When the 12-year-old didn’t return to her West Baltimore home, her mother believed she had gone to stay with an aunt. Melody Gwen McKoy often spent time with the relative, so her absence didn't immediately raise alarm. However, when the sixth-grader failed to attend school on December 2, 1991, her whereabouts became a concern.
Melody was a student at Harlem Park Elementary School, where she earned good grades and maintained a strong attendance record. She lived with her family in the 300 block of North Mount Street in Baltimore, Maryland, and relatives described her as someone who would not leave without telling anyone.
Her mother reported Melody missing on December 3, approximately two days after she was last seen at a friend’s apartment in the 300 block of Fremont Avenue. Investigators eventually classified her disappearance as a suspected nonfamily abduction.
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