By By LEE WEYRICH For The Standard
Relatives of Melinda McGhee, the Escambia County woman who has been missing for the past two years, said a meeting with law enforcement officials last week has assured them that their case is still open.
Family members met with the FBI, the Alabama Bureau of Investigation and the Escambia County Sheriff's Department last Thursday, the two-year anniversary of her disappearance.
Initially, the investigation was treated as a murder case. 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.
Though the meeting offered no new information, the family was appreciative of the gesture.
The meeting began at 1 p.m. and lasted for at least one hour with the same questions being asked and no new answers given, Wall said.
For the investigators, the meeting was a chance to make sure nothing was overlooked.
Though he can not release specific information on the still-open case, McMullen said that the department would begin re-interviewing some leads.
The meeting served largely to waylay the fears of McGhee's family regarding the interest in this case.