Melissa Thomas was 24 when her body was found in January 1996 on the grounds of Little Zion Baptist Church in Opelousas, Louisiana. She had been strangled and left near the cemetery. Investigators at the time had few leads and almost no physical evidence to identify a suspect, and the case remained unsolved for more than two decades.

In November 2018 Samuel Little, already serving multiple life sentences in California, confessed to strangling Melissa Thomas. That confession provided the primary resolution to her murder and brought a bittersweet measure of closure for her family and the Opelousas Police Department; Donald Thompson, the detective who led the 1996 investigation, knew the Thomas family well and called the development personal. The confession was the only significant lead that ultimately linked someone to her killing.

If anyone knew Melissa, saw her in Opelousas in January 1996, or has information about her last known movements, please come forward.