Melanie Marie James

• Missing Since 04/20/2014
• Missing From Farmington, New Mexico
• Classification Missing
• Sex Female
• Race Native American
• Date of Birth 07/05/1992 (31)
• Age 21 years old
• Height and Weight 5'0, 116 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry Description A blue bandana shirt, blue jeans and black sneakers.
• Distinguishing Characteristics Native American female. Brown hair, brown eyes. James has a tattoo of a spade on her right index finger. Her ears are pierced.

Details of Disappearance

James was last seen in Farmington, New Mexico on April 20, 2014. Her sister saw her walking with an unidentified African-American man near McKinley Elementary School in the vicinity of 20th Street and Butler Avenue in Farmington, New Mexico on April 20, 2014.

James said she planned to enroll in classes at San Juan College and fill out job applications, then return home by 5:00 p.m. She never came home, however. When her sister came back to the area to look for her, she couldn't find her. She had sometimes dropped out of sight for days at a time, but she's never been gone for this long.

James's mother stated when she tried to file a missing persons report for her, the police told her they would not accept a report for at least 48 hours. When she told them James had already been missing for more than that time, they told her they meant 48 hours after the reportee initially contacted law enforcement.

There was a sighting of James at a Family Dollar store in September 2015, but no sign of her since then. Police spoke to the person last known to have been with her, and this person admitted to having seen her on the night she went missing but said they had not seen her since then. Her disappearance remains unsolved.