Found Deceased WA - Meshay Melendez, 27 & daughter, Layla Stewart, 8, Vancouver, 12 Mar 2023 *vehicle found Mar 19*

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www.kptv.com

Police search for missing Vancouver mother and daughter

[...]

The mother, 27-year-old Meshay Melendez, and her 8-year-old daughter, Layla Stewart were last seen on March 12, early in the morning. Their last known location was in the 7700 block of Vancouver Mall Drive. A car that police believe belonged to Melendez was found a short distance from there on March 19.

Meshay is 5′9″ and 185lb with black hair and brown eyes. Layla is about 4′ and 50 lbs with brown hair and hazel eyes.

[...]
 
Additional photos

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This doesn't look like it's going to end well based on additional information from Meshay's mother's FB post and the comments. Wish more could be shared here but I can't find any news articles confirming POI.

Can you kindly point me towards her mother's fb post?
 
Can you kindly point me towards her mother's fb post?
You can search for the missing woman by her alias mentioned in the news articles ("Karmen" Melendez - this is the name she uses on her FB profile) on Facebook and sift through the posts other people have made, should come up pretty quickly. I have found news articles elaborating on some events that occurred before Meshay (Karmen) and Layla went missing but because they do not explicitly mention either missing person, and the news articles for the missing people do not mention a POI or the prior events, I cannot share additional details here yet. There is a post on Meshay's (Karmen) FB page from the day after she was last seen. Hopefully that could indicate that she is hiding out with her child somewhere and has just turned off all devices until she feels safe, but I think it may be necessary to get search parties going to canvas all local culverts, ditches, and parks.
 
May be relevant to add vitiligo to Meshay's physical description. It appears to affect large areas of her body, not just her hair, and while she uses a lot of makeup in photos (including the ones circulating), much of her face (forehead, chin) is much lighter than the rest of her face. I can't find any photos indicating whether it affects more areas for Layla besides her forehead.
 
19).

Layla Stewart. Photo courtesy Vancouver Police Department
Layla Stewart. Photo courtesy Vancouver Police Department
Layla Stewart. Photo courtesy Vancouver Police Department
Layla Stewart. Photo courtesy Vancouver Police Department
Layla Stewart. Photo courtesy Vancouver Police Department
Layla Stewart. Photo courtesy Vancouver Police Department
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1679342766946.jpeg
 
News article finally broke the POI details, so I believe it is open for discussion now.

Meshay was dating Kirkland C Warren last year. On December 23 2022, Meshay called 911 to report that he had choked her, and that he had conducted a drive by shooting at her home on December 13th. He was pending trial for those attacks and she had a protective order against him - his bail was set at $100,000 and he was to be arraigned on March 10 2023. Despite these experiences, she was still sharing photos of the two of them together as recently as February of this year. He is also accused of first degree murder for a homicide which took place in December 2017 in Arkansas, which is still an open case. He was arrested on Monday (yesterday).






On Saturday, a friend reported that Melendez and her daughter were missing. She said she last saw Melendez on March 11 or 12. Warren had come to the friend’s apartment and taken custody of Layla, who had stayed there overnight. The friend said Melendez was unresponsive and partially clothed in Warren’s car, according to a probable cause affidavit.

I hadn't come across this detail in my social media scouring yesterday, but now that it's been released I feel pretty disheartened that this is almost certainly a recovery effort now. I don't have much hope to hold out that they are just in hiding, after reading that.

For current arrest information, search his name here: Jail Roster | Clark County
 
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Vancouver police investigators said they “do believe there is a criminal nexus to Meshay and Layla’s disappearance” but can’t provide any more details due to the ongoing investigation.

*********
“That was strange to me,” friend Makayla Jeter said. “I reached out to her mom and sister, and no one had spoken to her, so we went to her house and see what was going on.”

They found her dog, Honey, inside a crate inside the house. It appeared the dog had been inside the crate for some time, but there was no sign of Melendez or her daughter.

“I just knew she wasn’t there, and when I saw her dog was there, I was like no, she wouldn’t do that,” friend Makayla Jeter said. “I’m terrified. I’m terrified.”

********
 
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So the area she was last seen was a home near 7700 Vancouver Mall Dr and the area where the vehicle was located was near apartments by Kevanna Park, which are around 2-3 miles apart depending on what the exact addresses are. Burnt Bridge Creek runs near Kevanna, several wooded areas nearby including Kevanna Park, Orchards Community Park and the Royal Oaks country club, a couple of small bodies of water (I think minor marshy-type flooding of grassy areas rather than ponds) near the 205-500 exchange and some others further to the west along the 500... There are unfortunately a lot of places to search in this small area.
 
Layla sweet thing, where are you baby? I have a bad feeling we know how this case will turn out but the little one? It bothers me so that he may have harmed not only mother but also child. such a beautiful little girl.
 
The last person to see Melendez and her daughter, a friend of Melendez, told police the two were with Melendez’ boyfriend, Kirkland Warren, on March 12, the day they were reported missing, according to court documents. The friend told police they saw Melendez in Warren’s vehicle, “unresponsive and naked from the waist down,” court documents state, and that Warren retrieved Melendez’ daughter at that time from the friend, who had been watching her.

Warren is currently in jail, arrested on Sunday, March 19 for multiple charges, including violating a no-contact order with Melendez, tampering with a witness and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Bail for Warren was set at $1 million during a court appearance Tuesday and the judge accepted recommendations from the state for GPS monitoring, no-contact orders and a firearm restriction. The judge also revealed Warren was making phone calls from prison, the reason for the witness-tampering charge.

Court documents allege multiple instances of domestic violence, with Warren accused of physically assaulting and shooting at Melendez on Dec. 13, 2022, and a 911 call on Dec. 23, 2022, in which Melendez accused Warren of choking her. He was arrested on March 2 for second-degree assault (domestic violence), drive-by shooting, possession of a stolen firearm and harassment or threat to kill, and released March 10 on $100,000 bail, according to court documents.
 
MAR 21, 2023
[...]

With help from the National Women’s Coalition Against Violence & Exploitation, the family and volunteers are searching within a 5-mile radius of Warren’s residence in the Kevanna Park neighborhood and the area Melendez and Layla were last seen.

[...]

Melendez’s brother, Miguel, said he video chatted with his niece March 11 so she could show him her new white and orange kitten. The family says they believe the kitten was with Melendez and Layla when they disappeared.

[...]

Both Taylor and Miguel said they can’t believe Warren was released from jail after his arrest earlier this month, stemming from the December shooting. They also pointed to Warren’s pending case for a 2017 homicide in Arkansas.

“Why would you not require an ankle monitor?” they questioned.

“The court system failed Layla and Meshay. They really let us down on that,” Taylor said.
 
The last person to see Melendez and her daughter, a friend of Melendez, told police the two were with Melendez’ boyfriend, Kirkland Warren, on March 12, the day they were reported missing, according to court documents. The friend told police they saw Melendez in Warren’s vehicle, “unresponsive and naked from the waist down,” court documents state, and that Warren retrieved Melendez’ daughter at that time from the friend, who had been watching her.
Did this person call 911 immediately?? An Amber Alert could have saved this child's life!

I could absolutely scream that this man has been on bail for almost SIX years for murder charges, and still managed to get bail with no ankle monitor for his recent shooting and DV charges. This woman was clearly deep in a cycle of abuse, but the courts could have saved her life, and the life of her innocent child. Why do some people seem to never face any consequences?
 
Did this person call 911 immediately?? An Amber Alert could have saved this child's life!

I could absolutely scream that this man has been on bail for almost SIX years for murder charges, and still managed to get bail with no ankle monitor for his recent shooting and DV charges. This woman was clearly deep in a cycle of abuse, but the courts could have saved her life, and the life of her innocent child. Why do some people seem to never face any consequences?

Later Saturday, a friend called 911 to report Melendez and her daughter were at her apartment with Warren the night of March 11. She said the three of them came to her apartment. After a while, Warren left, and Melendez left later. Around 8 p.m., Warren returned to the friend’s apartment in his vehicle and the friend saw Melendez unconscious and partially clothed in Warren’s passenger seat, court records state.

Warren went inside to get Layla, put her in his car and they left, the affidavit states.


 
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Warren could be heard in the jail calls with Melendez and his wife expressing concern over the possibility his bond would be revoked in Arkansas. He told Melendez he was not going back to Arkansas, the affidavit states.


He has a wife?

I have concerns if they are indeed alive somewhere and he is locked up, they could perish from lack of resources.
 
This is awful. Why does this guy keep having a chance at bonding out when he has an open murder case? Out on bond for that, then for the December incident(s) too?? Wth. He should be held without bail at this point imo.

Confused with the timeline- so March 11th they were at her friends house? I thought they were last seen the morning of the 12th?

And why did he pick up the daughter? I mean, is he just that evil?

I did a dive into social media and just .. wow… this whole situation is sad. And yes wondering about his wife, if he was still with her etc although I don’t know if that matters here at all.
 
Later Saturday, a friend called 911 to report Melendez and her daughter were at her apartment with Warren the night of March 11. She said the three of them came to her apartment. After a while, Warren left, and Melendez left later. Around 8 p.m., Warren returned to the friend’s apartment in his vehicle and the friend saw Melendez unconscious and partially clothed in Warren’s passenger seat, court records state.

Warren went inside to get Layla, put her in his car and they left, the affidavit states.


dude was also married?

"Warren could be heard in the jail calls with Melendez and his wife expressing concern over the possibility his bond would be revoked in Arkansas. He told Melendez he was not going back to Arkansas, the affidavit states."
 
This is awful. Why does this guy keep having a chance at bonding out when he has an open murder case? Out on bond for that, then for the December incident(s) too?? Wth. He should be held without bail at this point imo.

Confused with the timeline- so March 11th they were at her friends house? I thought they were last seen the morning of the 12th?

And why did he pick up the daughter? I mean, is he just that evil?

I did a dive into social media and just .. wow… this whole situation is sad. And yes wondering about his wife, if he was still with her etc although I don’t know if that matters here at all.
im guessing he picked the child up that same night after midnight, March 12.
 

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