A Georgia man has been indicted for murder, following his arrest earlier this month, in connection with the 1999 death of his wife, Melissa Wolfenberger.
Christopher Wolfenbarger has been indicted on murder and felony murder charges for the 1998 death of Melissa, who vanished in November of that year from her Atlanta area home.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Christopher Wolfenbarger failed to report her missing, although she hadn’t been seen in months. Her mother, Norma, subsequently filed a missing persons report in Henry County.
Melissa’s sister, Tina Patton, said Melissa didn’t have a landline phone and cellphones weren’t readily available, so they drove to her home around Christmas in 1998 to check on her. When the family arrived, Melissa’s home was empty and a neighbor said Christopher Wolfenbarger had moved their belongings out.
When investigators questioned the husband, he claimed Melissa walked away from home and never returned. Tina’s family said investigators weren’t taking Melissa’s disappearance seriously at the time.
Months passed without any word from Melissa. Then, in 1999, investigators found a human head, soaked in bleach in a black trash bag, off of Avon Avenue in Atlanta, The head was in an area behind a glass company where Christopher once worked.
“Innocent men don’t move and change their name while their wife is missing. Innocent men don’t fail to tell his children their mother did not abandon you, she was killed,” Atlanta’s Cold Case Investigative Research Institute founder, Sheryl McCollum, who played an integral role in the case, told CrimeOnline.
“An innocent man doesn’t fail to tell the police who he believes murdered his wife. An innocent man does not change his story over and over for 25 years. An innocent man when the police come to his house doesn’t hide behind the dyer – but a guilty man does!”
Police did not reveal the specific evidence that ultimately led to the arrest, but Detective Jarion Shepard stated that Christopher Wolfenbarger had been a person of interest from the start.
“The family is so relieved that Christopher was finally arrested and are so very grateful to everyone that has helped us get Melissa’s story in the.public eye. Now we are just waiting for trial to start so he can be convicted and Melissa to finally get justice,” Melissa’s sister, Tina Patton, told CrimeOnline.
“Hopefully all the mistakes made in her case will never happen in anyone else’s and her story will help the police to do better and also get DV victims away from the abuser.”
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[Feature Photo: Handout]
