Melinda Kay Marshel was 13 when she and her mother, Sue Marshel, disappeared after failing to attend a family cookout on July 4, 1995, in Wayne City, Illinois. Sue’s car was later found partially submerged in a local pond with bloodstains and a large amount of blood inside. That discovery prompted a homicide investigation.

Investigators recovered the victims’ bodies in a duffle bag submerged in a different rural pond. The remains had been burned and both victims suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head. Two .32 caliber shell casings and a pair of bloody handprints were found inside the trunk of Sue’s car. The weapon was identified as a .32 caliber firearm.

Authorities arrested and charged Sue’s ex-husband, Niels Nielsen, who had prior criminal history and had returned to Wayne City after previously being restricted from leaving the state. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 1996; that sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.

If anyone knew Melinda or Sue, or remembers seeing either woman or Sue’s car around July 4, 1995, please share what you know.