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Melissa Ann Davis appears in two images; on the left she is seen with her beloved dog. (Obituary)
A woman was burned alive off a roadside in the Texas Hill Country earlier this summer. Now, grief and her memory are the only sure things in a crime that has perplexed police in the Lone Star State.
Melissa Davis, 33, was found by firefighters in a still-burning patch of grass near the corner of Mesa Drive and Cat Mountain Drive in the Northwest Hills neighborhood of Austin on Sept. 29 at 5:08 a.m., according to a press release issued by the Austin Police Department.
A butcher knife was later recovered near her body.
On Oct. 6, police said the woman’s death is being investigated as a homicide. Timelines, however, immediately became muddied in the case. In a press conference later that same day, APD spokesperson Peter Kovach cited the victim’s time of death as 5:37 a.m.
“The delay in providing a specific time of death is due to the fact that, upon the arrival of AFD, it was determined that the decedent’s injuries were not consistent with her being alive,” police told Law&Crime in a statement. “It is important to clarify that the official time of death pronouncement is not determined based on the moment the decedent is located, but rather when a doctor is notified by EMS.”
Davis’ obituary remembers her as “a beautiful soul with a warm and magnetic energy ” and as someone who “cared deeply for humans and animals alike and always saw the good in others – even when they did not see it themselves.” Her loved ones also noted that she was an artist who worked in the mediums of paint, tile, landscape, and music.
“She had more of a zest for life than I think anyone else,” the deceased woman’s best friend, Ellie Simmons, told local ABC affiliate KVUE. “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. She was like a shining light in the dark and she made any situation that was harder or darker, lighter.”
The APD said in an update to their press release last week that they are currently searching for Davis’ vehicle – a blue 2016 Toyota 4Runner with Texas plates: KYV3765 – and asking for the public’s help.
The 2016 Toyota 4Runner owned by Melissa Davis. (Austin Police Department)
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According to a search warrant for the victim’s cellular phone obtained by local NBC affiliate KXAN, responding officers “smelled a strong odor of accelerant,” in the area where Davis’ body was found. While police are looking for data on her phone, the device was not recovered from the area where she presumably burned alive. But, police say, she likely had her phone in her possession before she was killed.
A police dog later discovered the knife, the APD reportedly wrote in the warrant. Law enforcement believes “the knife was placed with the decedent in an attempt to destroy the evidence with the fire.”
Law&Crime reached out to the APD for additional details on this story. A spokesperson said they were working on the request but no substantive response was immediately forthcoming.
As a young adult, Davis, a Kentucky native, would find herself in two of Texas’ artistic meccas, her obituary noted. She obtained her bachelor’s in anthropology from the University of North Texas in Denton and later received her master’s in sustainable tourism there. After traveling the globe widely for studies and adventure – including places like South Africa, the Philippines, and Costa Rica – she moved to Austin.
Her obituary also shares stories about her love for animals:
This was evident even as a small child where she would hug the family dog shouting, “Doggy, doggy, doggy, doggy!” and let out huge laughs as he leisurely pranced around the house happy to be her entertainment. She took immense pride in being dog mom to Dudley who was her constant companion for the past six years – he wanted for nothing! They lived in the mountains together for many years and loved taking long hikes and camping trips together. Being in nature was their happy place. They were truly a dynamic duo!
“It left me with such a deep grief,” Davis’ close friend, David Haisman said in comments to KVUE. “Just to know that this person I cared so much about was not only gone but had been through such an ordeal. I still feel like my heart is breaking. Like I’m being stabbed. Like I’ve been stabbed and I’m bleeding out slowly.”
In lieu of flowers, the woman’s family is asking for people to consider a donation to Austin Pets Alive!
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