In the late summer of 1974, a 25-year-old woman named Michele Wallace, a freelance photographer with a love for the outdoors, vanished while on a solo hiking trip in the mountains near Crested Butte in Gunnison County, Colorado. Her failure to make her daily call to her parents initiated a search, but no trace of her or her red Mazda station wagon was found. The initial investigation revealed that she had given a ride to two men whose vehicle had reportedly broken down.
One of the men was dropped off at a local bar, while the other, a drifter named Roy Melanson, continued on with Michele, supposedly to retrieve his vehicle. She was never seen alive again.
For years, Michele's disappearance remained a painful mystery for her family and the community. The case grew cold, though investigators never fully abandoned it. A significant break came in 1979 when hikers discovered a scalp with braided hair near Kebler Pass, which was later determined to be a probable match to Michele. However, it wasn't until 1992, eighteen years after she went missing, that her remains were finally discovered by members of NecroSearch International, a group of volunteer forensic scientists. The discovery of her skull, identifiable by a gold tooth, and remnants of her clothing provided the grim confirmation that she had been murdered.
With the discovery of Michele's body, the investigation into her death gained new momentum, focusing on the man she was last seen with, Roy Melanson. By this time, Melanson was already incarcerated for other crimes. Evidence gathered by the Gunnison County Sheriff's Office, combined with the forensic findings, led to Melanson being charged with Michele Wallace's murder. He was subsequently convicted in 1993 and sentenced to life in prison. The tragic story of Michele Wallace's life, cut short by a violent act, finally had a resolution, though the pain of her loss endured for her loved ones. Roy Melanson died in prison in 2020.
