MA MA - Debra Marie ‘Debbie’ Melo, 30, Weymouth, 20 Jun 2000

Doyle

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http://charleyproject.org/cases/m/melo_debra.html
As his sister's disappearance fades into cold case files, Richard Whalley says the fear of hearing she is dead has given way to a desperate hope to hear anything at all - to learn that police have a body, dead or alive.

``It's been four years now,'' Whalley said as he stood next to a vigil for his sister, Debbie Melo. ``People don't realize this is an everyday thing for my family. It doesn't go away.''

Melo, a 30-year-old mother of two from Taunton, disappeared June 20, 2000, after an argument with her husband, Luis Melo, 36. Police have interviewed Melo several times but have made little progress in the case.

Without a body, there is little they can do. Whalley said investigators listen to the family's frustrated concerns and continue to struggle with their own questions about why Luis Melo never assisted in the intense search for his missing wife.
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=32577
 
Praying they have finally found her, although it could be anyone. This is only 20 miles from Debbie's home. If it's not her, her story deserves a bump.




http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/B50227/


PLAINVILLE, Mass. -- Homicide detectives were investigating the discovery of human remains found in a wooded area behind a truck stop near the Massachusetts-Rhode Island border.

A passer-by discovered the remains Monday evening and contacted Plainville police, said spokesman David Traub of the Norfolk District Attorney's Office, which was overseeing the investigation.

The remains appeared to have been at the scene a long time and were believed to be human, Traub said. Investigators were unsure of the gender and cause of death.

"We're at such a preliminary stage that any speculation would be premature," Traub said.

The remains were turned over to a state medical examiner.

The site where the remains were found is near U.S. Route 1, south of its interchange
 
Thanks for posting this information about Ms. Melo. I wondered what ever became of the prime suspect, Luis Melo (husband of Debbie Melo)? I saw where he was going to get remarried but there was some speculation because he wasnt legally separated/divorced from Debbie. May the answers be found for this young woman and for the remains that were located. I'm thinking of the Melo family and all those who are missing.

bump
 
Several years ago, a young woman from south of Boston (Taunton) went missing.
According to her husband, they were in the car together and they fought. She asked to be let out and he stopped at the side of the highway.
He says when he cooled down and returned she was not there.
Her name was Debbie Melo and just the other day a body turned up off the highway many towns (Plainville) and miles away (maybe 20). My first gut reaction was this was her, but I have not been able to find many articles from the original date of her disappearance.

Edited to add:
Found some links:
Search for Taunton mother of two going nationwide
http://www.seacoastonline.com/2001news/5_2_sb2.htm

Missing woman's hubby admits belting galpal
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=3392&format=

After four years, Melo's family looks for closure
http://news.onemissingperson.org/MA...ur-years--Melos-family-looks-for-closure.html
 
Try www.southofboston.com The Patriot Ledger archives....I believe Debbie Melo disappeared on Route 18 in Weymouth, MA. There might also be articles in the Boston Globe and Brockton Enterprise archives...not sure how long ago it was.
 
There was a lead-in in today's Patriot Ledger that there will be an article in Monday, June 20, 2005's Ledger about Debra Melo...
 
http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2005/06/20/news/news04.txt

[size=+1]Fading hopes: Missing woman's family hasn't given up the search[/size]

news04.jpg

Debbie Melo's brother, Richard Whalley, left, has built a memorial to her in his back yard in Taunton that he says will remain standing until she is found. With him is his brother-in-law, Steven DeMoura. (AMELIA KUNHARDT/The Patriot Ledger)
By DON CONKEY
The Patriot Ledger


Richard Whalley holds a poster with pictures of his sister Debbie on it and words written across the top: ‘‘Missing but not forgotten.''

The poster also includes a description of Debbie Melo: age 30, brown hair, blue eyes, 5-foot-2, 108 pounds.

While many people may remember that Debbie Melo disappeared five years ago in Weymouth, Whalley also wants people to remember who she was.

‘‘She was very full of life,'' said Whalley, a Taunton resident who has also erected a shrine in his back yard for his sister. ‘‘She had a bright, gleaming smile. She was a great cook. She was a strong woman who would not take anything from anyone - and she was a wonderful mother and sister, who is sorely missed.''

Melo, a mother of two, has been gone since June 20, 2000. She and her husband, Luis, lived together in Taunton and managed a Dunkin' Donuts shop in Braintree.

Luis Melo told police that his wife got out of their car at about 4 p.m. that day on Route 18 in Weymouth after an argument about money.

Melo told police that he drove a short distance, then turned around to look for her, but she was gone. He waited until the next day to report her missing.
 
A few faded yellow ribbons can still be found near Memorial Park, where Debbie Melo played as a child, and along the highway where she was last seen. And Melo's family still puts up missing posters with her picture, hoping that someone will remember seeing her and report the information to police.

But the family feels no closer to finding her than they did the day she disappeared: June 20, 2000.

"It's heart-wrenching knowing that we don't have anything to go on. We don't have any type of closure, nowhere to go visit when we are thinking of her. All we can do is say a prayer," said Patty DeMoura, Melo's younger sister.

Melo's husband, Luis Melo, has said he last saw his wife when she got out of their car after an argument. He says he left her on the side of Route 18, near the South Weymouth Naval Air Station, and drove away, and when he circled back a short time later she was gone.

Luis Melo has "cut off all contact" between his wife's family and his children, Alyssa, now 18, and Luis Jr., now 15, said DeMoura.

"I've sent them cards, but they've been sent back to me," she said. "I've also lost a niece and nephew, and they were just as close as my children to me."

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/nation/12003555.htm
 
Four years. This is such a sad case. I think the husband is guilty, but with all the time that's passed, unless her body is found and somehow points to him as her murderer, he'll walk free.

I hope the kids when they grow up reestablish contact with their mother's family. That in itself is the second tragedy.
 
Luis Melo, the "husband" of Debbie Melo (whom already has a live-in girlfriend) got stopped on his way to work yesterday morning by some guys he did not know. They beat him & knifed his ears (??) & threatened him. His girlfriend has also been threatened.


He wants Debbie found "so he doesn't have to go through this anymore."

Poor baby.

I bet Debbie would be found if Luis helped look for her.



This was on Whdh channel 7 news, but there is nothing about on the internet, so sorry no link.
 
What state is this case from? I see the city but can't find what state. I've gotten where that is the first thing I check is what state a missing person is from. I check because you can almost predict how good LE is in each state and even some citys after checking these missing persons sites day after day.

The husband wouldn't help with the searches in the beginning....he wants to get married without ever knowing what happened to his wife??? Well, LE needs to get busy and get the goods on the wonderful husband. Was this one of those cases where foul play wasn't suspected in the beginning? Another wife that just took off!!! This husband sounds like a real winner. I hope they get him....sounds like someone will if LE won't. Good for them.
 
Bobbisangel said:
What state is this case from? I see the city but can't find what state. I've gotten where that is the first thing I check is what state a missing person is from. I check because you can almost predict how good LE is in each state and even some citys after checking these missing persons sites day after day.

The husband wouldn't help with the searches in the beginning....he wants to get married without ever knowing what happened to his wife??? Well, LE needs to get busy and get the goods on the wonderful husband. Was this one of those cases where foul play wasn't suspected in the beginning? Another wife that just took off!!! This husband sounds like a real winner. I hope they get him....sounds like someone will if LE won't. Good for them.

This happened in Massachusetts, Bobbisangel. He has never helped, ever, in the searches. They have nothing on him unfortunately, but they pretty much think he did it, probably based on his actions (lack of) afterwards. He never grieved, never looked, just moved on like nothing happened. Had another baby with some one else. Yep, he's a winner.
 
I saw on the news this weekend that Debra Mello's husband was beaten up...apparently he and his girlfriend have been receiving threats. Not sure whether there was anything in the Patriot Ledger (www.southofboston.com), but it was on television news...just can't remember which station....probably Saturday night.
 
Http://tauntongazette.com/site/news.cfm?nTAUNTON - Luis Melo, whose wife Debbie Melo who disappeared five years ago, told police he was assaulted by an unknown number of men yesterday morning.

Http://tauntongazette.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15296340&BRD=1711&PAG=461&dept_id=24232&rfi=8
TAUNTON - Police investigators are trying to corroborate an attack earlier this week on a man whose wife disappeared five years ago under suspicious circumstances.


Although I personally never met Debbie Melo, thoughts of her enter my mind often as this injustice continues & hope the perpetrator is haunted until they confess.
 
Has anyone heard more on this case ,I have just joined you I am from australia
 
aussiegran said:
Has anyone heard more on this case ,I have just joined you I am from australia


Nothing new on Debbie. Found some history on Luis though.

Luis Melo case — Massachusetts



In 1996 in Bristol County, Massachusetts Debbie Melo asked for and received a restraining order against her husband Luis. In an affidavit before the court she wrote that Luis made threats to do bodily harm to himself, her or both. She was afraid of what he might do to her or their daughter.

In 2000 Luis Melo reported to the police that Debbie disappeared after they had a roadside argument. Debbie Melo has never been seen or heard from since. The last person to see her alive was Luis Melo. No report of using credit cards, no phone calls, and no attempts to reach either of her two children. Luis Melo, for good reason, should be more than a person of interest to the criminal justice system.

In 2004 the live-in girlfriend of Luis Melo appeared in a civil court to get a restraining order because she and her daughter were afraid of Luis Melo. She has good reason to be afraid because Melo had beaten her in the past. Court records document that Melo is a dangerous man who should be feared. Earlier, in a Bristol County court, Melo had pled guilty to assaulting his girlfriend.

For that previous assault Luis Melo received no jail time and was placed on probation. Luis Melo is a man that many believe may have murdered his wife. He is a man with a history of violent abusive behavior. And he is a man with no respect for the court system.

Apparently domestic violence awareness month must slip by, year after year, unnoticed by the Bristol County District Attorney and this judge. The Bristol County District Attorney and this particular judge are not alone in their ignorance. Restraining orders or orders of protection rain down on this nation like confetti at a parade.

Is there anyone other than the judge who really thinks a restraining order is going to protect this woman from Melo? Is this really the best that the District Attorney and the judge can do for this woman and her child? After decades of intervention is this as far as we have come?
http://www.ejfi.org/DV/dv-40.htm
 
my freind ROXANNE and her 2 small children ,were murdered by the husband and father ,she had a restraining order out on him ,so they arent worth a damn here either,maybe if these judges had a daughter in a situation similar he might be more responsible with his sentencing and Debbie and roxanne would be alive today.My thoughts are with the grandparents .it must be a nightmare worrying how he is treating the children.
 
Ok... this is a cold case, but Debbie Melo went Missing in June of 2000 in Boston.

A body was found between a truck stop in South Carolina in August 2000.
Seem the body was probably decomposed.

All that was listed was height, hair color, weight, etc.

This matches her description, and the artists sketch somewhat matches but not completely.

I think it's a match.
Cause of death apparently strangulation.
Husband suspected, and that could be a way he could've killed her.

I want to contact authorities, but want to see what you sleuthers think first.

http://www.sara.org/modules.php?name=Missing&ct=miss&md=details&id=15

http://www.doenetwork.us/cases/112ufsc.html


News story:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/06/25/taunton_womans_disappearance_unsolved_after_five_years?mode=PF
 

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