Shannon Melendi.
She worked at the same location as her killer. That was her connection to him. The ONLY reason he was convicted is because of the item of Shannon's he left for police. No body, no crime scene... it was the only physical evidence.
He had served 2 years for abducting and attacking a 14 year old when he was a teenager. He was accused two other times of abducting women.
Then you have the cases where they think it's a game... and taunt the police.
BTK, The Zodiac and the D.C. Snipers for example.
Shannon Melendi's case
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006...19166_page2.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody
For almost two weeks, there was no sign of Shannon, until April 6, 1994, when
an anonymous male caller phoned the Emory University counseling center with a message.
"In that call, which was very brief, he said that he had Shannon and she was OK. And that he would make his demands later and hung up the phone," says DeKalb County prosecutor Mike McDaniel.
The FBI traced the call to a pay phone and found evidence intentionally left behind by the caller that would link him to Shannon. It was wrapped in masking tape.
Wrapped inside the masking tape was a bag, and inside the bag was a ring, which Yvonne Melendi says was Shannon's, given to her by her godmother.
The mysterious phone call and the bizarre discovery of Shannon's blue topaz ring confirmed what the Melendis had believed all along: that their daughter had been taken against her will.
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Ice says
they found wire ties, cleaning utensils, female sweaters and plastic pants that investigators wear at crime scenes to prevent blood from getting onto clothing.
Investigators found eight to 10 women's sweaters, along with other women's clothing. None of it belonged to Hinton's wife at the time or to Shannon. Whom they belonged to remains a mystery. But authorities say they have a pretty good idea why they were buried there, calling them trophies of what might be many other crimes.
"A very distinct possibility," says Ice. Asked if he thinks there are other victims, Ice says, "There have to be."
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But what police had discovered, while investigating Shannon's disappearance, was that Hinton had
a violent criminal past, a disturbing rap sheet with attacks on several women, beginning when he was just a teenager.
Among his victims is a woman named Tammy, who asked 48 Hours to obscure her identity.
She was just 14 years old when Hinton kidnapped and sexually attacked her in 1982.
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The jury had found Colvin "Butch" Hinton, III, guilty for the kidnapping and murder of Shannon Melendi.
