JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On Dec. 28, 1987, Melissa Ellison was murdered inside her own home.
At the time, the 20-year-old was living in a mobile home with roommates and her baby.
Police say Ellison was asleep when she was beaten to death. Inside the home was her 13-month-old daughter Casie, who was found on a couch unharmed and surrounded by pillows.
“I would get really angry with God and not understand the point. What was the point in you taking her from me?” Casie Ellison said.
She said growing up without her mother has taken its toll. She said knowing she was inside he home when her mother was killed haunts her.
As she looks through pictures of the mother she never knew, her plea to the killer has remained the same for three decades.
“Please, give our family peace we want the peace to be able to move on,” Ellison said.
Ellison came from a large family. Her two sisters also spoke to Action News Jax. They said they remember the day she was killed vividly.
“I saw her laying there lifeless, an image I almost wish I didn’t have because 33 years later, I close my eyes I still see her,” sister Glenda Blandford said.
Blandford said she pushed past police to get to her sister.
The killer in the case has never been caught despite a $25,000 reward put up by family. Melissa Ellison’s mother died last year, never knowing who killed her daughter.
Melissa Ellison was also known as Missy Taylor.
Project: Cold Case is a resource for families of cold case victims. For help call 904-525-8080.
If you have any information about who killed Melissa Ellison, call Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS (8477).
Cox Media Group
