Michaela MacVilla was 21 when she disappeared after finishing a shift at a Stewart’s Shop in St. Johnsville, New York, on September 25, 2018. Her family reported her missing that day. Seven days later, on October 2, a property owner in nearby Oppenheim found her body in a heavily brushed area. An autopsy determined she died from a single gunshot wound to the head.

Investigators traced key evidence to 45-year-old Oppenheim resident Daniel Nellis Sr. MacVilla’s cell phone, recovered on September 27, appeared to have been thrown from a vehicle and helped connect investigators to Nellis. Surveillance footage reportedly showed Michaela getting into a car after her shift and later entering and leaving Nellis’s home. Nellis was arrested on unrelated weapons charges on September 30 after a search found more than 10 illegally owned handguns.

Nellis was indicted in November 2018 for MacVilla’s murder. Prosecutors presented DNA evidence they said linked him to her, and in June 2019 a jury convicted him of second-degree murder and multiple felony weapons counts; he was sentenced to 40 years to life. That conviction was unanimously overturned by a New York appellate court in June 2023, which found prosecutorial misconduct and ordered the case back to Fulton County for a new trial.

If anyone knew Michaela, saw her that night, or has information about her movements or the area between St. Johnsville and Oppenheim, please come forward.