Las Vegas provides updated information on the 1994 murder case

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Las Vegas police revealed the identity of the suspect in a cold case from 1994.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department announced that Melonie White went missing on August 26, 1994. Two hikers found her the next day in a body of water in Lake Mead National Recreation Area.

According to Homicide Lieutenant Jason Johannsson, she was 27 years old when she went missing. Police believe she was dragged into the laundry in a car.

According to an autopsy, White died from strangulation and blunt force trauma. At that time, homicide investigators received many leads, but everyone was exhausted. The case went cold.

In 2010, investigators investigated additional facts in unsolved cases in order to subject them to DNA analysis. The DNA of a male test subject came back.

Las Vegas police were unable to establish an identity through CODIS, a DNA indexing system.

In 2021, Las Vegas police shared White's case through a partnership with the Vegas Justice League.

DNA was sent to Othram. With their help, the police would identify Arthur Lavery as a suspect.

Lavery has since died in February 2021 due to complications from COVID. He was 38 years old at the time of White's murder.

Police said they couldn't find him before because he didn't have much of a criminal record. He previously faced a battery charge.

Johansson thanked the partnership between Metro and the Vegas Justice League for helping solve the case.

White's two brothers spoke at the meeting.

The brothers said Melonie was “struggling” at the time of her death. She alternated between Phoenix and Las Vegas.

“She had a super kind heart,” said Walter White, one of the brothers. “A really nice person.”

The two said she moved to Las Vegas with her boyfriend in 1994 and that the family had not been able to contact her since June or July of this year.

The night before she disappeared, friends said they saw her at Fremont and 15th Streets.

Her two brothers thanked the Las Vegas Police Department and the Vegas Justice League for their partnership and their work to solve the case.

Lavery was living in Las Vegas at the time of the murder and moved to California in the mid-2000s, police said.

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