Corona-The search for a missing nine-year old girl ended in tragedy Thursday morning as the body of Melissa Brown was found almost two weeks after she was reported missing from her bedroom by her parents on June 21st.
The child’s decomposing body was discovered by Elisa Parker, a homeless woman, while sifting through trash bins behind the now closed Pic n’ Sav on Main Street. The body had been left inside of a metal trash can in an area used to house garbage dumpsters. And although the store had been recently sold to make way for a new Mervyn’s retail outlet, the bins remained in back and were frequently used for illegal dumping.
When asked about the grisly discovery, Mrs. Parker said she was doing what she had done every day for the past thirteen years when she came upon the girl’s body; trying to survive.
“Main Street is my home,” Mrs. Parker told reporters. “It has been ever since I lost my job in ’69. Sometimes I stay in a woman’s shelter on Sixth Street, but when the weathers warm like it is now, I find it peaceful to sleep outdoors. The shelter provides food when I need it, and I’ve made friends who own restaurants in the area. They help me out sometimes. But mostly I try to buy my own food. I collect cans and recycle them to get money.
“I was out yesterday going from store to store, picking through the garbage containers, looking for cans. I’d been behind the Pic N’ Sav plenty of times before. I knew they were closed down but sometimes people come and dump trash and old furniture in the back. I actually slept on a couch someone had thrown away back there that night before I found the little girl.” Mrs. Parker had to stop and wipe tears away form her eyes before continuing. “When I got up in the morning I started searching through the dumpsters that were left over after the store shut down. After that I noticed an old beat-up trash can back in the corner. I went over to check it for more cans and before I got twenty-feet from it, I noticed the smell. At first I thought it was just rotting food or something, but when I opened it I saw the brown hair and I nearly fainted. I don’t know who could have done something like that to a sweet little child, but I don’t think God forgives those kinds of monsters. It was the mask that was the worst part of all.”
When she was finished recounting her story, Elisa Parker broke down crying, asking the same question over and over: Why?
It seems that whoever committed this horrendous act also harbors a sick fantasy as well.
After having been kidnapped from her home, the killer murdered Melissa and placed her inside of the metal trash can and dumped it behind the store. But not before putting a Halloween mask on her then lifeless body. The mask was that of the Sesame Street character, Oscar the Grouch.
Nobody is sure if the Grouch mask was left to taunt the police, but one thing seems almost certain now; this murder and that of Amy Garret, an eight-year-old girl found strangled and dumped next to the Corona train depot, are most likely connected.
When asked for more information about the girls’ murders, police Chief Daniel Steele, had this to say:
“From the moment police arrived on the scene, it was immediately determined that the murders of Melissa Brown and Amy Garret were almost certainly related. After seeing the mask on Melissa’s body, it was almost impossible to believe that we were dealing with two separate murderers.
“It seems that the person responsible for the deaths of these two children is leaving a calling card. On Melissa it was the mask of Oscar the Grouch, a character from the children’s television show Sesame Street. On Amy, it was the device used to strangle her. Police at that crime scene recovered a shoelace that had been wrapped around the girl’s neck. On the shoelace were figures of Sesame Street characters.”
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