Missing Woman: Melinda Creech - IN - 09/04/1979

[Denise]

Melinda Creech

Missing since September 4, 1979 from Anderson, Madison County, Indiana.
Classification: Endangered Runaway

Vital Statistics

Date Of Birth: September 21, 1963
Age at Time of Disappearance: 16 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: N/A
Distinguishing Characteristics: Blonde hair; blue eyes. Possibly wavey hair.
Dentals: Available

Circumstances of Disappearance
Melinda Creech ran away from home several times. When she ran away from home in 1979 she was never seen again. At least not by her siblings who were led to believe, by their mother, that she had been found dead in New Jersey. This was untrue according to documents found after the mothers death. Creech could use a different last name.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Madison County Sheriffs Office
Detective Callahan
765-646-9281

Print a Poster: http://www.projectjason.org/aan/AAN_MelindaCreech.pdf

Family website: http://www.geocities.com/mindyscandle/index.html

[Denise]

http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp...7&nav=9TaiQckX

Anderson, September 6 - Fourteen-year-old Melinda Karen Creech disappeared September 4, 1979. Twenty-five years later her brother Daryl Creech of Oklahoma hopes to find her.

Melinda lived in Anderson, Indiana in the 2900 block of West Cross Street along with her siblings.

They say their mother assured them their lost sister passed away after a body turned up in New Jersey. But now there are lots of questions.

"What would cause a 14-year-old girl to disappear and never be seen or heard from again," asks Madison County Sheriff Terry Richwine

Years after their mother's death and a search through her personal belongings raised more questions.

Melinda's siblings found an unsent letter by Melinda to a possible boyfriend named Ricky Williams, an invitation someone gave Melinda to a party, her address book and the most shocking discovery,
a letter disclosing unmatched dental records indicating that the body found was not Melinda.

"That brings into question why she put that information out when she knew it was not true," said
Richwine.

Doe Network is an organization dedicated to heating up cold missing persons cases. They, just like Melinda's siblings, would like to know why Melinda's mother gave out false information about her death.

"Maybe she was afraid the other kids, her sisters and brothers might do everything they could to see that she got back home," said Julie Mearing of Doe Network.

After 25 years, the Creechs hope to find not only a missing sister, but answers as well..

[Denise]

Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

Missing Since: September 4, 1979 from Anderson, Indiana
Classification: Endangered Runaway
Date of Birth: September 21, 1965
Age: 13 years old
Height and Weight: 5'3, 110 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Hispanic female. Blonde to light brown hair, blue eyes. Melinda's nickname is Mindy. She may use the alias first name Mandy or the alias middle name Dawn. Melinda has previously fractured her lower arm. Some agencies give her date of birth as September 21, 1964.
 
Details of Disappearance

Melinda was placed in a juvenile detention facility in 1979 after she and another teenager were caught stealing motorcycles. She ran away from the facility on September 4 of that year. In 1994, Melinda's mother, Shirley Creech, told her other four children that a badly decomposed body found in New Jersey had been identified as Melinda. They believed her, although no funeral service was ever conducted for the child.

When Shirley died in 2003, Melinda's siblings found letters among her personal effects which stated that dental records had proved that the New Jersey body was not Melinda's. In 2004, police re-opened Melinda's missing persons case. They are currently tracking down and interviewing her old friends to see if any of them have heard from her. They do not know why Shirley lied to her family about Melinda's supposed death. Melinda's siblings have described Shirley as an extremely abusive parent.

Melinda's case remains unsolved. Some agencies give the date of her disappearance as September 5, 1979.

Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Madison County Sheriff's Office
765-646-9281 OR 765-642-0221 OR 765-646-4028
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/creech_melinda.html
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/c/creech_melinda.html

[Kelly]

NCMEC Profile and Age Progression Photo:



DOB:  Sep 21, 1965
Missing:  Sep 5, 1979
Sex:  Female
Race:  Hispanic
Hair:  Lt. Brown
Eyes:  Blue
Height:  5'3" (160 cm)
Weight:  110 lbs (50 kg)
Missing From:
ANDERSON
IN



Melinda's photo is shown age-progressed to 40 years. She was last seen at her home on September 5, 1979. Melinda may go by the nickname Mindy. Her date of birth appears as 9/21/64 in NCIC.

Madison County Sheriff's Office (Indiana) 1-765-642-0221

Print a Poster: http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewPoster&caseNum=1036765&orgPrefix=NCMC&searchLang=en_US

[Denise]

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1297dfin.html

[Denise]

http://www.geocities.com/mindyscandle/index.html

Mindy disappeared from Anderson, IN.  after being picked up by the police.

Our mother told us Mindy had been found among the murdered, but unidentified, Jane Doe after running away from home. My siblings and I weren't completely convinced because we had never seen any kind of proof, so shortly after our mother's death in 2003 we carefully sifted through every single box of Mom's old papers finding only a small amount of helpful information about our sister.

I began posting ads on the internet's "Missing Loved Ones" bulletin boards, to look for Mindy and find out if she was possibly looking for us. The first response encouraged us to contact the Doe Network, to find out if Mindy was among their Jane Doe files, just in case she had escaped, since run-a-ways often find their way to ill fate.

When the search first began, we had no clue as to what happened the minutes, hours, days, weeks or months after Mindy's disappearance. I want to thank all of the people who have been helping us on our quest to find our sister. It would take up half a page to mention them all.

Doe Network's Angie Bunch made the trip to Anderson in hopes of finding some of the people on a list of friends Mindy had left behind. She spoke with Stacy Grosh of the The Hearld Bulletin Newspaper, who advertised in The Hearld Bulletin Newspaper paper for anyone who had yearbooks from that time period to please bring them to the paper. Amazingly someone came forward with one.

Steve Jefferson, of the Indianapolis News channel WTHR 13 (NBC) stimulated the information flow by appealing to the public for help in gaining answers. The story aired on the evening news, to cover a larger area of Indiana on Sept 6, 2004. The broadcast found it's way to some of Melinda's former school mates and friends.

After the news article and TV broadcast we received many e-mails of encouragment. Melinda's friend Robin, was able to update Mindy's list of friends for us; Joy, Janie, Candy, Randy, Sam, Trey, Mike, Brian, Brandon and Mary. That was a huge help. Robin said she still tries to stay informed and prays every day for Mindy's safe return. It was good to hear from Mindy's friends that were kind enough to e-mail us with their ideas and fears of what they thought could have happened.

If you know a Melinda or Mindy you think may be our sister, stop and think about these questions for a moment:

      Is her middle initial K?
      Do you know anything about her pre-1980?
      Does she keep her child hood private or has only have vague memories of it.
      Is she about 40 and born in September?
      Are her eyes blue and does she have a small mole in her left eyebrow.
      Does she resemble the childhood pictures flashing on the Home Page or resemble her brothers or sister on the Family Page?

If anyone can confirm that Melinda is alive and well, please contact our family by using the e-mail link at the top of the page. We would like to take her off of the lists of missing and endangered. You can also call NCMEC toll free 866-898-5723 or contact Det. David Callahan, Angie Bunch with Doe Network, or Gerald Nance at NCMEC..

The Indiana Director for Doe Network, Angie Bunch joined us wholeheartedly in our search. After researching the Doe files that fit into the time frame and had any similarities with Mindy's description, she said that she was fairly sure Mindy was not among the Jane Doe, and that it was her personal belief that we should reopen the missing person case on Melinda and continue to search for her among the living also. I did my share of looking at the photos, sketches and clay models of the unidentified also and feel hopeful that my sister is still alive.

Madison County's Detective "David Callahan" discovered that after Mindy was picked up she was moved to the old Blake house. She either escaped or tried to escape, but no one is sure of which. Her SS# was never used again after 1979, which was yet another hindrance, but he was able to track down Mindy's dental records that had been stored away long ago and collected the necessary elements for the rebuilding of Mindy's DNA to compare with the Jane Doe.

We also came across a faded letter informing Mom that a court date had been set for either the 2nd, 8th or 9th of April 1980" from Madison County Juvenile Probation Dept. with a case number on it. The intake officer was Debbie Henson. The court was to "advise child and parent". It stated that Melinda would be provided with an attorney if she requested one and that our mother would be responsible for payment of any and all services provided for Melinda, and herself, if counseling was required.

This letter could mean that my little sister did not disappear September 1979, but was still in custody April 1980. I don't know why Mom never told our family. This raises a few more questions.

* Was Melinda still in the old Blake House when this letter was mailed to my mother?
* What happened to my little sister after she was at the old Blake house, which no longer exists?
* Did my mother abandon her there, just to avoid paying a hefty bill to the State?
* Does anyone that was present at the old Blake house remember Melinda?
* Where were girls sent after the Blake house if they were abandoned there or if they needed rehabilitation?

I hope that Mindy will see this web site and find out that we are all so very sorry and we are dong everything we can to reach her. Each time I check the e-mails I hope to see a message from her. I know that it might be very difficult for her to take that step, since so many years have passed us by, but that is all the more reason to do it. Please, Mindy, if you see this, e-mail us. We miss you horribly.

[Kelly]

AAN Poster Notify Sent to AAN Subscribers   Code 40

Help us find the missing: Become an AAN Member
http://www.projectjason.org/awareness.html

[Kelly]

Melinda has been placed on Project Jason's 18 Wheel Angels campaign. A special poster has been made for her and can be downloaded and printed for placement. More information about the program, and the link for the poster can be found here:

http://projectjason.org/18wheel.shtml

In addition to the campaign, Melinda was also featured in a national trucking publications, either Independent Contractor or TruckJobSeekers. These free magazines are distributed in truck stops nationwide and have a circulation of about 150,000.

Independent Contractor and TruckJobSeekers are two of Target Media Partner's many publications. In partnership with Project Jason, they each feature two missing persons each per month. You can pick up your free copies at a local truck stop, but if it's far from you, you may want to call and ask if they carry that magazine. These are NOT with the regular for purchase magazines.

We hope this helps in the search for Melinda. Please consider printing and placing a poster in businesses in your community.



Thank you.

Kelly, Project Jason

[Kelly]

AAN Annual Poster Notify Sent to AAN Subscribers   Code 55

Help us find the missing: Become an AAN Member and receive notifications about missing persons via email.

Click here to become a part of the solution: http://www.projectjason.org/awareness.html

[La Vina]

http://www.theheraldbulletin.com/local/local_story_312204801.html

Anderson woman still hopeful for missing girl’s return
Detective revisits case when tips come his way

November 08, 2009
Christina M. Wright
Herald Bulletin Staff Writer

ANDERSON, Ind. — Twelve poster-sized missing persons decals cover Patti Bishop’s car, but it’s the story of Anderson’s Melinda “Mindy” Creech that has plagued Bishop for 30 years.

The last time anyone saw Mindy, it was Sept. 4, 1979. She was 14 years old.

Thirty years later, native-Andersonian Bishop is keeping hope that she will be found, even though the detective on the case says it may be a body instead of a live person.

“There’s a lot of hope that she’s alive,” Bishop said. “You never give up that hope unless you have physical evidence.”

Bishop founded IN Hope, an Indiana nonprofit organization that searches and advocates for missing people, in 2000 after her stepdaughter’s disappearance. Since then, Mindy has been featured on her car, on her Web site and at her Squeaky Wheel concerts — put on to bring awareness about missing people throughout the nation.

According to police reports, Mindy ran away from home a few times as a child. After stealing motorcycles with another teenager, Mindy was placed in an all-girls detention home — also known as the “Blake House.” On Sept. 4, she disappeared.

“Someone here knows something,” Bishop said. “People are coming back for reunions and to help their family. Someone knows something.”

According to Detective David Callahan, of the Madison County Sheriff’s Department, Mindy’s mother told her siblings that a body found on the East Coast was matched to Mindy’s dental records. But, when their mother died a few years ago, the family found a letter from that agency stating the exact opposite. For all those years, their mother, Shirley Creech, had lied to them and no one knows why.

“It’s awfully suspicious,” Callahan said. “But, other than being suspicious, we don’t have any evidence that the mother had done her any harm.”

He added that the family claimed their mother could be abusive, but even that information cannot confirm or deny that she was involved in Mindy’s disappearance.

“It’s a possibility, but there’s no evidence that we could find,” Callahan said. A phone number for Mindy’s brother was not answered Sunday.

Over the past five years since Mindy’s case landed on Callahan’s desk, he has received about 15 requests from New York to Los Angeles for Mindy’s dental records to be compared with remains. None of them returned as a positive match.

“I revisit it whenever any new tips come in,” he said, noting that the last tip was received about a month ago.

No tips have confirmed or denied whether Mindy was still alive. According to a 1997 study — Case Management for Missing Children Homicide Investigation, abducted children are rarely murdered. However, the study said children who are murdered, are killed within three hours. But, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the chances have gotten better over the years, with 96 percent recovered in 2009.

Callahan said there has not been any activity on Mindy’s Social Security number or with any credit cards for the past 30 years. Unfortunately, he said, a body will most likely be the resolution to his longest missing-persons case.
 

[Jenn]

NamUs Profile for Melinda: https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/5308