Missing
Melinda Karen Creech
Melinda, approximately 1979; Age when reported missing: 52 (approximately 2017)
Date and time person was reported missing : 09/05/1979
Missing location (approx) :
Anderson, Indiana
Missing classification : Endangered Missing
Gender : Female
Ethnicity :
White
DOB : 09/21/1965 (55)
Age at the time of disappearance: 13 years old
Height / Weight : 5'3, 110 pounds
Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos
: Caucasian female. Blonde/brown hair, blue eyes. Melinda's nickname is Mindy. She has previously fractured her lower arm, her ears are pierced and she has a small mole on her left eyebrow. She may use the alias first name Mandy or the alias middle name Dawn. Some Age at the time of disappearance: ncies give her DOB : as September 21, 1964.
Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Melinda was placed in the Bronnenberg Children’s Home, an all-girls juvenile detention facility, on September 5, 1979 after she and another teenAge at the time of disappearance: r were caught stealing motorcycles from a dealership. Two months later, the police went there to speak to Melinda in connection to another theft, but she was gone. It's unclear when and how she left the facility.
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. Shirley had suffered from dementia for years prior to her passing, and perhaps she was simply confused. Melinda's siblings have described her as an extremely abusive parent.
There has been no activity on Melinda's Social Security number since 1979. Her father is now also deceased.
Other information and links : ncy
Madison County Sheriff's Office
765-646-9281
765-642-0221
765-646-4028
September 2021 updates and sources
The Doe Network
The Indianapolis Star
Interactive Missing Person Search Map
