Melissa Davis, Texas woman found burned to death by upscale Austin road along with butcher knife nearby as police seek woman’s missing phone, car as they seek to make an arrest in the homicide.
Texas authorities are seeking to understand how a woman’s charred body came to end by the side of an upscale Austin area road.
The body of Melissa Davis, 33, was located by firefighters responding to calls of a fire on the morning of Sept. 29.
Davis’s body was found in Cat Mountain, a luxury suburb in Austin, Texas. Homes in the area start at $300,000 and go well up to $1million.
Few clues in mystery homicide
Detectives discovered a lighter in the area. A police K-9 was called to the scene and found a butcher knife which had the scent of a lighter, officials said according to KXAN.
Austin police believe ‘the knife was placed with the decedent in an attempt to destroy the evidence with the fire.’
An autopsy showed Davis suffered no signs of obvious trauma to her body or knife wounds and concluded she had been burned alive. Cops are on the hunt for the suspect(s) responsible for the homicide.
With few clues to go by, police have put out a search notice for Davis’ missing car, a blue 2016 Toyota 4Runner with the Texas license plate number KYV3765.
While there is still no suspect in custody, friends and family continue to hold out hope they can find justice for Davis, who disappeared after a trip to the local Apple store to get her phone fixed.
The phone was not found on the scene, but police are hopeful that they can hunt down the suspect with her cellphone records.
Free spirit
According to Davis’s Facebook page, she was living in Taos, New Mexico, but was originally from Austin.
Her ‘soul sister’ and best friend Ellie Simmons told KVUE: ‘She had more of a zest for life than I think anyone else.
‘And we actually had dreams together with one of our other friends to start a hostel in Costa Rica and we would have an art station. She painted. She loved art.’
Simmons went on to describe her and her closest friend as ‘free spirits’ who were ‘driven to make every day count’.
The Austin Police Department did not comment on the case, but said the investigation remains ongoing.
There is currently a $1,000 reward available for anyone who provides a tip which leads to an arrest.
