An Almanac of Infamy

On this day in 1989, 5-year-old Melissa Brannen disappeared from a Christmas party for residents of the Fairfax, Virginia, apartment complex where she lived with her mother Tammy. The two were leaving the party when Melissa went to grab a handful of potato chips and never came back. Over 300 people immediately started searching for her but found no trace of the child. It was then that foul play was suspected and the apartment complex's groundskeeper, Caleb Hughes, became the main focus of investigators. Witnesses told police that he had left the party at around the same time that Melissa had gone missing. Several female attendees also claimed that the married Hughes had propositioned them sexually and that he was paying an unusual amount of attention to the children at the party, including Melissa. When investigators arrived at the home of Caleb Hughes, they found him washing his clothes, shoes, and belt. This was at one in the morning. Hughes' wife Carol told the detectives