Disappearance of Melissa Brannen

The disappearance of Melissa Brannen occurred on December 3, 1989 at the Woodside Apartments in Lorton, Virginia. She was the five-year-old daughter of Tammy Brannen, a single mother who lived in the complex. She disappeared while attending a party held at the complex for its residents. A handyman for the complex was convicted in her kidnapping and sentenced to 50 years in prison. Her body has never been found, she has never been proven to be dead, and murder charges have never been filed. The story of her disappearance was told on The FBI Files in the twentieth episode of the first season. It has also appeared on an episode of Forensic Files. Disappearance: On December 3, 1989, a Christmas party, with approximately 80 guests, was taking place at the apartment where Tammy Brannen lived with her daughter Melissa. As they were leaving the party, Melissa headed back in to get some potato chips, and never came back. When she was not found, foul play was suspected. A search began almost immediately, with over 300 volunteers participating. During the search, human remains were found. These remains were never identified, but the possibility of them being Brannen's were ruled out. Investigation: Groundskeeper Caleb Hughes became the prime suspect that very evening through witness accounts. Police visited his apartment during the night, where his wife cooperated with police. The clothes he was wearing at the time of the disappearance were found in the Hughes' washing machine, but yet to be washed. Police seized them as evidence. Police also took the vehicle Hughes had been driving and examined the passenger's seat for fiber evidence. Hughes' wife Carol was key in the investigation. She reported his arrival home from work several hours later than usual and extra mileage on the vehicle that her husband explained as resulting from a side trip he took to purchase a 6-pack of beer and then taking a longer route home. Fibers were extracted from the front seat of the vehicle. The victim had been reported as wearing a Big Bird dress that had been purchased from J.C. Penney. An identical dress was obtained by investigators and its fibers were compared with those found on the seat. A match was found between the dress and the fibers in the car. Also found were some hairs from a rare rabbit fur coat, worn by Tammy at the party. This evidence pointed towards the probability of the victim having been sitting in the passenger's seat at some point during the evening. Hughes was charged with kidnapping with intent to defile. He was convicted and sentenced to 50 years in prison. During the course of the investigation, a man demanded $74,000 in ransom in exchange for Brannen. The ransom money was paid to this man, but Brannen was not returned. It was determined that the man had no connection to the Brannen case, but only knew about it through media reports, and his only motive in connection to the case was extortion, with which he was subsequently charged. Aftermath: In 1995, a search of a lake was made after a power company worker found some red cloth in the lake. No evidence of a body was found. About eight years after Brannen's disappearance, her mother remarried. Though she took on the surname of her new husband, Graybill, as her own, she retained the name Brannen in listings so that her daughter, if still alive, would be able to contact her. Graybill has raised four stepchildren with her new husband. In the TV show The FBI Files it was revealed that Tammy Brannen had not changed her phone number because "she is still waiting for that all-important phone call".