Young Mother Disappears Without A Trace

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Melanie in happier times.

Detectives from the Kanawha Sheriff's Department are seeking the public's help in finding Melanie Metheny, 22, a mother of three who has been missing for 19 months.

At 8:00 a.m. on July 19, 2006, cops say Melanie dropped her children off at daycare.

According to Melanie's family, she was excited about going back to school for nursing and that was the day she planned to register. Her first stop was Garnet Career Center, an adult education organization, where she planned to pick up her transcripts. Melanie was then going to drive to West Virginia State University to enroll for classes.

But cops say nobody recalls seeing Melanie at Garnet and they don't believe she made it to the university.

The last verified communication Melanie had was at 9:09 a.m. when cops say she contacted an auto body shop to confirm an upcoming appointment. Police say Melanie has not been heard from since.

Cops: Search for Missing Mother Ongoing

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Melanie Metheny is 5'3" and weighs 100 lbs. She has long blond hair and brown eyes.

Four days after Melanie's disappearance, police found her car, a 1998 Gold Chevrolet Venture minivan in Charleston, W. Va. in what authorities describe as a known drug area.

Was Melanie there to buy drugs? Was she the victim of a car jacking? Abduction? Investigators just don't know. But what they do know is Melanie's minivan was intact. The doors were locked and the only items missing were Melanie's cell phone and purse. Personal items, including CDs, were still inside.

Cops say the minivan provided few clues to Melanie's disappearance or whereabouts. Unable to retrieve any fingerprints from the car, including Melanie's, investigators were becoming increasingly uneasy -- making their search to find her even more urgent.

A week before her disappearance, police say Melanie had an altercation with an acquaintance who had stolen her car months earlier. The minivan was recovered with minor damage, but Melanie was still upset about the incident.

Police can't say for sure whether this incident had anything to do with Melanie's disappearance.

A Daughter Missing, A Family in Fear

Friends say Melanie was happy in the months leading up to her disappearance. She had a boyfriend she was excited about marrying and was saving money so the family could move into a bigger house. She was proceeding with her plans to pursue her dream of a career in nursing. Investigators say there was no indication that Melanie was planning on leaving her boyfriend, her family, but more importantly, her children -- all of whom await her return.

Melanie's grandmother, Sandra Winning -- who helped raise Melanie -- has made it her mission to help close this case. She's created a website and has plans to travel to Detroit to follow up on leads in Melanie's case.