MELISSA TREMBLAY: Man arrested in 1988 killing of 11-year-old girl from Salem, New Hampshire

You may remember this case:

Former Massachusetts corrections officer arrested for 1988 slaying of 11-year-old girl

A 74-year-old man was arrested this week for the 1988 murder of an 11-year-old girl in Massachusetts.

www.foxnews.com

Melissa Ann Tremblay disappeared in Lawrence, Massachusetts, at the age of 11 on a Sunday evening in 1988 and was found the next day after being stabbed to death and hit by a train.

More than three decades later, her alleged killer was arrested in Alabama and will be returned to Massachusetts to face justice. Marvin McClendon, Jr., a 74-year-old retired Massachusetts Department of Corrections officer, was taken into custody by the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office and will be arraigned in an Alabama court later this week.

Tremblay went with her mother to LaSalle Social Club in Lawrence on September 11, 1988.

"While her mother and mother’s boyfriend remained inside the club, Melissa played in the adjacent neighborhoods and was last seen by a railroad employee and pizza delivery driver during the late afternoon hours," Blodgett said.

Tremblay's mother and her mother's boyfriend searched the area before reporting her missing to police that evening around 9:00 p.m.

Law enforcement located her body in a railway yard a couple of blocks from the social club the next day and an autopsy determined that she had been stabbed to death.

 

[GrandmaBear]

It is untrue!!!! Every single step was documented and testified to in court. Back in 1988 the lead investigator bagged her hands at the scene. He then attended the autopsy. He witnessed the ME clip her fingernails. He knew someday they could be evidence because dna was brand new. At McClendons arraignment I was there. And the DA officially announced that day for the first time that was WHERE the dna came from.

Oh I believe you. So he's running around spreading bullsh*t. He'd get along great with a couple named Baldwin and Rozzi.

Such should be cause to be disbarred but of course it isn't.

That man could have done the right thing and did not at trial. I doubt he is going anywhere but HE77 and I hope he knows that or one day gets pretty darned worried about it.

I'm glad I asked about the fingernails because I've seen that claim several times now. So it's ********. That tells me all I need to know about the atty and his client.

 

[Regina]

No i like questions, as it often helps to work stuff out like that.

Train whistle !!!!! That's spooky. Are you on a train or live/work near a train track?

Is that the same day her kids and Melissa were breaking bottles? If so,she probably heard rather than saw them LOL.

Yeah, it was a little spooky! And yeah, there's a crossing probably a little more than a mile or so (as the crow fies) from my house.

The bottle-breaking story came across to me as though it was the last day she saw Melissa.

Re the timeline, it appears to me that Melissa was last in the vicinity of the rail yard, you know, she was there that afternoon and it's where her body was found.

Edit: Re the bottle-breaking, my impression is that that was the same day that Melissa was missing.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Yeah, it was a little spooky! And yeah, there's a crossing probably a little more than a mile or so (as the crow fies) from my house.

The bottle-breaking story came across to me as though it was the last day she saw Melissa.

Re the timeline, it appears to me that Melissa was last in the vicinity of the rail yard, you know, she was there that afternoon and it's where her body was found.

Edit: Re the bottle-breaking, my impression is that that was the same day that Melissa was missing.

The bottle breaking came away that way to me as well and yet I thought she was unable to play with any of the kids at either home.

There are tracks in this town and once in a blue moon, not often, I will hear a train whistle here near me. I believe it is likely the tracks are used just to move something perhaps within the city or some such. My home town used to be like that. There was a factory who had a warehouse on the other side of Main Street and somehow it was worked out that the factor could use just that short length of track to transport things from the warehouse to the factory and vice versa. I am guessing that's the case here too but unsure. I know there are no rail yards much less active ones in either place. Well not my home town anyhow, and I've never seen any here either.

 

[Regina]

The bottle breaking came away that way to me as well and yet I thought she was unable to play with any of the kids at either home.

There are tracks in this town and once in a blue moon, not often, I will hear a train whistle here near me. I believe it is likely the tracks are used just to move something perhaps within the city or some such. My home town used to be like that. There was a factory who had a warehouse on the other side of Main Street and somehow it was worked out that the factor could use just that short length of track to transport things from the warehouse to the factory and vice versa. I am guessing that's the case here too but unsure. I know there are no rail yards much less active ones in either place. Well not my home town anyhow, and I've never seen any here either.

Yeah, I'm not sure why I was impressed by all the train tracks, lol!

So I don't know if Maryann or any of her kids testified. I've read that Lisa and her husband and daughter testified but all I know of testimony pertinent to that particular day is that about Melissa having come by but the kids were grounded.

 

[Takeitfromme]

I'm not sure if Maryann is still alive I don't believe she testified tho. Melissa was seen by Maryann that day breaking bottles Maryann told her to go back to her mom not sure if Lisa Quinto saw her before or after that

 

[Regina]

I'm not sure if Maryann is still alive I don't believe she testified tho. Melissa was seen by Maryann that day breaking bottles Maryann told her to go back to her mom not sure if Lisa Quinto saw her before or after that

Well surely the case file includes her info... Are you not privy?
And btw, the info isn't clear; are the rr employee and the pizza employee different from the van sighting couple?

 

[GrandmaBear]

Yeah, I'm not sure why I was impressed by all the train tracks, lol!

So I don't know if Maryann or any of her kids testified. I've read that Lisa and her husband and daughter testified but all I know of testimony pertinent to that particular day is that about Melissa having come by but the kids were grounded.

I grew up on train tracks basically, one walked to the far side of our garden and there was the ditch of those tracks that were right above. There were depots yet and the tracks were in and used until I was maybe five, then they were taken out and not used. They connected of course small towns although they could be miles apart. If we walked two stretches of them (one road in between) we would reach the very small town my dad worked in. They would come out by the ball diamond and there was a depot still standing. Over the years, there was a railroad bridge over a river, other years they had it out, then they put it back. So there was a year or two we walked it (with my mom) we had to wade that river to get to the town or halfway there we would take the road route which was far longer. We'd all ride home with dad after work so only walked one way usually. We grew up playing on this trail constantly in both directions, exploring everywhere on and around it. It had been a railway and it ran for a LOT of miles through a lot of the state. Of course we never saw parts of it like 30 miles away or anything although if you took drives you'd come across it of course over your lifetime. It still exists but in later years they have made it an actual recreational trail.

I think people, and kids, have always been impressed or interested by trains and tracks... Hard to say why... It was a big part of changing America, the railways... Who wasn't taught to look for the caboose? I still do it as an adult the rare time I see a train which is RARE, sometimes I will see a parked one or a few parked cars and I'll look for the caboose. Many a place still uses the old tracks to do an attraction, a train ride, a dinner train, we have one that does like Halloween rides and various things. My mom's side was from Iowa and where her aunt lived where we went more than once, they have days that totally revolve around the rail location it was and the trains, that was their heritage big time. Boone, Iowa. Their local days are called Pufferbilly Days and it's a very good time and they have old scenic train rides or at least used to. You could not get a room there on those days unless you were booked at least a year ahead. Many towns have annual "days" or festivals but theirs was very well known and attended.

I guess there's a mystique. For us all or most of us...

However, what has always stood out to me are the dangers...

 

[GrandmaBear]

Well surely the case file includes her info... Are you not privy?
And btw, the info isn't clear; are the rr employee and the pizza employee different from the van sighting couple?

She can answer for herself but I'll say not even the family necessarily has all the info LE does. I mean they'd all know anything that came out at trial of course. Also things can be known of say by us or the public and they don't necessarily use everything nor bring everything up.

 

[Regina]

I grew up on train tracks basically, one walked to the far side of our garden and there was the ditch of those tracks that were right above. There were depots yet and the tracks were in and used until I was maybe five, then they were taken out and not used. They connected of course small towns although they could be miles apart. If we walked two stretches of them (one road in between) we would reach the very small town my dad worked in. They would come out by the ball diamond and there was a depot still standing. Over the years, there was a railroad bridge over a river, other years they had it out, then they put it back. So there was a year or two we walked it (with my mom) we had to wade that river to get to the town or halfway there we would take the road route which was far longer. We'd all ride home with dad after work so only walked one way usually. We grew up playing on this trail constantly in both directions, exploring everywhere on and around it. It had been a railway and it ran for a LOT of miles through a lot of the state. Of course we never saw parts of it like 30 miles away or anything although if you took drives you'd come across it of course over your lifetime. It still exists but in later years they have made it an actual recreational trail.

I think people, and kids, have always been impressed or interested by trains and tracks... Hard to say why... It was a big part of changing America, the railways... Who wasn't taught to look for the caboose? I still do it as an adult the rare time I see a train which is RARE, sometimes I will see a parked one or a few parked cars and I'll look for the caboose. Many a place still uses the old tracks to do an attraction, a train ride, a dinner train, we have one that does like Halloween rides and various things. My mom's side was from Iowa and where her aunt lived where we went more than once, they have days that totally revolve around the rail location it was and the trains, that was their heritage big time. Boone, Iowa. Their local days are called Pufferbilly Days and it's a very good time and they have old scenic train rides or at least used to. You could not get a room there on those days unless you were booked at least a year ahead. Many towns have annual "days" or festivals but theirs was very well known and attended.

I guess there's a mystique. For us all or most of us...

However, what has always stood out to me are the dangers...

Re the dangers, I wonder if that happens to be the reason Lisa's kids were grounded, that is, for playing in the rail yard
I'm curious as to why Melissa was there alone and/ or why she'd go there alone, for that matter, although I imagine it could be that she was looking for other kids.

 

[Regina]

She can answer for herself but I'll say not even the family necessarily has all the info LE does. I mean they'd all know anything that came out at trial of course. Also things can be known of say by us or the public and they don't necessarily use everything nor bring everything up.

Right but in this case, the info is that Melissa's mother spoke to Maryann when she was looking for Melissa and so she had Maryann's info firsthand.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Re the dangers, I wonder if that happens to be the reason Lisa's kids were grounded, that is, for playing in the rail yard
I'm curious as to why Melissa was there alone and/ or why she'd go there alone, for that matter, although I imagine it could be that she was looking for other kids.

Possibly looking for them or any child to play with. I don't know why but I imagine such places appeal to children. I mean what child isn't enamored by something they can use as a pretend home, space, something to jump off of and play, etc. I'm thinking train cars, box cars. Trains in general I think even adults have a bit of a thing with them. I mean many a man collects trains... Kids are so naive and not aware of the dangers and people who may be dangerous and personally I think in that day and age so were a lot of parents...

And she may well have even run into adults who were friendly, even transients, who knows...

I'd imagine since her mom frequented this club she'd been in the railyard many a time and with the other children as well most likely. She probably knew the vicinity around the club pretty well.

I can think back to those years and as I said we were raised a bit this way ourselves, nothing as often or as unsupervised for as long as this but we had our free time unsupervised for a bit, etc... Usually my sister and I were together and didn't do too much of risk. We'd go to both dime stores within a block, sometimes some other stores, there used to be a candy store for instance next to one. We'd stay in a couple block on Main Street area most of the time. However, like during the day if it was a daytime like a Sunday sometimes we'd walk further, a few blocks and turn down a side street, for instance there was an ice cream shop at a distance like that, maybe three block or so away... Then here's a bit of an interesting story, my brother who had graduated started seeing a woman with a kid. An older woman. This was a different day and age and my parents and grandparents were aghast and ashamed. In fact he was living with her... This was the 70s... The kids of the 70s probably thought nothing of it like he and his buddies but that was NOT the case for parents at all... We were FORBIDDEN from seeing them/him. We missed him of course and forbidding us made it even more appealing of course. She lived right across from the ice cream place. Well we started sneaking there and seeing them. She was nice and had a very nice little boy. I believe she was divorced and that made it even worse. Lol, boy have times changed. I reminded my mom of this not long ago... Nowadays she'd probably encourage one of hers to live together rather than marry lol.

There was a time or two when I was alone, no idea why, maybe my sister was at an overnight at a classmate's or something. One time I was walking and was a few blocks away from my folks and I was alone. Daytime. A Sunday I'm sure. A boy on a bike started tagging alongside me. He was friendly but he made me really nervous. He seemed older than me. We were hicks, not townies, he was clearly probably a townie used to getting up to all sorts of no good I figured...

I stayed friendly to him as I tried to turn back and keep walking. I don't recall but seems like he was trying to get me to go do something and I gave an excuse. I was nervous until getting back and away from him. A few years later I encountered him in Jr. high and he was my age.

I only share these things as I recall such well and realize now how risky it maybe was, most people are good and we were fine and nothing ever happened but it could have. Just as it did to Melissa here. I also say it for people who may one day read it who may be a young parent or something. I was somewhat naive raising my own as well. We tend to trust our own neighborhoods, where we live, if we were also raised that way, and especially if we live in say small mostly safe towns, and so on.

Melissa for a man like this was an easy target. And children alone are very obvious to adults and the bad ones of those adults too that they are alone and vulnerable... THe one woman's hub would walk Melissa back to the club. That couple was aware she needed supervision and safety...

 

[Tresir]

I'm not sure if Maryann is still alive I don't believe she testified tho. Melissa was seen by Maryann that day breaking bottles Maryann told her to go back to her mom not sure if Lisa Quinto saw her before or after that

I guess if her house was next to the club it was possibly knocked down when the La Salle club was. On street view it looks like there is a big store or restaurant there now with car parking.

 

[Regina]

Possibly looking for them or any child to play with. I don't know why but I imagine such places appeal to children. I mean what child isn't enamored by something they can use as a pretend home, space, something to jump off of and play, etc. I'm thinking train cars, box cars. Trains in general I think even adults have a bit of a thing with them. I mean many a man collects trains... Kids are so naive and not aware of the dangers and people who may be dangerous and personally I think in that day and age so were a lot of parents...

And she may well have even run into adults who were friendly, even transients, who knows...

I'd imagine since her mom frequented this club she'd been in the railyard many a time and with the other children as well most likely. She probably knew the vicinity around the club pretty well.

I can think back to those years and as I said we were raised a bit this way ourselves, nothing as often or as unsupervised for as long as this but we had our free time unsupervised for a bit, etc... Usually my sister and I were together and didn't do too much of risk. We'd go to both dime stores within a block, sometimes some other stores, there used to be a candy store for instance next to one. We'd stay in a couple block on Main Street area most of the time. However, like during the day if it was a daytime like a Sunday sometimes we'd walk further, a few blocks and turn down a side street, for instance there was an ice cream shop at a distance like that, maybe three block or so away... Then here's a bit of an interesting story, my brother who had graduated started seeing a woman with a kid. An older woman. This was a different day and age and my parents and grandparents were aghast and ashamed. In fact he was living with her... This was the 70s... The kids of the 70s probably thought nothing of it like he and his buddies but that was NOT the case for parents at all... We were FORBIDDEN from seeing them/him. We missed him of course and forbidding us made it even more appealing of course. She lived right across from the ice cream place. Well we started sneaking there and seeing them. She was nice and had a very nice little boy. I believe she was divorced and that made it even worse. Lol, boy have times changed. I reminded my mom of this not long ago... Nowadays she'd probably encourage one of hers to live together rather than marry lol.

There was a time or two when I was alone, no idea why, maybe my sister was at an overnight at a classmate's or something. One time I was walking and was a few blocks away from my folks and I was alone. Daytime. A Sunday I'm sure. A boy on a bike started tagging alongside me. He was friendly but he made me really nervous. He seemed older than me. We were hicks, not townies, he was clearly probably a townie used to getting up to all sorts of no good I figured...

I stayed friendly to him as I tried to turn back and keep walking. I don't recall but seems like he was trying to get me to go do something and I gave an excuse. I was nervous until getting back and away from him. A few years later I encountered him in Jr. high and he was my age.

I only share these things as I recall such well and realize now how risky it maybe was, most people are good and we were fine and nothing ever happened but it could have. Just as it did to Melissa here. I also say it for people who may one day read it who may be a young parent or something. I was somewhat naive raising my own as well. We tend to trust our own neighborhoods, where we live, if we were also raised that way, and especially if we live in say small mostly safe towns, and so on.

Melissa for a man like this was an easy target. And children alone are very obvious to adults and the bad ones of those adults too that they are alone and vulnerable... THe one woman's hub would walk Melissa back to the club. That couple was aware she needed supervision and safety...

All I'm saying is that I don't know what the attitudes were of the parents pertaining to whether their children played in the rail yard., I don't know which children nor whether the parents were even aware of it.
But it seems to me that if she went to the rail yard after Maryann's and the Q's, then she must have been seeking out a kid or kids from some other family.

 

[GrandmaBear]

All I'm saying is that I don't know what the attitudes were of the parents pertaining to whether their children played in the rail yard., I don't know which children nor whether the parents were even aware of it.
But it seems to me that if she went to the rail yard after Maryann's and the Q's, then she must have been seeking out a kid or kids from some other family.

It very well could be. I'm sure she was looking for people, something to do, most likely kids of course, it sounds like she was pretty friendly and social.

As far as which kids played in the rail yard and what the parents knew, who knows but any kid that was allowed out of the house and to go play without adults is going to probably explore the rail yard amongst other places in their area or neighborhood. It IS just the way it was back then. I mean even then there were probably some parents who would keep a better eye out, not let their kids out alone, or if they did, had stricter rules, you check back in 1/2 hour and you don't go here, here or here, still doesn't mean the kids didn't, but being sent out to play was far from unusual.

This thread and Melissa definitely deserves the attn but I don't think we are going to find some other perp or anything like that. The man was found and tried and unfortunately acquitted. I have no problem with discussing it all but it isn't going to change that.

I think she most definitely was probably looking for other children but I also think she wouldn't have minded running into a NICE adult even, just something to do, somewhere to be, not drifting around outside on her own with no supervision, no siblings or friends, and no parent or home to go home to in those hours. I feel bad for her in that sense.

I've said it before and will again and we have all said it or a few of us including you, I am not going to blame her mother, the perp is the one to blame, but it is too bad some arrangement could not have been made with maybe one of the nearby families for her to stay there or something on that order, or in her own home area with someone, but it sounds like this was not an occasional thing, mom was at this club with this guy all of the time and not even someone willing to maybe help or babysit is going to want to be doing that every day at all hours. I can understand and it is why I don't judge mom but I have little doubt she has come down on herself over it over the years. I would and I bet she does. Again though it was just a different time and this was not that unusual. Maybe in this case, mom did it a LOT and Melissa was alone a LOT more than most. I've shared some of my younger years and some similar things but I was almost always with a sibling and if more than 1/2 hour went by without us coming back, one of my two folks would have been checking for us and for sure after something as long as an hour. Fortunately, we never ever went past any short amount of time nor went far MOST of the time and even when we did, like sneaking off to see my brother and his gf, it was about 3 to 4 blocks tops. And I mean short blocks lol, not like NYC blocks.

We probably won't ever hear it but I'm sure like the rail yard employee who warned Melissa to leave and said it was dangerous could tell us how often kids played there or were intrigued and had to check out the rail yard... I don't doubt it was a fairly common thing... They probably had to often shoo children away, I would not be surprised. AND some adults as well.

I don't like to judge or generalize but homes in town near tracks or rail yards were often not the best of homes nor were the neighborhoods the best. I'd say you probably had a lot of hardworking people with families and kids in many of them but who could not afford to buy or even rent better. Yet look at the one family who Melissa sought out, the husband often walked Melissa back to the bar at night. Hardworking, watching out for kids in a not totally safe neighborhood, watching out for someone else's kid. GOOD people, CLEARLY. But she ran into an evil arsehole when alone.

And I know you may not agree but that arsehole was acquitted. There is still God though. That's so much bigger than the court of mankind.

 

[Regina]

I guess if her house was next to the club it was possibly knocked down when the La Salle club was. On street view it looks like there is a big store or restaurant there now with car parking.

The earliest street view image is from '08 and you know, changes- whether natural or man-made- can make it either difficult to get a feel for an area later or to get a better understanding of the circumstance.
Years ago, I was looking into Thelma Todd's death in the 30's. She was an actress from the 20's and 30's and she lived in Pacific Palisades and the night of her death, she'd walked to a garage some distance away where her car was kept and I was trying to ascertain the most practical route she'd have taken but both options were dead-end roads, which didn't make sense. Well, I wasn't confused for too long before I learned there'd been a landslide in '58 that covered both roads between where she lived and the garage, lol! Seriously, the notion of a landslide actually hadn't occurred to me, lol!
Anyway, yeah, street view archives can be very helpful, you know, needless to say, it just depends on whether street view was around and when the change occurred.

 

[Tresir]

All I'm saying is that I don't know what the attitudes were of the parents pertaining to whether their children played in the rail yard., I don't know which children nor whether the parents were even aware of it.
But it seems to me that if she went to the rail yard after Maryann's and the Q's, then she must have been seeking out a kid or kids from some other family.

I wonder if she knew the 13 year old homeless kid and played in the railyard with him? I mean he would only be a couple of years older than her too.

 

[Regina]

I wonder if she knew the 13 year old homeless kid and played in the railyard with him? I mean he would only be a couple of years older than her too.

I find it odd that she wouldn't have.

 

[GrandmaBear]

The earliest street view image is from '08 and you know, changes- whether natural or man-made- can make it either difficult to get a feel for an area later or to get a better understanding of the circumstance.
Years ago, I was looking into Thelma Todd's death in the 30's. She was an actress from the 20's and 30's and she lived in Pacific Palisades and the night of her death, she'd walked to a garage some distance away where her car was kept and I was trying to ascertain the most practical route she'd have taken but both options were dead-end roads, which didn't make sense. Well, I wasn't confused for too long before I learned there'd been a landslide in '58 that covered both roads between where she lived and the garage, lol! Seriously, the notion of a landslide actually hadn't occurred to me, lol!
Anyway, yeah, street view archives can be very helpful, you know, needless to say, it just depends on whether street view was around and when the change occurred.

I don't always get the time but in ANY and EVERY case, when I do, I like to get a feel for where and map it. So I do get that. I certainly don't always do it or get the chance or take the time but I have. And even beyond that, a case that maybe happened in an apartment complex, I will look up the apartments, read the resident reviews of the place, crime, or a nice place, or a bad place, etc. I like to see if say someone walked from the home to a corner gas station just how far that is and how many buildings in between and what businesses, what roads, etc. to get a feel.

So I get very much what you mean like with Todd even. Yeah with Cali, between landslides, fires and you name it, don't count on anything lol. And development or redevelopment... Lol. Funny but not.

I Google earthed a property we had one time, not the most recent one, another, and the most recent Google image showed my dad's truck there which had become my brother's truck. It wasn't earth shattering but it was significant to me because while the date meant nothing to me, the truck being there told me exactly what was going on that the truck was at our place where it was in the yard... Sometimes updated images on Google Earth of properties and addresses have even caught things that have solved crimes. In this case, the truck was at our place as my brother was off somewhere and needed it left there and I knew immediately what had been going on when the picture was taken just by the fact the truck was there and parked where it was.

Anyhow back to the point, I like to get as good of a feel as I can for the area of a crime or disappearance, etc. too. Back when I did not work and had time, I'd do it in many. Lina Khil. I quickly looked up the apartment complex and reviews. No good ones. Lots of bad ones. Cockroaches. Nonworking refrigerators. One guy really stood out. He hated kids and the kids being unsupervised and yelling and running the hallways etc. and he sounded threatening imo over it... Just ONE example of getting a feel for a place, area, mapping a city and where someone was last seen, etc.

Even then we can't place ourselves there or know how it really is, but I find it helpful. Even just mapping if someone walked two blocks to the nearest convenience store and disappeared, what was on that route... What did they pass by... A park? A nightclub? Just residences? Is it a busy street, a main drag? Or a quiet one?

 

[GrandmaBear]

I wonder if she knew the 13 year old homeless kid and played in the railyard with him? I mean he would only be a couple of years older than her too.

I'd count on the fact she knew him, or they knew of each other, whether friendly or not, they knew each other and were aware of each other.

I was aware of every other kid on their own or whose parents were out and whose kids were allowed to play in the area the parents were out in.

I have NO DOUBT they knew each other. ZILCH.

 

[GrandmaBear]

I find it odd that she wouldn't have.

Imo it is a no brainer they knew each other or of each other.