Case Profiles #20
Devon Hodo
On June 8th of 2008, Taunton, Massachusetts police were dispatched to a fight at a local playground, just after 1:00am, only to discover no victims or complainants. They then received a phone call from Morton Hospital and learned that there were five stabbing victims being treated there. Upon arrival, the police learned there were actually 6 victims… however 16-year-old Devon Hodo had died from his injuries. While a 15-year-old boy was arrested in connection to the brawl, nobody has been charged with Devon’s murder. Anyone with any information is asked to please call the Taunton Police Detectives Division at (508) 821-1475 or (508) 821-1471.
Santa Melendez
On September 12th, 2000, 27-year-old Santa Melendez was found underneath the Charter Oak Landing bridge. She was badly decomposed and had been missing for almost a month. In the weeks leading up to her murder Santa’s life was threatened several times, and on one occasion a man fired a gun at her and screamed that he would kill her in the courtyard of the Dutch Point housing project where she lived. In late August Santa’s mother Dalea Melendez received a phone call from a man who stated “Don’t cry. She’s in the Connecticut River.” Nicknamed “Teeta”, Santa was a mother to three children who she adored. She worked as a sex worker on Wyllys Street and struggled with drug use, but it was unlike her to disappear and leave behind her children. Four other women of color who worked as sex workers and struggled with drug use went missing around the time Santa did, and all were found in remote locations with head trauma as their cause of death. Santa’s cause of death is unspecified due to the level of decomposition, however it is believed her case could be related to the other four women. Anyone with any information on the murder of Santa Melendez is asked to please contact the Connecticut cold case hotline at 1-866-623-8058.
Image sources:
wbsm.com - “New Bedford, Wareham, Fall River Victims Among Those Depicted On Playing Cards”
portal.ct .gov - “Connecticut Cold Case 5th Edition Cards”