{{Short description|Missing teenager from Woburn, Massachusetts, United States}} {{Use American English|date=December 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Melanie Melanson | image = MelanieMelanson.jpg | caption = | birth_name = Melanie Jo Melanson | birth_date = {{Birth date|1974|11|1}} | birth_place = Woburn, Massachusetts | disappeared_date = {{Disappeared date and age|1989|10|27|1974|11|1}} | disappeared_place = Some woods off of Montvale Avenue, near the Stoneham/Woburn line | disappeared_status = {{Missing for|1989|10|27}} | education = | height = {{convert|5|ft|3|in}} | mother = Irene Melanson | father = John Melanson }} '''Melanie Jo Melanson''' (born November 1, 1974)<ref name=charley>{{Cite web|url=https://charleyproject.org/case/melanie-jo-melanson|title=The Charley Project: Melanie Jo Melanson|last=Good|first=Meaghan Elizabeth|website=www.charleyproject.org|access-date=2016-11-27|archive-date=October 7, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251007155850/https://charleyproject.org/case/melanie-jo-melanson|url-status=live}}</ref> is a missing teenager from Woburn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. She vanished while at a party on October 27, 1989; at first, investigators believed she fled to Florida.<ref name="BLAIS">{{Cite news|url=http://homenewshere.com/daily_times_chronicle/news/woburn/article_57268a1e-63c3-5fb7-9a4d-dc6a65782458.html|title=Authorities not giving up search for Melanie Melanson|last=BLAIS|first=PATRICK|work=Homenewshere.com|access-date=2018-04-11|language=en|archive-date=September 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930105150/http://homenewshere.com/daily_times_chronicle/news/woburn/article_57268a1e-63c3-5fb7-9a4d-dc6a65782458.html|url-status=live}}</ref> However, subsequent investigations by both authorities and a private investigator have turned up no leads.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/cold-case-spotlight/cold-case-spotlight-melanie-melanson-n284081|title=COLD CASE SPOTLIGHT: Melanie Melanson - NBC News|work=NBC News|access-date=2018-04-11|language=en|archive-date=January 11, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150111223524/https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/cold-case-spotlight/cold-case-spotlight-melanie-melanson-n284081|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Disappearance== thumb|upright=0.90|left|Age progressed photo of Melanie to 36 years old (2010) Melanson was a freshman in high school, and looking forward to a change of schools.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1405dfma.html|title=The Doe Network: Case File 1405DFMA|website=www.doenetwork.org|access-date=2016-11-19|archive-date=December 11, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251211212338/https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1405dfma.html|url-status=live}}</ref> At the time of her disappearance, she was living with her grandmother yet maintained contact with her parents. She was asked to attend a party on the evening of October 27, 1989.<ref name=charley/>
On the day of her disappearance, Melanson and a friend left school early and decided to go home. That night, she told her grandmother she was going to have a sleepover at a friend's house (the friend was also her next-door neighbor). Melanson used the story to cover her attendance at the party.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/2020/vanished-melanie-melanson-20-years/story?id=8927393|title=Cops Renew Push to Find Missing Girl|date=2009-11-02|website=ABC News|access-date=2016-11-19|archive-date=October 31, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091031063102/https://abcnews.go.com/2020/vanished-melanie-melanson-20-years/story?id=8927393|url-status=live}}</ref> The party was held in a patch of woods near an industrial park; Melanson was the youngest guest there. She went with a group of five male friends. The party did not end until early the next morning; no one who knew Melanson saw or heard her returning from the party.
During the afternoon of October 28, after Melanie's family discovered she had been at the party, they frantically called almost every attendee they could reach. They learned nothing of Melanson's whereabouts. Finally, they reported her missing.
The police determined that she was last seen with two boys she had known.<ref name="BLAIS"/> They gave conflicting stories of what might have happened to her.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unbelievable-facts.com/2017/12/disappearance-cases.html|title=10 Intriguing Disappearance Cases that Remained Unsolved|last=Facts|first=Unbelievable|website=www.unbelievable-facts.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-04-11}}</ref> Police said each boy claimed the other was the last one who had been with Melanson. One of the boys also said he had seen her at the very head of a trail in the early morning hours of October 28.
==Investigation== The Woburn Police Department originally thought that Melanson had run off to Florida, as she had run away before.<ref name="BLAIS"/> They organized a massive search to find the teenager, using everything from cadaver dogs to helicopters, and there were substantial digs as well.<ref name="HuffPost Canada">{{Cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/melanie-melanson-missing_n_1724781|title=Soil Samples, Cadaver Dogs Help Revive Case Of Teen Missing 23 Years|date=2012-08-01|work=HuffPost Canada|access-date=2018-04-11|language=en-CA|archive-date=April 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412082825/https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/melanie-melanson-missing_n_1724781|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://patch.com/massachusetts/woburn/one-of-melanie-melanson-s-family-members-reportedly-pcbd1fae729|title=One of Melanie Melanson's Family Members Reportedly Present at Woburn Search|date=2012-12-13|work=Woburn, MA Patch|access-date=2018-04-11|language=en-US|archive-date=April 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412082636/https://patch.com/massachusetts/woburn/one-of-melanie-melanson-s-family-members-reportedly-pcbd1fae729|url-status=live}}</ref> None of the searches were successful, and no clues to Melanson's disappearance were found. There have been no arrests in the case.<ref>{{Citation|last=CBS Boston|title=Family Seeks Answers 26 Years After Woburn Teen's Disappearance, YouTube video|date=2015-10-28|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWbn4Mig8GI|accessdate=2016-11-19|archive-date=July 9, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240709081219/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWbn4Mig8GI|url-status=live}}</ref> In August 1992, an anonymous caller suggested police should search a pond near the party site; although police followed up, nothing was found.<ref name=charley/>
==Aftermath== In the spring of 2009, authorities announced a renewed push on the case and offered a $5,000 reward for information to solve it.<ref name="HuffPost Canada"/> In 2012, a doctor hired in the case has used a new science method called Decomposition Odor Analysis (DOA) to help find Melanie.<ref>{{Citation|last=michele mcphee|title=Melanie Melanson Body Search Continues|date=2012-06-27|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG3NmMrPOZs|accessdate=2016-11-19|archive-date=August 22, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250822105356/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG3NmMrPOZs|url-status=live}}</ref>
Police now believe Melanson was a victim of foul play.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://crimefeed.com/2016/03/happened-melanie-melanson-15-vanished-party-26-years-ago/|title=Cops Still Seek Leads In Cold Case Of Teen Who Vanished From A Party 26 Years Ago - CrimeFeed|date=2016-03-21|work=CrimeFeed|access-date=2018-04-11|language=en-US|archive-date=April 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412145235/http://crimefeed.com/2016/03/happened-melanie-melanson-15-vanished-party-26-years-ago/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1405dfma.html|title=The Doe Network: Case File 1405DFMA|website=www.doenetwork.org|access-date=2018-04-11|archive-date=December 11, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251211212338/https://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1405dfma.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://patch.com/massachusetts/woburn/over-25-years-later-case-missing-woburn-teen-reopened-0|title=Over 25 Years Later, Case for Missing Woburn Teen Reopened|date=2015-08-14|work=Woburn, MA Patch|access-date=2018-04-11|language=en-US|archive-date=August 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150816022300/https://patch.com/massachusetts/woburn/over-25-years-later-case-missing-woburn-teen-reopened-0|url-status=live}}</ref> Her grandmother, parents and brother are now deceased.<ref>{{Cite web|title=New Search in 1989 Massachusetts Cold Case|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/search-1989-massachusetts-cold-case-melanie-melanson/story?id=16873903|access-date=2021-01-22|website=ABC News|language=en}}</ref>
==See also== *List of people who disappeared mysteriously (1980s)
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melanson, Melanie}} Category:1974 births Category:1980s missing person cases Category:1989 in Massachusetts Category:Missing American children Category:Missing person cases in Massachusetts Category:October 1989 in the United States Category:People from Woburn, Massachusetts Category:Living people