A Texas woman was found burned alive on the roadside around 5am on August 29 in an upscale Austin neighborhood.
The body of Melissa Davis, 33, was found by firefighters near the intersection of Mesa Drive and Cat Mountain Drive when they responded to a call of a grass fire.
Davis was pronounced dead on the scene as cops ‘smelled a strong odor of accelerant’ near her body which was in a small grassy area next to a fence, directly off a busy road.
Detectives also discovered a lighter on the ground which appeared to be new. A K9 dog dug out a butcher knife that police believed ‘was placed with the decedent in an attempt to destroy the evidence with the fire,’ according to the search warrant.
An autopsy of her body has revealed physical evidence that she was burned alive. Cops are on the hunt for the suspect responsible for the homicide.
The charred body of 33-year-old Melissa Davis was found around 5am on August 29 on an Austin, Texas roadside. Firefighters responded to a call of a grass fire and found her remains when they arrived
According to phone records that the Austin Police Department obtained with a warrant, Davis had left her mother’s house in the Circle C area the day before and told her she had to go to the Apple store to get her phone fixed. Her phone was not found with her at the scene
Police have obtained a search warrant of Davis’s phone data and found that she left her mother’s home the day before in the Circle C area and told her she had to go to the Apple store to get her phone fixed.
The phone itself was not found on scene, but police are hopeful that they can hunt down the suspect with her cellphone records.
The Austin Police Department are also on the hunt for Davis’s car, a blue Toyota 4Runner which was missing from the crime scene.
‘A reward of up to $1,000 may be available for any information that leads to an arrest,’ Austin Police said in a Facebook post on October 6.
According to Davis’s Facebook page, she was living in Taos, New Mexico but was originally from Austin.
Her ‘soul sister’ and best friend Ellie Simmons told KVUE: ‘She had more of a zest for life than I think anyone else.
And we actually had dreams together with one of our other friends to start a hostel in Costa Rica and we would have an art station. She painted. She loved art.’
Simmons went on to describe her and her closest friend as ‘free spirits’ who were ‘driven to make every day count’.
Davis’s car was also missing, and police put out a search for the vehicle on their Facebook page. The smell of lighter fluid surrounded the scene, along with what appeared to be a new lighter and a butcher knife that a K9 dog dug out. Police suspect the knife was left there to ‘destroy evidence with the fire’
Davis’s ‘soul sister’ and best friend said the 33-year-old ‘had more of a zest for life than I think anyone else.’ Simmons also described her and her closest friend as ‘free spirits’ who were ‘driven to make every day count’
Another one of her close friends David Haisman still can’t believe what happened to Davis.
‘It left me with such a deep grief. Just to know that this person I cared so much about was not only gone but had been through such an ordeal.
I still feel like my heart is breaking. Like I’m being stabbed. Like I’ve been stabbed and I’m bleeding out slowly,’ Haisman told KVUE.
Davis’s body was found in Cat Mountain, a luxury suburb in Austin, Texas.
The homes, known to rise above the Austin skyline start at less than $300,000 but can soar well over $1million.
The average cost of a home in that area is about $675,000, according to AustinRealEstate.com.
Cat Mountain itself holds 26,000 residents and has attracted many upper-class families and single professionals.
As of Tuesday, no arrests have been made and police are still actively investigating the homicide.
DailyMail.com reached out to Austin Police Department but they declined to share further details as the investigation is ongoing.
Davis’s body was found at an intersection in Cat Mountain in Austin, Texas. The town itself holds a population of 26,000 residents and has attracted upper-class families and single professionals. Homes in the area range from $300,000 to over $1million
Davis was pronounced dead on the scene and KXAN reported that cops ‘smelled a strong odor of accelerant’ near her body which was in a small grassy area next to a fence, directly off the road. An autopsy of her body revealed that she had been burned alive as police have ruled her death as a homicide
Davis not only had a love for art and travel, but also had a huge love for animals.
According to her obituary: ‘She took immense pride in being dog mom to Dudley who was her constant companion for the past six years – he wanted for nothing!’
Police encourage anyone with information on the homicide or the whereabouts of Davis’s car to contact their TIPS department or Crime Stoppers program.