By By Lee Weyhrich
Last Thursday the family of Melinda McGhee met with investigators from the FBI, the Alabama Bureau of Investigation and the Escambia County Sheriff's Department to receive an update on the case of her disappearance.
McGhee went missing March 24, 2003 and the investigation was treated as a murder case early on. Many family members and friends of McGhee had just about decided the case had been given up. For McGhee's mother, Ouida Wall, this meeting was a sign that her daughter's case had not been forgotten.
"After two years you sort of get the feeling there's nothing being done, but after talking to them we know they're doing everything they can do," Wall said. "Often times it seems like people have forgotten, but it made us feel that her case hadn't."
Though the meeting offered no new information, the family was appreciative of the gesture.
"They just really didn't tell us anything new, they just told us they were working on it," Wall said. "I really appreciate all of them taking the time to come talk with (the family). It meant a lot for them (the FBI, ABI and Sheriff's Department) to come and be able to do it."
The meeting began at 1 p.m. and lasted for at least one hour with the same questions being assessed and no new answers to give, Wall said.
"The only hope we have is maybe them finding out who did it or maybe finding her body," Wall said.
For the investigators the meeting was a chance to make sure nothing was overlooked.
"We just met with the family and discussed what we've done over the last few years and where we're headed in the next two months," Chuck McMullen with the Sheriff's Department said. "We just kind of gave them an update on what we've done and where were headed"
Though he can not release specific information on the still-open case McMullen said that the department would begin re-interviewing some leads.
"We identified some areas we need to work on that we have already started and identified some things that still need to be done," he said.
The meeting served largely to waylay the fears of McGhee's family regarding the interest in this case.