So who was the witness who saw her talking to someone in a tan van?
I have made a few notes from various posts to try and get a timeline together.
At some point that afternoon (after 230) she visited the Quintos (Lisa) and was turned away only because the kids were grounded and not allowed to have friends over that afternoon it was walking distance from the tracks.
Lisa remembered the kids making mix-tapes together on cassette. She said that Melissa always wanted to help with her youngest children, who were just 1 and 2 years old. She also recalled that her husband would often walk Melissa back to the bar late at night to return her to her mother.
Bruce, a B&M railyard worker;
RR worker did not know Melissa but saw her earlier in the day playing on the box cars and told her she had to leave because it was dangerous there.... he remembered what she was wearing and when the worker who found her the next day, notified him and he started walking towards the area he saw her clothing and said he didn't need to go any further he knew it was the girl he asked to leave the previous day
Donald Nadeau, the bartender at the LaSalle Social Club.
Donald said that Melissa would often sit at a table in the bar by herself and have a coke and a bag of chips. Sometimes she would be there for 5 or 6 hours at a time.
On day 3, Daniel Hatch, a boy who was 13 years old and unhoused back in 1988, was called to the stand. The night Melissa disappeared, he noticed a man and a girl sitting on the steps outside of the LaSalle Social Club. Daniel was on his way to a friend’s house to get a screwdriver—a tool he used in car thefts. He recognized the man on the stoop as Mike Therrien, someone his family had warned him to avoid. About 10 minutes later, he saw them walking together, away from the club. He saw them join another man—the three of them talking together. The next day, when he heard about the discovery of the body, he asked his brother if he should tell the police what he’d seen. His brother said to stay out of it. It wasn’t until 2013, when Daniel was arrested in Lawrence, that he decided to tell the police what he’d seen 25 years prior.
What doesn’t make sense about Daniel’s testimony is the timing. Her mom last saw Melissa at 2:00PM. They got worried around 4:30PM, when it was still light out. They then spent hours looking around the bar, trying to find her. Numerous people were likely aware of the search including all of the bar staff. He said that he saw a girl, about Melissa’s age, sitting on the steps in front of the bar that night. It wouldn’t have been dark until 7:30PM. If Melissa were sitting on the steps of the bar at 7:30PM, it seems very likely that she would have been noticed and reunited with her mother.
230 last time bartender saw her.
Mom last saw her at 2 pm. Got worried about 4.30 pm and spent hours looking for her. Called LE at 8 pm
Body found around 4 pm next day on the tracks.
Question - who is Mike Therrien?
www.foxnews.com
