Melissa Sowders, Missing Pregnant Mother of 4: Family Assumes She's Dead
Family members and authorities are hoping to find a pregnant mother who was last seen on December 26. Melissa Sowders, 26, went missing and no one expects to find her alive but bring her remains home for a proper burial.
According to reports, Sowders was supposed to meet her ex-husband, Matthew, the day after Christmas at a local McDonald's. She dropped her boyfriend Jason Sanford off for her that morning, and then went on to meet Matthew. Yet something apparently went wrong and Melissa was not seen or heard from again.
"Pretty much from the first day that we knew she was missing, and the circumstances of how she went missing, we knew. We knew," Melissa's cousin, Michelle Bierman told KHOU News. "She was terrified of him (her ex-husband). Terrified."
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Matthew was the one to file for divorce and had custody of their four children, but family members said he was abusive and not happy that Melissa was pregnant by another man. His car was processed by crime scene investigators and reportedly cooperative at the beginning of the investigation but he's no longer cooperating.
While police have been rather tight-lipped about the investigation, they did send a dive team to a location near Interstate 45 and Cypress Creek. Their imagining equipment picked up an image in 12 feet of water that they believe is worth taking a closer look at.
"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. 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 at it," Tim Miller of Texas Equusearch explained.
"I'm very optimistic that she's going to be found. I can put it like that. I'm very optimistic she's gonna be found," Miller added. "I would hope it's gonna be today. If it's not … I'm optimistic she's gonna be found."
Yet family and friends remain skeptical that Melissa will be found alive.
"At this point, it's been too long. It's been too long," Bierman said. "The reality is she's not gonna come back alive."
