Missing Meshay Melendez and Daughter Found Dead As Search Ends in Tragedy

• Meshay Melendez, 27, and her 7-year-old daughter, Layla Stewart, were last seen in the early hours of March 12.
• Police said their bodies were found in rural Washington state on Wednesday.
• The Clark County Medical Examiner's Office will determine the cause and manner of death, police said.
• Police earlier said Kirkland Warren, Melendez's ex-boyfriend, was considered a "person of interest" in their disappearance.

A missing woman and her daughter were found dead in rural Washington state on Wednesday, authorities said.

The Clark County Sheriff's Office said it responded to a call in which a passerby reported seeing what appeared to be two "life-sized mannequins" just off the roadway down an embankment in thick brush in Washougal at around 9:40 a.m.

The deputy who responded found two bodies, the sheriff's office said.

Detectives with the Vancouver Police Department were notified.

They believe the bodies to be those of Meshay Melendez, 27, and her 7-year-old daughter, Layla Stewart, based on "unique identifying genetic marks," the police department said in a news release.

Their family members have been notified and the Clark County Medical Examiner's Office will determine the cause and manner of death, police said.

Police said Melendez and her daughter were last seen in the early hours of March 12 in the 7700 block of Vancouver Mall Drive.

An officer went to Melendez's apartment on March 18 for a welfare check after her family reported not hearing from her since March 11.

A family member let the responding officer into Melendez's apartment, which was empty except for her dog.

Investigators learned that Melendez, her daughter, and an ex-boyfriend, Kirkland Warren, had stayed at the home of an acquaintance on March 11. All three were seen leaving at 6 a.m. the following morning in a burgundy Dodge Charger, police said.

Melendez's mother located her daughter's Chrysler 200 in the 7800 block of NE Loowit Loop on March 19 and Vancouver police seized it for a search warrant.

That day, police executed a search warrant at Warren's residence and took him into custody.

He was arrested and booked into custody on charges of tampering with a witness, violation of domestic violence orders, fourth-degree domestic violence assault, drive-by shooting, and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Court documents say a friend of Melendez's told police that she saw Melendez in Warren's vehicle on March 12 "unresponsive and naked from the waist down," KGW8 reported. The friend said Warren came to get Melendez's daughter, who she had been watching.

Warren also has a 2018 indictment in Arkansas for the murder and abuse of a corpse, the outlet reported.

Michelle Bart, representing Melendez, said Warren had been freed on bail despite shooting at Melendez recently.

"Our county—the system—has let the same guy out that they let out not too long ago for shooting at the same individual and we're going to end up with another Tiffany Hill case here if we don't watch it," she told KATU News, referring to the case of a Vancouver mother murdered by her estranged and abusive husband.

Bart has been contacted for comment via email.

The last post on Melendez's Facebook page, where she goes by Karmen Melendez, was shared on March 14 and said "DND," an abbreviation for "do not disturb."

The investigation into the deaths is ongoing.

A spokesperson for Vancouver Police told Newsweek that Warren is a person of interest.

"Our investigation shows he is the last person to have seen Meshay and Layla," the spokesperson said. "We want to be sure we do a thorough investigation and are still working to complete a timeline of the last hours Meshay and Layla were alive."

Update 3/23/23, 10:30 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Vancouver Police.