At Witt’s End: What happened to Melissa Witt?

At Witt’s End: The Hunt for a Killer is a cinematic new documentary series on Hulu that delves into the decades-old unsolved murder of Melissa Witt.

It’s one of many unsolved mysteries that continues to baffle law enforcement and cause heartbreak for loved ones to this day. Just take a look at the true crime releases of the past year.

HBO’s 2023 docu-series Burden of Proof, for instance, centers on Stephen Pandos and how he’s been searching for answers on the disappearance of his sister Jennifer since 1987. The same year, Netflix’s Who Killed Jill Dando? sought answers on the still unsolved murder of the BBC presenter. 

Now, ABC News’ At Witt’s End: The Hunt for a Killer, which is streaming on Hulu, unearths new details about the perplexing case of Melissa, which remains open today. Warning: Some may find this content distressing.

What happened to Melissa Witt?

Melissa Witt’s life was cut short when she vanished from a Fort Smith, Arkansas bowling alley parking lot. Her body was later found but her killer remains identified. 

It unfolded back in December 1994, when Witt – a 19-year-old college student at the time – went to meet her mother at the local Bowling World. 

After the authorities were notified, her car was found abandoned with evidence of blood and her belongings were scattered nearby. 

Following an extensive search, Witt’s body was discovered six weeks later in a remote wooded area near Turner Bend in the Ozark National Forest. She had been robbed of her clothes, shoes, and jewelry, and an autopsy found that the killer had strangled her to death. 

But with no significant forensic evidence to confirm the perpetrator, the case quickly became one of the most perplexing and heartbreaking unsolved murders in the region. 

As well as unearthing new details about the investigation and the case, At Witt’s End pays tribute to Melissa’s life. 

Charlene Shirk, a former KFSM-CBS journalist who reported on Witt’s case, said, “She was an ambassador to her college, which meant the college had her go and recruit students because they wanted students like her. 

“You know, she worked after school. She was already a hard worker. She had big dreams for her life. You know, she went to meet her mom at bowling, at a bowling church league. 

“It’s everything we’re told to do as young people, you know, get a good education, work hard, have a good close relationship with your parents, and be a good kid.”

Who are the suspects?

Although the case remains unsolved, over the years, several individuals have been considered key suspects in Witt’s murder, including Charles Ray Vines.

A Fort Smith native, Vines was a convicted murderer who became known as the ‘River Valley Killer’ in the 1990s. On appearances, he was a well-liked member of the community, but much like many famed serial killers, beneath the surface were evil urges. 

Vines raped a number of women and killed two of them, murdering Juanita Wofford in 1993 and Ruth Henderson in 1995. It wasn’t until 2000 that police caught him when he sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl, with the intent of killing her. 

Following his arrest, authorities discovered his DNA matched the DNA found at the murder scenes of Wofford and Henderson. 

In 2019, FBI agents Rob Allen and Rueben Gay looked into Vines as a potential suspect in the Witt case. 

“There was a lady who had emailed a detective,” Allen explained. “She worked with Charlie Vines’ mother, and Charlie Vines sometimes would show up to his mother’s work, and this witness reported that she saw him wearing a bowling league shirt of some sort.”

He had also drawn maps of the Ozark Mountain area where Witt’s body was found and carried out work nearby. However, Vines fell ill while in prison and died in 2019, before they could interrogate him about the murder. 

Authorities are still looking into the evidence, although Vines isn’t the only suspect in the case. Another is Travis Crouch, a convict who moved to Arkansas in 1994 after being released from prison in another state. 

Alongside a history of sexual violence against women, Crouch has reportedly never provided detectives with an alibi for the night of Witt’s disappearance. 

Prior to this, the police’s prime suspect was Larry Swearingen, who was convicted of killing 19-year-old Melissa Trotter in Texas. However, Swearingen maintained his innocence in all murder cases right up until his execution in 2019.

Despite numerous leads and continued efforts by law enforcement and the community, Witt’s killer is yet to be found. 

The connection to Morgan Nick

At Witt’s End: The Hunt for a Killer is produced by ABC Studios and Scott Free Productions, the same companies behind the 2023 documentary series Still Missing Morgan.

The latter focuses on the unsolved case of Morgan Nick, who was six years old in 1995 when she was abducted from a Little League Baseball game in the town of Alma, Arkansas, near where Witt was killed.

Although it’s not known whether the two cases are connected by the same perpetrator, the FBI and the Fort Smith police continue to work together to crack both. And, as stated by ABC, during the investigation into Nick’s disappearance they uncovered a lead surrounding Witt’s murder.

To learn more, At Witt’s End: The Hunt for a Killer and Still Missing Morgan are streaming on Hulu now. For more true crime, read about what happened to Lou Pearlman, how to watch the new Andrew Tate documentary and what happened to Phil Spector.