Melissa Ann Moore

Date Found: April 17th, 1984

Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma

Investigating Agency: Tulsa Police Department Cold Case Unit

(918)596-9222

Melissa Ann Moore went missing on March 26, 1984 from the Tulsa area. She was twenty-two years old.

On March 25th, Melissa had gone out with friends, she left them at the Chi Omega sorority house on the Tulsa University campus around midnight, saying she was headed to her apartment only a few blocks away. She never made it there. Her car would later be found on East Easton, a witness said they saw a man park it there, that the man sat in the vehicle for a few minutes before getting out, locking the door, and walking off at around 4:30pm the same day Melissa had gone missing. Composite sketches of this man from what he looked like in 1984 to what he might look like now are included below.

She would remain missing until April 17th, 1984 when her body was discovered in Mayes County by workers inspecting bridges. She was naked from the waist down and in the water of Pryor Creek. She had drowned and was likely sexually assaulted. From the beginning there were very few clues for authorities to follow in Melissa’s murder. Witnesses described seeing a suspicious man on the bridge above where Melissa was discovered; he had been driving an El Camino, but has never been publicly identified.

In June 1984, a man named Gary Alan Walker would become a suspect for a brief time. Walker would lead police to the bodies of two women he had killed and eventually would be put to death for murdering six people during a 1984 crime spree in Oklahoma. He was cleared of having anything to do, however, with Melissa’s murder.

In 2010, a prior OSBI agent would come forward telling the media that DNA in Melissa’s case had been linked to a known suspect. A known suspect that drove a car matching the description of the vehicle seen near where Melissa’s body had been found. The agent worked for the OSBI cold case unit, and had offered to help another agent who was in charge of Melissa’s case get testing done quicker by utilizing the cold case department. The agent refused help, said they didn’t have enough to charge this suspect, and also complained to the cold case agent’s direct supervisor. The cold case agent would later tell the media that it’s been known who killed Melissa for years, but they hadn’t been arrested for it. In 2011 a detective with the Tulsa Police Department asked to take another look at the case, and submitted new evidence for testing. There have not been any arrests to date in the murder of Melissa Moore.

Either way, Melissa’s parents died in 2005 and 2006, leaving only Melissa’s brother alive to wonder who took Melissa’s life when she had so much left to live.

If you have any information regarding the murder of Melissa Ann Moore, please contact the Tulsa Police Department at 918-596-9222