LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Las Vegas Metro Police Department revealed new details in an unsolved murder case of Melanie White from 1994.
On Aug. 27, 1994, two men were hiking on Lake Mead Boulevard when they discovered a woman's body placed in a washed area near the recreation area entrance.
Here is video from the scene when the news first broke in 1994
At the time, after an autopsy, police identified the body as 27-year-old Melanie White. Police believe she was dragged from a car into the washed area, strangled and killed by blunt-force trauma.
During the initial investigation, no suspect was identified and the case went cold.
This is video from 1994 where a detective with LVMPD commented on the case
In 2010, detectives re-reviewed the DNA and discovered it was a man but no further details. They re-circled in 2021 with little to no leads.
Almost 30 years later since 1994, police identified the suspect as Arthur Lavery. He was 38 years old at the time and a Las Vegas local.
You can watch the full presser by LVMPD here
Police said they couldn't find a link between White and Lavery as he died in May of 2021 due to COVID-19 complications.
White moved to the valley in the spring of 1994 with her boyfriend. She went missing the night of Aug.26.
This is now the 9th closed cold case by the detectives at LVMPD.
