Cops Return to 1989 Disappearance of Girl, 14

Oct. 28, 2009 — -- It is Halloween season in New England, and the quiet streets of Woburn, Mass., are decorated with the ghosts and goblins that are the stuff of children's nightmares.

But this year also marks the 20th anniversary of a macabre local mystery that is terrifyingly real: the sudden disappearance of Melanie Melanson. Melanie was last seen at a high school party in the woods on the outskirts of town.

Det. Mike Pandolph has been on the case since the very beginning. "Melanie walked down the path to meet her girlfriends and other kids that were several years older than her, and that was the last time that she was seen," he told ABC News. "That was 20 years ago."

Melanie Melanson, 14 at the time, was the youngest of a dozen kids gathered in the woods that October night, most of them older teens who had been there many times before.

"Kids would gather, kids would hang out, and um, and drink," said Pandolph.

Melanie, just a freshman, was very flattered to have been included in the gathering. It was just days before her 15th birthday, and the young, pretty girl had much to look forward to, said prosecutor Marian Ryan.

"Her birthday was coming. She was getting her braces off. All kinds of things that were very exciting," said Ryan.

But the police and her family believe Melanie never saw her 15th birthday, and never came out of the woods that night. One of Melanie's aunts, Ruth Townsend, is still waiting for answers.

"It's too many years, too many years," said Townsend. "It's heartbreaking ... to feel that she is out there. We know she is out there ... 20 years is just too long -- way too long."

Life hadn't always been easy for Melanie. Her parents were both substance abusers who fought constantly. Melanie had even run away from home once before, going to live with her aunt Mary Ann and her grandmother in Woburn.

"Melanie had a challenging upbringing, but it wasn't without people who loved her," said Woburn District Attorney Gerry Leone. "She had cousins, aunts, and it was a very nice upbringing, despite her own biological parents having problems."