The Murder of Melissa Jenkins
For this case I watched an episode of American Detective with Lt. Joe Kenda. It’s season 1 episode 3, titled ‘Hazard Lights.’
A young mom is abducted on a dirt road, and her two year old son is found alive in her abandoned car.
Background
Melissa Jenkins
Melissa and her son
Melissa Jenkins was a 33 year single mom of a two year old son. Melissa was a very popular science teacher and basketball coach at St. Johnsbury Academy in Vermont.
Melissa was described as kind, loving and warm. She was also an amazing mom, and worked two jobs to support them. She also worked as a waitress at a local restaurant. No one had a bad thing to say about her, so the community was shocked when she went missing.
The Disappearance
On March 25, 2o12, a 911 call came in from Melissa’s ex-boyfriend. He said he received a call from her that night from someone who had car problems. He went out to look for her after she wasn’t answering her cell phone. He would later say that she sounded weird on the phone.
The ex-boyfriend spotted her car on Goss Hollow Road, which was a dark dirt road near her home. Her car was abandoned, it was still running, and her two year old son was found in the backseat.
The police arrived soon after. Melissa’s son was taken to stay with a family friend. There were obvious signs of a struggle near the car. A baseball cap was found near the front of the car, footprints and tire marks were found in the dirt. The tire marks were from another car, and it suggested that the car sped away from the scene. Melissa’s smashed cell phone was collected for evidence.
By this point it was late at night, but the police searched the dark road. They didn’t find any other evidence.
The Investigation
The first suspect was Melissa’s ex-boyfriend. Her brother had told the police that the ex wanted a more serious relationship that Melissa did. However, the ex said that he was fine with being just friends with her. The police collected his boots to test against the footprints found, and they were not a match. He was ruled out.
The day after Melissa disappeared, an investigator that specialized in child interviews sat down with Melissa’s son. He told the investigator that his mom was taken by two people, and he described that she was attacked. This episode didn’t go into a lot of detail, but he was two, so maybe he could only tell them a little bit of information.
The next suspect was the father of Melissa’s son. He was ruled out very quickly. He had been at work in Burlington, Vermont, which was 80 miles away from St. Johnsbury.
The police went to Melissa’s house, looking for anything that would tell them who was in Melissa’s life who would do this to her. There was no sign of a struggle, but they did find a business card for a couple named Allen and Patricia Prue. The Prue’s owned a snow removal business in Waterford, Vermont. The police didn’t know if this was significant, but they collected it, and some other papers from the home.
A Horrific Discovery
The police had a very strong feeling that Melissa was dead at this point, but they were hoping for a different outcome. The police searched any place that someone would conceal or hide a body. They searched rest areas and ditches, and found nothing.
The police knew that there was a boat launch just 10 miles outside of town. They didn’t think they would find anything, but someone noticed something sticking out of the water. It was Melissa Jenkins, she was identified very quickly. This was just one day after she disappeared.
A scuba team was called to help get Melissa’s body out of the water. It was March in Vermont, and the water was very cold. Melissa was found in a very shallow part of the water. She was nude, she had several bruises on her body, and she was tied down with rope and cinder blocks. She was also covered with branches, and it’s believed that this was to try to conceal her body.
The Autopsy
Melissa was taken to the medical examiner’s office. Once she was out of the freezing cold water, many more bruises and contusions formed on her body. She had several circular injuries on multiple parts of her body. These injuries were determined to be from a stun gun.
Melissa’s cause of death was manual strangulation. The police were shocked. This was a very personal crime, and it didn’t seem like she had any enemies.
An Unlikely Pair
The case stalled for a bit, until Melissa’s cell phone records were obtained. Just before she called her ex-boyfriend around 8:30pm on March 25, she received a call from a burner phone.
The burner phone was tracked to a store in Littleton, New Hampshire. The police were also able to determine that the burner phone had pinged off cell towers near the abduction sight, and at the river where Melissa was found.
The police went to the store in New Hampshire, and discovered that the customer who bought the phone paid with a check. The check was written by a Patricia Prue. Patricia Prue was the name on the business card found in Melissa’s home.
The police wanted to speak to Allen and Patricia, but the Prue’s actually showed up at the police station before they could call them in.
During the first interview, Allen and Patricia were interviewed together. Patricia told the police that she was there because someone was stealing her identity. She pointed the finger at her ex-husband.
The police then turned the conversation to Melissa Jenkins. The Prue’s said that they knew who Melissa was because they removed snow at her house last year, but hadn’t seen her since. The police asked the couple where they were on March 25. Allen said they ran errands in Littleton, went through the drive thru for dinner and then went to bed at 7:30pm.
The Prue’s walked out of the station that day, but what they didn’t know, is that they were under surveillance.
A Bizarre Plot
The police finally received the surveillance footage from the store where the burner phone was bought. Patricia and Allen were seen on the footage. They were looking at tracfones, picked one out and bought the phone.
The police also received surveillance footage from the drive thru. In the video, Allen is seen wearing the baseball cap that was found near Melissa’s car.
The Prue’s were called back in for questioning, and this time they were separated. Patricia denied everything, even when the police showed her the surveillance photos. Allen on the other hand didn’t handle pressure that well.
Just a little information about the Prue’s. Allen was born and raised in Waterbury, and he met Patricia online.
Allen also shared some additional information about himself and his wife. Patricia was bisexual, and the two of them had engaged in consensual threesomes many times.
When they met Melissa, they knew she was perfect. Allen said they had been searching for someone to “play with,” and had become kind of obsessed with her. Allen said they created a plan to get Melissa to engage in relations with them. Patricia called Melissa that night, but when she arrived to help them, he started strangulating her. He said she fought back, and she did because her son was in the car. They had no idea.
Allen said he was able to overpower Melissa, and dragged her into the car. Patricia finished strangling her. They drove home so that Allen could grab some cement blocks, that were located next to the home. They drove to the river, stripped Melissa, wrapped her in a tarp and dumped bleach on her to remove fingerprints.
Allen said he put her in the water, tied the blocks and rope to her body and then covered her in branches. Then they went home.
The police asked Allen why he killed her. He said he didn’t know, but that he “didn’t feel like himself that night.” He also said that he was sorry and afraid to go to jail.
Trial and Convictions
Allen and Patricia were both charged with first degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping.
At trial, Allen and his mom blamed the entire thing on Patricia during the trial. Allen said:
“The one thing I am guilty of is bringing the person who committed this crime to Vermont, and for that, I’m truly sorry.”
Allen Prue was sentenced to life in prison for attempted kidnapping, 50 years for murder and 5 years for conspiracy to commit murder.
Patricia Prue pleaded guilty to all charges, and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Allen and Patricia Prue
FINAL THOUGHTS
I really don’t have much to say other then these people are monsters, and deserve to rot in prison. I think they both were as involved as the other, and thought that Melissa was interested in them. They stalked this woman and killed her in front of her son. Melissa was a helpful person, and went to help even though she knew something was weird when they called her.
I feel so bad for her son and her family. I hope they were happy with the verdicts, and knowing that these people can’t hurt anyone else.
Sources
https://vermont.fandom.com/wiki/Melissa_Jenkins_Case
https://abcnews.go.com/US/vermont-teacher-melissa-jenkins-murdered-autopsy-shows/story?id=16008996
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-details-emerge-in-murder-of-vt-teacher-melissa-jenkins/
