On the morning of Wednesday July 19, 2006, Melanie Metheny left her residence in Campbells Creek with two of her children and the child of her current boyfriend. It is believed that she dropped off the boyfriend’s child between 7:30 and 8:00 am at the home of the child’s paternal grandmother in the Dry Branch Area of Campbell’s Creek and then continued to the Country Kids Daycare located in the 3000 block of East Dupont Ave Belle. There she dropped off her two children between 7:50am and 8:00 am. Friends, family, and daycare workers said Melanie told them she was going to Garnett Career College in Charleston that day to pick up her transcripts and deliver them to West Virginia State College where she intended to start classes. Melanie never returned to pick up her children from the daycare.

According to Melanie’s cell phone records, she placed two calls between 9:00 am and 9:30am that morning, one of which to her voice mail, and both calls had been placed from the Western Kanawha and Eastern Putnam Co. areas. A check was done at West Virginia State College and Garnett and no contact was made with Melanie that day.

Melanie’s van, 1998 Gold Chevrolet Venture Van, was located 4 days later on July 23, 2006, parked on the street in the residential area of Wyoming Street and Beuhring Ave on the West Side of Charleston. One witness in the area said that the van had been parked there since around the afternoon of Wednesday July 19, 2006.

Melanie Metheny was 21 years old when she was reported as missing. She has long strawberry blond hair, brown eyes, 5’3”, and approximately 100lbs. She didn’t have any tattoos but has a scar on her lower right leg/ankle and a plate and two screws that she received from a car accident.

Melanie Metheny is the mother of 3 children. Their ages at the time of her disappearance were 1, 3, and 5 years.

Since the time she was reported missing the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office has expended numerous man-hours while conducting this missing person case. We have received hundreds of tips since her disappearance and conducted follow-up investigations on each tip. We actively follow up on any leads that are brought to our attention. We know that someone in the public has information that could lead us to a closure in this case.

We would ask anyone with information on this case to please contact the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office at 304-357-0169 or the tip line at 304-357-4693. All calls can be anonymous, and information will be kept confidential. Tips may also be forwarded via email to tips@kanawhasheriff.us