Melisa Maureen Sloan, a 23-year-old licensed practical nurse, was last seen in Orlando, Florida on May 1, 1994. She had reportedly rented a car from Orlando National Airport with the intention of driving to Houston, Texas. However, she never arrived and has not been heard from since. A few days after her disappearance, the rental car was discovered abandoned, stripped, and burned in Pensacola, Florida.
About a year prior to her disappearance, Melisa and her husband, John Sloan, had relocated to Orlando from Kentucky so he could attend school to become a motorcycle mechanic. They resided in an apartment in the 1900 block of south Kirkman Road. Their marriage was reportedly tumultuous, with police having been called to their residence for domestic violence incidents twice in the nine months leading up to Melisa's disappearance. The second incident resulted in John Sloan's arrest for assaulting Melisa. She was scheduled to testify against him in court the week after she went missing. Following the second domestic violence incident, Melisa had left her husband and returned to Kentucky, but they later reconciled, and she came back to Florida. Shortly before she vanished, Melisa confided in a coworker that she was planning to leave her husband again.
John Sloan informed police that Melisa had packed her belongings and left him for another man, whose identity he claimed not to know. However, Melisa's family disputes this account, stating that it was uncharacteristic of her to leave without contacting them, especially since she left behind her beloved cat and her own car. While most of her personal items were gone, her bathrobe remained at the apartment. Since her disappearance, there has been no activity on her credit cards, driver's license, Social Security number, or nursing license.
Foul play is suspected in Melisa Sloan's case, which remains unsolved. John Sloan divorced Melisa months after she disappeared and later remarried. His second wife passed away from a drug and alcohol overdose. He has since married a third time and resides in Washington state. Authorities have stated that John Sloan has refused to cooperate with the investigation into Melisa's disappearance. An initial investigator on the case has described the circumstances as "very, very suspicious" and believes it could be a homicide.Last Seen: May 1, 1994
