April 29th, 1999: A skull is found in a trash bag outside Action Glass in Atlanta, Georgia.
Soon after, in different trash bags, various other body parts are found. The remains are identified as Melissa Wolfenbarger, a 21-year-old married mother-of-two who was reported missing several months prior. In a remarkable twist, Melissa’s remains are verified only after her father is arrested in connection to an unrelated murder.
In this episode of “Zone 7,” Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl “Mac” McCollum, is joined by her husband, Walt McCollum, as they read the letters between Sheryl and Melissa’s father, Carl Patton.
Carl’s letters detail out the importance of including him in the investigation of Melissa’s murder, the viewpoints from both a victim and a suspect, and insights into the relationship between Melissa and husband, Christopher Wolfenbarger.
Additional Reading
About the Host
McCollum is an Emmy Award-winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnline, a forensic and crime scene expert for “Crime Stories with Nancy Grace,” and a CSI for a metro-area Atlanta Police Department. She is the co-author of the textbook, “Cold Case: Pathways to Justice.”
McCollum is also the founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a collaboration between universities and colleges that brings researchers, practitioners, students, and the criminal justice community. They come together to advance techniques in solving cold cases and assist families and law enforcement with solvability factors for unsolved homicides, missing persons, and kidnapping cases.
You can connect and learn more about McCollum’s work by visiting the CCIRI website https://coldcasecrimes.org
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[Feature Photos: Family Handout/CCIRI]
