CO Melissa Lynn Riedell,, 15, Colorado Springs, 07 March 1986

[UndrunkdMystery]

(image courtesy of the CSPD)

On March 7, 1986, Mrs. Diana Riedell arrived at her apartment (4750 Nightingale Drive) at approximately 3:00 p.m. On entering she found her daughter, Melissa Riedell, deceased and lying on her own bed with a knife in her chest. She called the authorities and immediately jumped to the conclusion that her daughter had committed suicide.

An autopsy revealed that there was a ligature mark around Melissa's throat, however, the ligature itself was not found. Melissa had also been stabbed multiple times. The mother stated that she had spoken with Melissa by phone at approximately 2 p.m., and was to pick up her daughter and take her to visit a friend. There did not appear to be any forced entry and the door was locked when her mother arrived at 3 p.m. There was also no indication of sexual assault nor a struggle.

To be honest, this case has been bugging me because of the odd nature of where and how Melissa's body has been discovered. The mother was part of a weird extortion case later on where a young male claimed to know the murderers and was going to go on a vengeance spree to kill them. Colorado Springs Police Detectives were able to locate this young man, but he was never charged with anything and was released on the recognizance that he was not a threat to himself or others . . . . . but I guess the unveiled threat of harming others was not a red flag <shrugs>
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Colorado Cold Case Files - Case Detail: Melissa Riedell
Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph Archives, Mar 24, 1986, p. 13
Colorado Springs Gazette Archives, Mar 10, 1986, p. 10
Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph Archives, Mar 7, 1987
Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph Archives, Oct 12, 1986, p. 15
Colorado Springs Gazette Archives, Mar 20, 1986, p. 13

 

[Faebray]

I live in this complex! Whoa!

This isn’t a high crime area, so that makes me think that she knew her attacker and it wasn’t a random attack. I read the mom came home to the door locked, but if she lived on the first floor it would not be hard to get in. The apartments are sunk down, so the windows are at ground level. Even if she was on the second floor it wouldn’t be too difficult, especially if it was somebody in good physical shape. Next to the back poarches about half way between the floors, there are utility boxes (or I assume that’s what they are) on the outside walls. With some strength and determination, it’s would definitely be possible to scale up to the other floors. Now I don’t really see this happening without at least one person seeing.

This one hits close to home (literally) for me. And hope that with the advancements in technology since the 80s, especially DNA ( if available) this case will some day be solved. I couldn’t imagine what that mother went through, and still after so many years not have justice for her daughter.

I hope I did this right, it’s my very first comment on here!

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Michael Riedell is still holding out hope that his little sister's murder will one day be solved.

Her school friends remember Melissa "Missy" Riedell of Colorado Springs as a genuine and magnetic girl who just wanted to be liked.

"She didn't look like she was 15 years old. She looked like she was you know, 20 or something, and so she had older people, an older crowd, had an older boyfriend," Michael said.

On March 7th, 1986, just days before Melissa's 16th birthday, her mother, Diana, remembers calling her daughter on the phone around 2:00 p.m. She was sunbathing on her mom's apartment's balcony on an unseasonably warm spring day in a red tube top. She went inside to take a shower, and when she got out, her killer was waiting for her.

Melissa was strangled with her tube top and stabbed with a paring knife. By the time her mother got home at 3 p.m., Melissa had died and her killer had fled.

"It's kind of gory, and those are the kinds of details that just like stick in your head like, 'Oh my god, that's how it happened?'" Michael said.

Michael remembers being at football practice at the University of Colorado in Boulder at the time. He found a note on his car asking him to call his uncle. He knew something bad had happened.

He rushed back to the Springs, and after finding out, he didn't return to school in Boulder.

Despite a handful of leads early on in the investigation, Melissa's killer was never caught. It tore her family apart. Michael said their father was never the same after her death, and he lost touch with him for years.

"I used to see all that JonBenet Ramsey stuff. And I go, 'Why hasn't anybody ever talked about my sister's cold case or the unsolved murder?'" Michael said.

To honor her memory, he named his firstborn daughter after his sister. But he lost her in 2013.

Michael said he now has two guardian angels.

"Somebody is looking out for me, it's a good feeling. That, that part of it is, I mean, I think that keeps it keeps me sane, makes me have a healthier outlook at it, to deal with it," Michael said.

Still, 35 years later, the pain of Melissa's loss has yet to fade.

"I wonder what it'd be like to be 55 years old and I have a 52-year-old sister that with some kids, maybe my kids would have some cousins or I think about those kinds of things," Michael said, adding that he wonders what kind of relationship they would have now. He wonders if they'd spend holidays together.

"It feels good to know that someone is thinking about it, and noticing it, and you know, kind of honoring the memory of my sister," Michael said.bbm
Colorado family still searching for answers 35 years after teen's murder - KRDO

 

[Beccalicious]

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