Melanie Jo Melanson -- Missing Since October 1989

Author: Shane Lambert (link opens to my Facebook profile)
Twitter: @UncoolNegated (link to Twitter)
Pinterest: Missing Person Board
Original Time of Writing: February 3rd, 2021

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

I am not a Private Investigator, however, I am currently studying to be one as of February 2021.

Missing person: Melanie Jo Melanson
Last-contact date: October 27th, 1989 (Friday) late at night or early hours of October 28th, 1989
Disappeared from: Woburn, Massachusetts; last seen near the banks of Aberjona River in an area near Hill Street, off Montvale Avenue and a block off I-93.

Link to Government Source: #MP6393

Other Source: Charley Project

Ethnicity/Race: White
Sex: Female
Age at time of disappearance: 14 years old
Hair: Blonde/strawberry
Eye color: Blue
Height and weight at the time of disappearance: 5'3" and 105 pounds
Teeth: braces

Other: pierced ears

 

The case of Melanie Melanson, a one-time freshman at Woburn High School, is one that police had some optimism about in the years after she disappeared. That seemed to continue right up until about 2012. Melanie went to a party in an industrial area that was wooded and was not seen again. Charley Project offered this description: 

"Melanie was last seen on the evening of October 27, 1989, at a party at an industrial park near the Woburn/Stoneham line, about a mile from her home in Woburn, Massachusetts."

I didn't find any news journalism coverage from the time of her disappearance. That doesn't mean it isn't out there, however, it wasn't in the database I searched. On that matter, I had more success with "Melanie Melanson" than "Melanie Jo Melanson."

The following snip is from September 11th, 1994. It quotes Police Chief Philip Mahoney at that time, regarding the Melanson case:

Sun, Sep 11, 1994 – 60 · The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) · Newspapers.com

The same article said that they got some information six months after she disappeared that indicated "she had been killed." At some points, there was speculation that she was a runaway. However, I think that should be considered an extremely peripheral possibility now that 32 years have passed.

One of the better articles I read regarding Melanie's disappearance was written by Yvonne Abraham in the May 6th, 2009 Boston Globe (B1). It made the following points:

• she was last seen in a wooded area near "an unlovely industrial park" attending a teenage party that involved alcohol and drugs
• there were about a dozen people at the party
• the night seems to end with Melanie and two boys remaining at the party; these two boys initially said the other was the last to see her alive; of these two boys, one reportedly refused to give Melanie a ride home because he only had one helmet for his motorbike
• dogs and police "recruits" were used for the search

Fri, Sep 25, 2009 – B2 · The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) · Newspapers.com

There seemed to be a new push in this case around 2009. That's when a bulk of news articles appeared on the topic of Melanie's disappearance. This minor spike in keyword hits lasted until about 2012.

In the November 2nd, 2009 edition of The Boston Globe there was an article that mentioned digging in the area that she was last seen and a promising new lead. However, that was over a decade ago now and nothing seemed to have materialized with regard to where she was last seen. 

One article I read said a tipster suggested that her body may have been moved. That tip would suggest nervousness on the part of someone who knew where her remains were. In cases like this, it's difficult to know what to treat as genuine. If all the tips were true, it would call into question why the body has yet to be found.

On that matter, it may be that finding the remains in a wooded industrial area has proven elusive because of changes in the land over the decades. What someone remembers as the spot of her disappearance might not be off by a large margin several years later at the time of recollection. Furthermore, vegetation may have grown over her buried remains. 

Someone looking at the land might not realize that a patch that was unvegetated in 1989 may now be covered. Noting that missing people are often found not far from where they were last seen despite 'extensive' searches, I would not take anything for granted in this case regarding ground zero. That's especially true given that the original searchers were described as police "recruits," which I'm differentiating from police officers.

The wooded and industrial area of the party seems to be the best place to continue looking. Besides cadaver dogs, which reportedly were used, metal detectors might yield clues.

Additionally, there is a question in my mind as to the possibility that her route home might be more fruitful than where she was last seen. Furthermore, there's the question of the two boys each seemingly deflecting attention to the other. 

One question that's sociological in nature can be asked: what does it mean for an attractive teenage girl to go missing at the end of a party? That she went missing in such a sketchy area might point to local transients who used the wooded/industrial area for habitation.

However, the time frame at the end of a party involving young people might also be the time where romance is in the air. That also brings into play themes of rejection, frustration, and anger. 

The social dynamics that one might speculate as associated with this missing person case are not promising when it comes to the prospects of finding Melanie Jo Melanson alive. There's the 'end of the party' social dynamics to consider in addition to the dangerous area that she may have had to walk home in -- at a dark time of night when she was just 14 years old. In my mind, amateurs or Websleuths trying to find a lead in this case for authorities should not incorporate the age-progression photos into their efforts. Those are useful with teenage runaways but there's only the slightest chance that Melanie Jo Melanson was such, in my view.

The chances of finding Melanie Jo Melanson are redeemed by the fact that this isn't a case where there aren't people working on leads. There is a private investigator that has worked on this case extensively. His name is Michael Garrigan. Furthermore, it has received major newspaper coverage in addition to plenty of efforts from amateurs.

Recommended further reading: Websleuths forum

Carbon, Alberta Jane Doe: Unidentified Remains Mystery and a Bizarre Case (1995)

Author: Shane Lambert
Original Time of Writing: January 4th, 2021

Updated: August 23rd, 2025

January 10th, 2025: A websleuth (kara1218)  recently attempted to match this Jane Doe to a missing person named Julie Ann Derouin.

All articles are subject to editing after the original posting.

Unidentified Jane Doe in Carbon, Alberta

Who: Jane Doe found roadside near Carbon, Alberta, Canada

When: Discovered on April 20th, 1995 or April 21st, 1995

Post-mortem period: Thought to be dead for 10 to 15 years, meaning missing people last seen in April 1980 to April 1985 are all in play. However, missing people outside of this range cannot be ruled out based only on the post-mortem period's estimation.

Case Profile: Service Canada Reference #2016069642

Ethnicity/Race: Uncertain. Appears aboriginal by the construction; could be other ethnicities for sure but does not look Caucasian. One source says she may have been of north African descent but that dark skin color does not come through in the bust above. Mixed background possible.

Sex: Female

Age at time of death: 22 to 35 years old, estimated. Broadened range 20 to 40.
Height: 5'0" to 5'4" (combined range from Service Canada and the Youtube video below which is of a press conference that was held, in part, for this Jane Doe)

Other: she had suffered from a disease called brucellosis

Case Details and Indigenous Connection

This is a case that doesn't have a lengthy profile with Canada's National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains. However, the Youtube video posted above will help deliver some case details.

I thought, at first glance, that this individual was one of the missing aboriginal women of Canada, a group that some think doesn't get a lot of police attention. However, I'm not sure this Jane Doe is actually in any missing person's database. Part of me wonders if no one at all is looking for her.

Be warned, this isn't an article for the weak-stomached. I don't apologize. If you are seeking out articles on missing people or Jane Does then you have to be ready for some topics that aren't exactly those for the pleasure reader.

I think she is aboriginal but my basis for designating her as such is tenuous. Firstly, she was found in the Albertan plains and that area has plenty of aboriginals. Secondly, she looks aboriginal to me in the police recreation but she could be of other groups. I've wondered if Indian reserves of Alberta might be alerted to this case. However, I really have low confidence that this person will be identified. I don't think there's a soul out there that is looking for her.

Websleuths or amateurs looking at this case should know that Carbon, Alberta is tiny. It's a village northeast of Calgary by about an hour. If she was from Carbon then she would have been identified, I think. Her roadside location sounds like a body dump to me and a person doing that would be looking for somewhere far away from where people knew her, I think.

Media Coverage and Grave Site Mystery

It was hard to find news that covered this Jane Doe. However, I believe that the following article from the April 25th, 1995 Calgary Herald might pertain to her. There is a statement in this news article that brings bizarreness into play.

Tue, Apr 25, 1995 – 25 · Calgary Herald (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) · Newspapers.com

Note, that the "last Thursday" that is referenced in the article would actually be April 20th, 1995 as opposed to April 21st, 1995 (the date that Service Canada reports as the date that the Jane Doe was found). Furthermore, the age range in the news article is different.

Both inconsistencies can be explained: dates are often a tad off in reporting and age ranges that are based on estimates can change over time. The reason I think that the reporting pertains to the Jane Doe pictured at the start of this article is just that Carbon, Alberta is puny. I don't think two Jane Does pop up in consecutive days but it's possible.

The news article says something that's very unique when it comes to Jane Does. According to the news article, this Jane Doe "may have been removed from a grave site."

What does that make you think? The RCMP might have been able to study the body and conjectured that it had been serviced by a mortician? That's what I think when I read that. Maybe there was a presence of embalming fluid. However, maybe they had different reasons for believing that she was previously buried. A lot more information is needed about the grave site that this person came from. 

Was it a marked grave?

Was it a clandestine grave?

If it was the latter, then it's hard to think of a way to generate leads. It's also perplexing: why would someone unearth an individual in a clandestine grave and leave her on the side of the highway? If her grave was of a clandestine nature, then one would conjecture that the grave site was a better hiding spot than on the side of the road. However, the article also said that foul play was ruled out. That suggests that her original resting place was not clandestine in nature.

Timeline and Identification Challenges

If it was the former (ie. she was in a marked grave), then leads are possible. The timeline with this Jane Doe could be as follows: 

• a death between April 1980 and April 1985
• a burial in a gravesite assumingly near her time of death
• removal from the gravesite at some point
• then she ends up roadside near Carbon, Alberta
• discovered there on April 20th or April 21st, 1995 after laying dead outdoors for maybe 10 to 15 years

If all that is true then this Jane Doe case isn't going to be solved through any conventional means. Conventionally, when an amateur or websleuth is working on a Jane Doe's case, that person would cross reference the Jane Doe against missing person's reports.

That's worked in the past for many cases but if this particular Jane Doe died and was buried in a marked grave, then maybe she wasn't missing at the time of her death. Maybe the family and friends had a funeral for her and had a sense of closure. If that's true then it brings the following into consideration: maybe nobody that encounters this Jane Doe's profile, that actually knew her in life, will ever think to connect her to the person that she/he knew. This truly is a problematic Jane Doe when one considers that she was unearthed from a grave.

In this peculiar case, identifying the Jane Doe might involve looking for an empty grave in the region, one that belongs to a woman who died between the ages of 20 and 40, one who matched the height range, and someone who died between 1980 and 1985. I'm not sure how a Websleuth or amateur investigator goes about checking graves for empty coffins without stepping on a whole bunch of toes. But I do have ideas as to why someone would dig up human remains from a grave.

One understandable reason is exhumation for a legal reason, a historical one, or a scientific one. However, exhumation is not a good explanation in this case so long as you accept the following. Someone in charge of exhuming a body would be someone responsible enough to put it where it belonged afterward. The authorities, if they exhumed this person, wouldn't discard her remains on the side of a highway.

Another reason someone would dig up human remains borders on the bizarre and the grotesque: necrophilia. If you find it difficult to accept that someone would dig up a body for that purpose, then the definitive answer is that such acts are known to have happened before.

Wed, Sep 6, 2006 – 1 · Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wisconsin) · Newspapers.com

Furthermore, another reason why someone would take a body from a grave for clandestine purposes is to fake a death. That's believed to have happened before as well.

Wed, Sep 30, 1981 – 69 · Red Deer Advocate (Red Deer, Alberta, Canada) · Newspapers.com

I think another reason someone might dig up a body from a marked grave is one that's less sinister in nature: extreme mourning. Somebody who is psychologically changed due to someone's death might have an insane episode and seek out the remains. I didn't find any historical news article about that but, I think, it can happen. Read the poem "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allen Poe. It tells a tale of a man who sought out his wife's tomb for comfort.

I really don't see this case as probable to be solved due to a lead from a missing relative. Firstly, there's hardly any news coverage that I could find. Secondly, there is barely anything in her profile. Lastly, I don't think there is anyone looking for her. If her grave was a marked one then the people that knew this Jane Doe might have buried her according to their customs and they might already have closure -- for decades. They might not know at all that she was removed.

The only point to take away is that if you ever come across any news from Alberta about an empty grave then think of this Jane Doe and cross-reference her particulars with that of the relevant grave marker or obituary.

Brucellosis Outbreak in Alberta

In the YouTube video, Staff Sergeant Jason Zazulak of the RCMP made the following statement: 

"She may be or appeared to have been of north African ancestry or possibly of indigenous or mixed ancestry. She was approximately 5-foot to 5-foot-three inches in height...She had suffered from a disease called brucellosis and repetitive fever. Brucellosis is not a disease commonly found in Canada and may suggest that this person was born abroad."

I do not think that this person was born abroad.

Alberta’s 1980s Brucellosis Context

It's important to note that brucellosis might not be a common disease in Canada in modern times. However, the Jane Doe in question is believed to have died in the early 1980s and her remains were found in Alberta. It's important to note, I think, that there was a brucellosis outbreak in Alberta in the 1980s. The balance of my research on this outbreak makes me think that this individual was an Albertan and that she had some kind of exposure to a farm or farm products.

Lethbridge Outbreak and Potential Leads

The second snipped article below is interesting. It says that there was an outbreak that affected people in Lethbridge in 1980. Note, that you didn't have to work on a farm to get brucellosis. It seems like any work related to cattle could expose you to the disease. It's also interesting that this outbreak is within the range of the Jane Doe's estimated death.

Wed, May 14, 1980 – 54 · Calgary Herald (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) · Newspapers.com

Sat, Jan 12, 1980 – 42 · Calgary Herald (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) · Newspapers.com

The second snipped article above is interesting. It says that there was an outbreak that affected people in Lethbridge in 1980. Lethbridge is not particularly close to where the Jane Doe was found, however, nor can it be considered out of range for someone who owned a vehicle. According to Google Maps, a drive from Lethbridge to where the body was dumped in Carbon would be just under three hours.

The six employees in the news article might know something about who this person is. They had the disease she had and they may have transmitted it to people they knew. Furthermore, it's not impossible that the Jane Doe was one of the six employees, yet, that would seem like a fluke if it was so.

Note, that you didn't have to work on a farm to get brucellosis. It seems like any work related to cattle could expose you to the disease. It's also interesting that this outbreak is within the range of the Jane Doe's estimated death.

Alberta’s Agricultural Link to Brucellosis

Farms in Alberta are very common. You will find them across a huge range of the province and the province itself is enormous. The only place in Alberta where you won't find many farms would be in the mountain parks on the province's western border.

Accordingly, that she might have worked or lived near cattle or their products isn't necessarily going to be a case-breaker. However, I would reject the opinion that she was of foreign originations based on her exposure to a disease that's not common in Canada. At the time when she lived and in the province where her remains were found, brucellosis was part of life.

Cemeteries Near Carbon, Alberta

• Carbon Cemetery