years.

Anyway, there is not much info on the Charley Project's site and the info about "walking into the woods with six boys" is inaccurate.

Her family started a MySpace for Melanie and they have some good information posted there. I will include the link at the bottom and I'll try to summarize here.

The date was October 27, 1989 and Melanie, who was almost 15, was staying at her best friend’s house and her friend could not go to a party that Melanie really wanted to attend. The party was held in Woburn, Massachusetts, in the woods behind a company called "Courier Dispatch" off of Montvale Avenue near the Stoneham/Woburn line. Melanie did make it to the party and the last known people to see her were Gene Bertini and Jimmy Treska.

Gene Bertini and Jimmy Treska were both questioned separately the morning after Melanie's disappearance. Jimmy stated that Gene was the last person to see Melanie. Gene stated that Jimmy was the last person to see Melanie. So, both are inconsistent from the beginning.

Gene's girlfriend at the time, Melissa 'Missy' Wojdakowski refused to even speak with investigators. As did Jimmy Treska's girlfriend, Jennifer Clement. Jennifer was at Jimmy's house the morning after Melanie disappeared.

Just about every person that attended the party that night was interviewed after Melanie was reported missing the very next morning. Once everyone gave their statements, and the process of elimination was over...Melanie, Gene Bertini and Jimmy Treska were the last 3 people to walk out of those woods that night. Jimmy states that he asked Melanie if she wanted a ride home, and she declined in order to hang out longer with Gene Bertini, who she had a crush on at the time (note: Gene was cheating on his girlfriend Missy with Melanie). Gene states that he and Melanie walked out towards the main street together (Montvale Ave area in Woburn) but he could not give her a ride because he did not have an extra motorcycle helmet for her to wear. He also states that he went one way on his motorcycle towards Woburn, and Melanie went the opposite... walking towards Stoneham on Montvale Ave... alone, at appx. 2:00am in the morning.

Melanie's family said that this is inaccurate. There would be no reason for Melanie to walk in that direction as her friend's house was in the opposite direction (friend's house were she would be sleeping that night).

Jimmy Treska either knows what happened or was involved in the aftermath. Jimmy was Gene's best friend at the time of Melanie's disappearance. Jimmy car mysteriously disappeared the same week as Melanie did. Coincidence? Jimmy claims it was stolen.

Too many things in this case point in a very bad direction for young Melanie.

No link.....

Anyone know of any additional information on this case?

Sorry...

Here's the link to myspace

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=79745485

So, a car conviently disappears and a shovel, with fresh dirt on it, is found soon after the disappearance. That's fairly strong circumstantial evidence.

I wonder what the search effort was like immediately after she disappeared? Considering the ties to law enforcement of one of the witnesses/suspects and given the apparent run-away rumors, I would wager it was anemic.

Are any newspaper articles from the time of the disappearance available online? I did a google search but got no hits.

Not much help but here's Melanie's case on the Doe Network: http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1405dfma.html

This case disturbs me for several reasons. First of all, it seems relatively obvious what happened with the disappeared car after the murder, etc, although I cannot accuse anyone and obviously neither can LE.

Secondly, how can we get through to our daughters that some behaviors can lead to very bad results? For many years now I've watched girls and young woman doing things which are questionable either in pursuit of "love" or a possibly misguided need to find out who they are, to assert themselves.

I believe if we give can give our daughters a sense of their own worth, without the need for masculine validation, we would be doing them a great favor. Our young women need to know how beautiful, wonderful, and VALUABLE they are - not ojects to be used, abused, and thrown away.

I believe we, as women, need to instill more self-worth in our daughters and granddaughters, the way some primitive societies did. In those societies the young men were the ones proving they were worthy to have a wife, not the young women pursuing a boy friend.

I'm not saying anything bad about this girl girl or the thousands of others who have gone missing. I realize mine may be an unpopular opinion, and easier said then done, but I hope it is food for thought.

interesting- her myspace says that her family knows she is not alive but just want to find her remains to give her a proper burial. I wonder if there is a search firm that could help. She might be buried in the woods and possibly not too far from the party. Although they obviously transported her somewhere in the car since they felt the need to get rid of it.

The sad thing here is that 2 people obviously know what happened. I would like to see them hounded until they breakdown. Keep her picture in their face. Keep sending them photos. Make sure whoever they are with - new friends, relationships - know about this.

Wow, this case really needs to be solved, especially after I read the myspace comment where someone said the main suspect in the case killed her friends cat while she was watching. Not a good sign. In fact, if he did that to a cat, then to Melanie, it's quite possible that he would do it again, if he hasn't already. That's just scary. If I was his wife or girlfriend, I'd definitely want to know.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/m/melanson_melanie.html
Melanie Melanson


Left: Melanson, circa 1989;
Right: Age-progression to age 29 (circa 2003)


Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

Missing Since: October 27, 1989 from Woburn, Massachusetts
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date of Birth: November 1, 1974
Age: 14 years old
Height and Weight: 5'3, 105 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Blonde hair, blue eyes. When she was last seen, Melanson had braces on her teeth.


Details of Disappearance

Melanson was last seen on the evening of October 27, 1989, at a party in Woburn, Massachusetts. She walked into the woods with six boys. The boys returned but she did not. Melanson did not take any personal belongings with her when she vanished. Police originally thought she had run away to Florida, but they are now investigating other theories with regards to her disappearance.
In August 1992, an anonymous telephone caller told police to look for Melanson's body in an area pond. Investigators did search the pond, but found no evidence connected to her case. Melanson was in her freshman year at high school when she disappeared. Police believe she was the victim of foul play and is still in the general area. Her case remains unsolved.



Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Woburn Police Department
781-933-1212



Source Information
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Missing Person Kristi O'Pry
NewsLibrary
The Doe Network



Updated 3 times since October 12, 2004.

Last updated April 5, 2005.

Charley Project Home

Reward posted in 1989 disappearance of Woburn girl

A $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the recovery of the body of a Woburn teen who disappeared nearly 20 years ago.
Prosecutors, police and members of Melanie Melanson’s family will announce the reward Wednesday at the site where the girl was last seen alive.
Melanson was five days short of her 15th birthday when she disappeared on Oct. 27, 1989, following a party in the woods with a group of friends.

Police and the Middlesex District Attorney’s office say they continue to conduct an active investigation in the case.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2009_05_06_Reward_posted_in_1989_disappearance_of_Woburn_girl/srvc=home&position=recent

There is an organization necrosearch.org that specializes in old cases and finding possible never found burial sites.
Necro Search International.
Law enforcement has to invite them to help.

http://www.necrosearch.org/

dreamweaver said:

There is an organization necrosearch.org that specializes in old cases and finding possible never found burial sites.
Necro Search International.
Law enforcement has to invite them to help.

http://www.necrosearch.org/

Click to expand...

Thanks dreamweaver. Wow - I've never heard of this organization.

I'm very troubled about this case. LE obviously dropped the ball here and the killer or killers have gone free all this time. Poor little thing. These people need to answer for whatever they did to her that night. My guess is she's somewhere near where that party was....

http://wbztv.com/local/Melanie.Melanson.missing.2.1003106.html

May 6, 2009 5:14 pm US/Eastern

Melanie disappeared in a wooded area near 2 Henshaw Avenue where a party was taking place. Melanie was last seen with two males from the neighborhood.

"They were here just partying together. But the sad reality was Melanie never went home that night," Leone said. "Melanie has never been found."

"Since Melanie disappeared, we lost her mother, father and grandparents. They all died without knowing what happened to Melanie," Maciulli said.

Click to expand...

Great news that they have re-opened the investigation and have new info. I definitely don't believe this was an accident. And it's beyond my understanding how the kids involved could let it go this long without at least one of them coming forward. I just don't know how you could live with yourself. Prayers they will find answers soon.

DA mum on search for girl

Authorities played it close to the vest yesterday as to why they were excavating woods at the General Foods plant off Interstate 93 in Woburn, but sources told the Herald the search is for the body of a 15-year-old girl reported missing 20 years ago.

Jessica Venezia, spokeswoman for Middlesex District Attorney Gerard Leone, declined questions last night on Melanie Melanson, saying only that the dig is ``part of an investigation being conducted by our office, state police and Woburn police.''

The search is expected to resume today.
``Since Melanie disappeared,'' she said, ``we have lost her mother, we have lost her father and we have lost her grandparents, who loved her so much. They all died without knowing what happened to Melanie.''

http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100020825&docId=l:1045623254&start=2

I'm sorry I didn't think to post this until now but Melanie's story was on 20/20 tonight. Hopefully some of the Sleuthers out west will still be able to see this segment.

I am bumping this, because a new article regarding her disappearance appeared in the Boston Globe today. LE is not saying how they have this information, but they believe that her remains are "close" to being found:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/11/02/new_leads_found_in_1989_disappearance_of_woburn_girl/

Assistant District Attorney Marian Ryan said that recent developments, which she described as “very solid leads,’’ helped trigger the reopening of the case. “We’re closer than we’ve probably ever been before,’’ she said.