GUILTY TX - Melissa Sowders, 26, Harris County, 26 December 2013

The Cheese · Dec 27, 2013

Sheriff 's Office Investigators Seek Information On Missing Woman.
The Harris County Sheriffs Office is investigating the disappearance of Melissa Rene Sowders, a 26 year old, white female. Ms. Sowders was last seen at the McDonalds Restaurant, located at 339 FM 1960 at Interstate 45, at approximately 11:00 A.M., Thursday, December 26, 2013.

Ms. Sowders was reported missing by a friend Thursday afternoon and is believed to be a victim of foul play. Ms. Sowders drives a white, 1995 Honda Accord, 4Door, bearing Texas License # CL3H494. The front drivers door of the Honda is black.

Anyone with information regarding the disappearance of Melissa Rene Sowders, or if anyone knows the location of her 1995 Honda Accord, they are asked to contact the Harris County Sheriffs Office Homicide Unit at 713.967.5810, or call Crime Stoppers at 713.222.TIPS(8477).

Address/Location
Harris County Sheriff's Office
1200 Baker St
Houston, TX 77002

Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 713-221-6000

https://local.nixle.com/alert/5113921/?sub_id=1000000327

The Cheese · Dec 27, 2013

https://local.nixle.com/alert/5113921/?sub_id=1000000327

rizzo0904 · Dec 27, 2013

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/melissa.sowders.5?fref=browse_search

The Cheese · Dec 27, 2013

Houston County Sheriff's Office Twitter

HCSOTexas ‏@HCSOTexas 46m
Help our investigators find Melissa Rene Sowders. https://local.nixle.com/alert/5113921/?sub_id=1000000327 … #iwatchharriscounty

SurfieTX · Dec 27, 2013

rizzo0904 said:
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/melissa.sowders.5?fref=browse_search

Hmm...I wonder if that is the same McDonald's she worked at? I live semi-close. Not a bad area of town, at all.

rizzo0904 · Dec 27, 2013

It states she was last seen at McDs. Her facebook shows she was a manager there until earlier this year. Was her visit friendly or not?

SurfieTX · Dec 27, 2013

For reference - public records, both criminal and civil for Harris County, Texas.

http://www.hcdistrictclerk.com/eDocs/Public/Search.aspx

SurfieTX · Dec 27, 2013

Oklahoma courts online.

http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/casesearch.asp

SurfieTX · Dec 27, 2013

Shared on my Facebook and have since had a few more shares from people in this area. Hopefully, that will help a little.

SurfieTX · Dec 27, 2013

I wonder where their kids are?

rizzo0904 · Dec 27, 2013

Thanks surfie. So filed for divorce in October.

geevee · Dec 27, 2013

Her last name needs an 's' on the end in the thread title.

The Cheese · Dec 27, 2013

"She's pregnant," said Jason Sanford, her boyfriend. "We're supposed to be having a baby. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with me."

Sanford says Sowders was in their white Honda Accord with Texas plate # CL3H494 after he saw her at 6:15 Thursday morning.

"She dropped me off at work and that was the last time I saw her," said Sanford.

Sowders' plan was to meet her ex-husband and their youngest daughter at the McDonald's on FM 1960 near Kuykendahl Road. The father has custody of all their children.

No one is sure what happened after the visit at McDonald's but Sowders hasn't been seen since.

Newsom admits he is suspicious of her ex-husband because when they talked, he seemed more concerned about the attention from deputies than his ex-wife's well being.

http://www.khou.com/news/crime/Poli...tml?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

rizzo0904 · Dec 28, 2013

She filed for divorce...or her ex did...at the end of October and she's already having a baby with another guy that she supposedly wants to spend the rest of her life with. Add to that, the ex has full custody of the kids. Doesn't sound like she even has unsupervised visitation rights. There has to be something bad in her past. Did it catch up with her? I believe the ex is 100% innocent.

JWD · Dec 28, 2013

rizzo0904 said:
She filed for divorce...or her ex did...at the end of October and she's already having a baby with another guy that she supposedly wants to spend the rest of her life with. Add to that, the ex has full custody of the kids. Doesn't sound like she even has unsupervised visitation rights. There has to be something bad in her past. Did it catch up with her? I believe the ex is 100% innocent.

BBM

Source please. According to the upthread link to Texas courts, the divorce proceeding is marked "active," meaning it's not final yet, and therefore custody of the children has not been decided. This is affirmed by a quote by Melissa's mom at this link:
http://www.click2houston.com/news/deputies-search-for-26yearold-missing-woman/-/1735978/23672682/-/ep7a3f/-/index.html

Melissa Sowders' parents, Sonia and Jimmy Newsom said their daughter separated from her husband a few months earlier.

They said on December 26, Sowders went to meet her estranged husband at the McDonalds.

“I think they were just meeting to talk together and for her to be able to see her children,” said Sonia Newsom.

Estranged is a fancy word for separated. IMO, if her husband has a job and she doesn't, the kids are staying with the parent who's currently able to feed them. IF/when the divorce becomes final, IF Melissa were awarded custody, the husband would probably (I'm not familiar with TX laws) be ordered to pay child support to his ex-wife. So, respectfully, that gives Melissa's dad, Jimmy Newsom, a reason for his suspicions. I won't say more because LE hasn't yet.

ETA: OK, I found a news article that states the dad has custody--but I'll stick with the court records for now. Wouldn't be the first time we've seen inaccurate or incomplete reporting.

http://ph.news.yahoo.com/video/police-search-missing-pregnant-woman-040838776.html

JWD · Dec 28, 2013

Texas Equusearch plans to begin searching for Sowders' car Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. They will set up a command post at the Daily Bread Church at 106 Bammel Westfield Road.

They will post the command post location on their website.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (713)-222-TIPS.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/d...oman/-/1735978/23672682/-/ep7a3f/-/index.html http://www.click2houston.com/news/deputies-search-for-26yearold-missing-woman/-/1735978/23672682/-/ep7a3f/-/index.html

SurfieTX · Dec 28, 2013

A is where the McDonald's is.

http://binged.it/18PT1kJ

ETA: This is a very busy and active part of town. There is a lot of shopping nearby too. Plenty of parking lots to abandon the car somewhere.

rizzo0904 · Dec 28, 2013

So he filed for divorce. She signed a waiver citation, which according to a TX law site is this:

The Waiver of Citation is
a form signed by the
responding spouse and
filed with the court to
show that he or she has
received a notice and
waives the right to know
what orders for child
support & property you
will ask the judge to make.

rizzo0904 · Dec 28, 2013

Totally random, but I think I used to live at Cypress Station about 15 years ago. We shopped at the Kroger there.

JeannaT · Dec 28, 2013

There's a lot left unsaid here.

Did she ever actually arrive at the McDonalds? Are there witnesses who said the X was there waiting? Any receipts for food?

If you want to harm someone, meeting them at a McDonalds isn't a very typical way to do it - it seems hopeful that she's just vanished for a little while. Rereading an article upthread, it appears she DID go to McDonalds and then wasn't ever seen again after that.

Any use of her bank accounts or cell phone?

GUILTY TX - Melissa Sowders, 26, Harris County, 26 December 2013

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