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The Girl I never Knew: Who Killed Melissa Witt?
“After 45 long days, the remote Forest Service Road 1551 in the Ozark National Forest had finally unearthed the unthinkable the decomposing nude body of a young, white female-” one of the many compelling lines from LaDonna Humphrey’s book ‘The Girl I Never Knew: Who Killed Melissa Witt?’
‘The Girl I Never Knew’ is an astounding true crime read that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat while delivering raw, cold hard facts. Facts that will make the small hairs stand up on the back of one’s neck.
On Dec. 1, 1994, Melissa Witt vanished from the Bowling World parking lot in Fort Smith, Ark. Six weeks later, on Jan. 13, 1995, two trappers hunting near Turner Bend in the Ozark National Forest discovered Witt’s nude body.
Since the book’s release in April of this year, ‘The Girl I Never Knew’ has been featured as number seven on Amazon’s Top 100 books to read and is currently sitting at number one in its category in the United Kingdom.
Humphrey’s enthralling true crime story has captivated readers from all over, making this a must-read true crime nonfiction literary work.
Beginning in the early stages of life, Humphrey has harbored a love for true crime.
“It’s something I’ve loved pretty much since I was a little kid, as crazy as that sounds,” mentioned Humphrey.
She is an author, documentary producer, non-profit executive, investigative journalist and as stated, a true crime fanatic. She grew up in Rocky, Okla. and attended Dill City Elementary, before Dill City consolidated with Burns Flat. Around the young age of 12, Humphrey moved to Greenwood, Ark., located on the outskirts of Fort Smith.
Ironically enough, she had ended up having friends that were mutual friends of Witt. Humphrey was aware when Witt was murdered because it was heavily broadcasted all over the news.
“In the book I write about when I was driving to Fort Smith and I heard on the radio that they had found a body in the Ozark National Park and they thought it could be Melissa Witt’s.”
It wasn’t until 2015, living in northwest Arkansas, that Humphrey really started investing her time and energy into the Witt case. She had a team of individuals, who had been working on missing person cases for a non-profit, that wanted to put together a documentary over the Witt case.
“For me and for several of us on the team, there were 11 of us then and there are seven of us now, that really felt compelled to learn more about Melissa’s case. Mostly because we were all about the same age as she was at the time of her murder,” stated Humphrey.
“That really struck the core because it could happen to anybody. As we dug deeper into the case, we all felt that we needed to do something. That’s what really got me involved and I’ve been doing this for seven years.”
Through Humphrey’s non-profit that offered assistance to families and law enforcement that were handling missing adult cases, Humphrey was familiar with Fort Smith Police Department.
There she had the opportunity to meet with the original detectives that had worked the Witt case. After seeing how passionate they felt about this particular case, things changed personally for Humphrey.
“You start looking at who Melissa was. She was such good kid, 19 years old, didn’t have any enemies and went to church every Sunday. A lot of us could relate to that and I decided then that I wanted to take things further.”
After discussing the case details and the evidence that unfolded, Humphrey and her team went to the crime scene where Witt’s body was discovered.
“Just being out there on that remote mountain top and knowing that the killer had left that 19-year-old girl who had her whole life ahead of her, just left her on that mountain side. At the time I had my own teenage daughter that was close to Melissa’s age at the time she died. I made a promise, it was really pivotal and life changing for me, and I knew that I had to do something.”
‘The Girl I Never Knew’ is a masterpiece meant to keep Witt’s case on the forefront and bring her the justice she rightfully deserves.
“I knew that I wanted to put together a piece that not only showed who Melissa was, but how horrific her murder was and the extent that people have gone to solve the case and help bring justice. I wanted the book to be really vulnerable and raw,” expressed Humphrey.
She went on to say that her motivation is to inspire those who maybe have some information to come forward after 27 years.
Humphrey and her team are hopeful that the video documentary following the Witt case will premier this fall.
“I just got back from CrimeCon in Vegas, which was a fabulous experience, and we had quite a few people from some pretty big distribution places interested in our documentary. I am excited and hopeful. CrimeCon was amazing for me. I had always wanted to go. All the books that I took with me, sold out in an hour.”
With her book sitting at number one in its category in the United Kingdom, Humphrey plans to appear at CrimeCon in London during the second weekend in June.
“I was convinced that maybe we would have a few people in our area read the book and I had no idea that it would turn into what it has. I’m grateful because all of this is not for me, it’s for Melissa’s case.”
Also in June, she will be announcing the name and release of the second book in the series about the Witt case. Humphrey said it has been a dream of hers to be a writer and publish a book.
“Here I am almost 49 years old and I made that dream happen and I think anyone can do that. It’s important for people to remember that it’s never too late and your dream is never too big. You just never know what could happen and this is something that I’m very proud of and I hope more people will read the book. If you love true crime, it’s a great book.”