True Crime With Caledonian Kitty

(Melanie Melanson. Picture credit: abcnews)

In this post I will be continuing my Unsolved series, be sure to check out part one).

I'll be sharing some of the details about the Melanie Melanson case. In part three (my third and final post of this series) I'll be covering the Highway of Tears and the disappearance of Maddy Scott. 

Before I begin, don't forget to check me out on my Kofi page for regular updates, my personal posts and for if you would like to buy me a coffee to help support my work. 

I'm going to start with the Melanie Melanson case, which is a case that I had only just come across as I was researching Molly Bish and Holly Piirainen which also took place in Massachusetts.

Melanie (Melanie Jo Melanson) was just 14 years old on the 27th of October 1989 when she went missing after a late night party in a wooded area which was popular with teenagers who would often go there to hang out and drink alcohol. There have been various theories about what had happened to her on that night that she went missing but so far no arrests have been made,

Melanie had a difficult upbringing and had a tense relationship with her parents. Her mum and Dad would often argue and they both had problems with drugs. She went to live with her grandmother and still saw her parents regularly.

Melanie was a freshman in high school and was pretty and popular girl but she had a rebellious streak too. She'd heard that some friends were getting together for a party in the woods on the night of the 27th of October so she and her friend left school early and told her grandmother that she was going to stay at her best friend's house that night. Melanie's friend only lived next door.

At the party, there was a small crowd and Melanie seemed to be the youngest person there. As the night wore on, more and more people were leaving and the only people that were left were Melanie and her two friends, Gene Bertini and Jimmy Treska. Soon enough, Jimmy announced that he was going home and offered Melanie a life home but she refused because she wanted to hang out longer with Gene.

It was then reported that Melanie and Gene were the only ones left in the wooded area. Gene and Melanie walked to the main road together and Gene offered Melanie a lift on his motorcycle but she refused as he only had one bicycle helmet.

Melanie waved Gene goodbye and was said to have started walking in the opposite direction, this is the last known sighting of her.

When Melanie was reported missing a lot of eyes fell on Jimmy and Gene because they were alleged to have been the only two people who last saw Melanie.

Suspicions grew even further when it was revealed that both of the boys gave different versions of events and Jimmy was spotted a few days after Melanie went missing, carrying a dirty shovel. Jimmy's car also vanished into thin air a few days after Melanie's disappearance.

Rumours circulated that Gene was having an affair with Melanie behind his girlfriend's back. Both of the boys had girlfriends and even to this day, they are refusing to talk to the police.


The police believed that there was a possibility that Melanie had ran away to Florida as she had done before.

The police believe that Melanie had been murdered that night and that the perpetrator moved her remains around to different locations.

There have been various 'leads' which have come to nothing.

Melanie's grandmother and parents are now deceased, they never got the chance to learn what really happened to Melanie.

Gene Bertini ran into trouble with the law in 2011 for pistol whipping two teenagers at a gas station, he stole $300 from the pair and a necklace. He refused to take a DNA test after being arrested and the case went to the Supreme Court in Massachusetts.

Hopefully one day soon there will be a break in this case and that the police look into Gene and Jimmy again plus, It's very strange that the girlfriends that they had at the time were refusing to talk about what happened.

What are your thoughts on what happened that night? Let me know in the comments below or come and chat to me about the case on social media (I've included my links below).

See you in part three, the final part of my Unsolved series x

Further reading & sources:

- boston.cbslocal
- Missing Chlldren: Melanie Melanson
- The Charley Project
- Wikipedia: Melanie Melanson
- Melanie tribute video