GUILTY TX - Melissa Sowders, 26, Harris County, 26 December 2013

[JeannaT]

WOW. the comments under that are very interesting to say the least.

Yes, and they continue to get even more interesting this morning.

 

[rizzo0904]

I get that her ex could have been/<Mod Snip>. But HE filed for divorce. Does the abuser usually file? I find that odd.

The kids look healthy and happy. I know a pic is just a pic. But I really hope they are with people who love them and can help guide them through this absolutely horrific time in their lives.

 

[zatanna]

Sowders boyfriend yearns for his girlfriend and their unborn child. “She always wanted a kiss, so soft. I don’t know where Melissa is at. Where are you?” Sanford said Saturday.

That is one of the weirdest quotes I have seen in a case like this....

Article also quotes her father regarding the ex:

Jimmy Newsom, Melissa Sowder’s father, admits he is suspicious of her ex-husband.“She’s afraid of him because of he was physically and mentally abusive,” Newsom said.

http://www.khou.com/news/local/Search-for-missing-pregnant-woman-continues-in-north-Harris-County-237824831.html

 

[rachaellouise]

Sowders boyfriend yearns for his girlfriend and their unborn child. “She always wanted a kiss, so soft. I don’t know where Melissa is at. Where are you?” Sanford said Saturday.



That is one of the weirdest quotes I have seen in a case like this....



Article also quotes her father regarding the ex:



Jimmy Newsom, Melissa Sowder’s father, admits he is suspicious of her ex-husband.“She’s afraid of him because of he was physically and mentally abusive,” Newsom said.



http://www.khou.com/news/local/Sear...ntinues-in-north-Harris-County-237824831.html

Uh... Not saying anything that'll get me into trouble!

 

[Frenchbeaux]

Prayers and positive thoughts going to Melissa and her family. If the divorce petition has been filed, I wonder if and when a custody hearing would take place. If sometime in the near future, this is starting to make sense.

 

[geevee]

Thought I'd post this here so we can check for updates from the TE searchers (no update from today's search yet):

http://texasequusearch.org/2013/12/search-for-melissa-rene-sowders/comment-page-1/

 

[The Cheese]

Search to be scaled back for #missing pregnant woman Melissa Souders - #MelissaSouders - Houston Chronicle http://bit.ly/1diTyuR

The search for a missing pregnant woman will be scaled back Monday, said Tim Miller, founder of Texas EquuSearch.

About 20 volunteers searched this weekend more than 300 square miles of northwest Harris County and Cypress Creek for Melissa Rene Sowders, 26, who disappeared the day after Christmas and who is believed to be a victim of foul play.

"Our best bet is the water," Miller said, noting he and five others will continue to search from a boat equipped with sonar.

 

[Sin]

Oh this is all a mess. My boyfriend lives off of Cypress Station. It was a very nice area but now... It's one of those where it's nice during the day, but scary at night. Maybe I read too much here, but I'm scared of being out over there alone after dark. My guy who actually lives there isn't at all comfortable with me going out alone after dark either to the point of taking my car and putting gas in so I wont stop and do it alone. Everything thats creepy and scary at night is still there during the day it's just hidden by suburbia. With that being said it's also very high in police presence. It is possible the ex husband had nothing to do with it. I dont know their situation, but it's good to look at all angles.

 

[beachlvr0810]

I keep coming back here, hoping by some miracle she and her unborn baby are still alive. Finding her car abandoned without her in it is not a good sign. If they are focusing their search on the water, then how far is the water from where they found her car and from McDonald's?

 

[rizzo0904]

Not likely, but isn't I45 considered "the texas killing fields"?

 

[rizzo0904]

http://www.texasobserver.org/highway-injustice/

In 2004, the agency launched its Highway Serial Killings initiative, creating a repository specifically for information about serial murders gleaned from law enforcement agencies nationwide. By 2009, the initiative had identified 600 victims and upwards of 275 suspects.

Two years ago, FBI statistics showed Texas leading the nation in unsolved serial highway homicides. According to a USA Today investigation, the FBI believes serial killers operate along the busiest stretches of highway in the nation.


And her car was found near a truck stop. Maybe the two guys in her life are innocent?

 

[The Cheese]

Gianna Caserta &#8207;@GiannaKPRC 7m

Texas Equusearch about to head out to search for Melissa Sowders.

Equusearch volunteers using sonar to search for missing pregnant mother of four, Melissa Sowders.

 

[The Cheese]

Crews searching for Sowders Monday morning said they spotted something in the water where they had been searching. It's unclear what the sonar picked up, but a dive team will now enter the water.

http://m.click2houston.com/news/sea...ues/-/16714936/23688842/-/ctuaxr/-/index.html

 

[SurfieTX]

Bless their hearts. It is pretty chilly here today in the mid 40s.

 

[JeannaT]

Has it yet come out whether she actually DID meet him at McDonalds?

 

[The Cheese]

Greg Groogan &#8207;@GrooganFox26 12m

Cousin of missing mother of 4 doesn't believe Melissa Sowders is still alive. Search for 26 yr old continues on Cypress Cr. & 45 #Fox26

Cousin of missing mother of four believes ex-husband responsible for Melissa Sowders disappearance. History of threats.#Fox26

 

[The Cheese]

Searchers have scoured more than 300 square miles of northwest Harris County for any sign of Sowders. They expect to search Cypress Creek near the North Freeway where they recently used sonar to find what appears to be an image of something underwater, said Tim Miller, the group's founder.

Miller said the water may be the best bet of finding the missing woman. He plans to search the water at the site of the sonar image.

"I've gotten false images before," he said. "I certainly want to investigate this one some more."

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-t...uSearch-hunt-for-5101791.php?cmpid=houtexhcat

 

[cdsavant]

Oh this is all a mess. My boyfriend lives off of Cypress Station. It was a very nice area but now... It's one of those where it's nice during the day, but scary at night. Maybe I read too much here, but I'm scared of being out over there alone after dark. My guy who actually lives there isn't at all comfortable with me going out alone after dark either to the point of taking my car and putting gas in so I wont stop and do it alone. Everything thats creepy and scary at night is still there during the day it's just hidden by suburbia. With that being said it's also very high in police presence. It is possible the ex husband had nothing to do with it. I dont know their situation, but it's good to look at all angles.

I agree! When someone goes missing near my home, everything changes. I've learned how to handle and shoot a gun. So, if I am alone, like many women, I am also armed. I'm looking for a self defence class and promise myself I won't do anything stupid like leave my house with out a CHARGED phone. I can't promote carring a gun because it's a huge responsiblity and if children are around it is almost impossible to be safe enough. I guess I'm trying to say is for every fear you have try to empower yourself more and more.

 

[beachlvr0810]

I was hoping when I got on this thread tonight, there would be a miracle and she'd be back home with her family. Some of her family and her boyfriend seem to have braced themselves for the worst...I pray they're wrong!!!! I can't get that precious, innocent little unborn child out of my mind!! Makes me want to drive to my pregnant daughter's house right now and hug her and her precious baby bump!!

 

[JWD]

They're continuing the water search tomorrow (Tuesday).

http://www.khou.com/news/local/Search-for-missing-pregnant-woman-to-resume-on-Monday-morning-237905071.html

Excerpts:

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — The search for a 26-year-old pregnant woman reportedly last seen Thursday will resume Tuesday morning in northern Harris County, but her family does not expect to find her alive.

“Pretty much from the first day that we knew she was missing, and the circumstances of how she went missing. We knew. We knew,” Michelle Bierman, Sowders’ cousin, said Monday afternoon.

“She was terrified of him (her ex-husband). Terrified,” she said.

Family members say her estranged husband was abusive. They said he didn’t like the fact she had a new boyfriend and was carrying his baby.

However, court records show that the ex-husband Matthew Sowders is the one who filed for divorce back in October and he has custody of their young children.

Detectives confirm he has been questioned by they have not named him a suspect.

“We don’t want to leave this water until we know that we’ve absolutely cleared everything. I mean, there’s a lot of debris in there,” Tim Miller, with Texas Equusearch, said. “There’s a lot of loose rocks in there. There’s a lot of stuff and there’s times we get false images but I really want to take a lot closer look at it.”

Miller said he remains optimistic that the missing mother will be found.

But her family fears the worst – after her car was found nearby – and after a weekend of hearing nothing from the pregnant woman.