Melvin Travis Jr. was 18 when he was found murdered in an alley on the 600 block of Ridge Road in Gary, Indiana, on the morning of July 19, 2015. A volunteer from a local homeless shelter first discovered him and police arrived at 6:23 a.m. Officers and crime scene technicians recorded a single gunshot wound to the side of his head and recovered one shell casing near the body.

Melvin had earned his GED in January 2015 and was a father. Investigators considered robbery as a possible motive but did not say whether anything was taken. The alley’s sparse population left few potential witnesses, and despite efforts by the Gary Police Department and the Lake County crime scene unit the investigation eventually went cold. No arrests have been made and no suspects have been publicly identified.

If anyone has information about Melvin’s death or saw anything on Ridge Road the morning of July 19, 2015, please come forward.