you? ten days out is a long time on a kidnapping. i think, in this instance, you can probably give it a little more possibility that she s alive because she was an adult. it s possible. with that new break in the case, the family stepped up its media campaign. we are living through every parents nightmare. we just want to shannon to come home. they started raising money for a possible ransom demand, canvassing the city with flyers and more. we put 77 billboards all around the city. i felt that if people see her face, they can t move her. shannon s family and friends kept waiting, but no ransom demands came in. that was the one and only call. as time goes on, you realize, she s gone. she s not coming back. law enforcement focus on the key lead. that softball umpire, butch hinton. he s still the prime suspect in the disappearance of shannon, i m assuming?
crying, and she usually operates my camera in the back of the church. too close? i went back to check and she was crying. and i said that s not fair to the bride and groom, it s not fair to us. so that was the last couple of weddings that i had. i finished them, and never booked another one again. to this day. difficult as it was, they can still kept up the awareness campaign in the press. until s southern twist! five once after she disappeared. the phone rang. it was ten after 11. and a friend in atlanta said, butch hinton s house is on fire. investigators determined the fire was deliberately set. and when he filed a insurance claim on the house, he was arrested for fraud. he was convicted, and sentenced to nine years in prison. it was great to have him off the streets. but, that just left shannon s family and shannon s friends
A college student goes missing in broad daylight from her off-campus job at a softball field; investigators receive a mysterious phone call that changes.
case in 2003. it will take a few months before law enforcement finally investigated him for murder, ten years after shannon disappeared. and i heard butch being arrested. for the murder of shannon melendi. and my tears, just hit my glasses. my glasses were wet from the inside. and, and that was a great moment. great moment for my soul! a great moment for the family. for sure. but prosecutors had an uphill battle. still did not have a body, or a crime scene. could they convince a jury that was butch hinton was shannon s killer? coming up! an emotional trial. this is your first chance really see him. we were saying, if looks could kill, he would ve been dead on the spot. then it s all up to the jurors! all i could do is pray. pray that they saw what we saw. see him for the monster that he
years later, shannon melendi vanished and investigators thought butch hinten had struck again. hinton was now headed to court, charged with shannon s murder. her family believed that justice was inside. but, they were about to learn that the fight was far from over. here s dennis murphy with the conclusion of shannon s story. butch hinton s trial for the murder of shannon began in august of 2005. more than 11 years after she disappeared from that softball field in georgia. when we went into the courtroom, i was thinking in my head 50/50 chance. that was the way it could go. there it was, the one-time delta airlines maintenance worker they had in their sights for years. this is your first time to really see him? well you know the old saying, if looks could kill. he would ve been dead on the spot. the county prosecutor had a daunting task ahead. the first case in georgia with no crime scene, no body. the absence of a body does