We were like sisters. We had shared so much. I told me they had found her body, and i just collapsed. She is dead, because she was my friend. First, melissa disappeared. Thats the milliondollar question. I knew then that she had never made it into her house. Signs of a struggle, and a strange orange missed. They didnt know what it was. Then, her boss went missing, to. Who was he afraid of . Mightve been afraid that he was next. He left behind a bigger mess. We three kings be stealing the gold. A missing fortune. Ballpark, 1 1 2 million dollars. We have no clues, no leads. Some wondered, was there a link . Two crimes, one for money, one, supposedly for love, and behind both, a lingering mystery. It is just so ugly, and so wrong, and i cannot fix it. Welcome to dateline. Hotshot florida attorney, Melissa Lewis was living large in ft. Lauderdale. But then, her seemingly charmed life ended in tragedy when a body was discovered in a drainage canal. She had been murdered. But who would want her dead . With few clues, fewer suspects, and a scandal involving her law firm, investigators had their work cut out for them, to unravel the mystery of what had happened to melissa. Here is Dennis Murphy, with, betrayed. If you ask someone in town where the busiest part of ft. Lauderdale lies, they will probably steer you here, las olas boulevard. And way up there, in this high rent district, is It Penthouse Office Suite which was, once upon a time, home to a high powered law firm. The boldest, brass used bunch of politically connected lawyers , the Rothstein Law Firm. A gorgeous sweeping view. From a few guys with law degrees to age juggernaut by the mid2000s, with a dozen Attorneys Led by scott rusting. He probably thinks, im king of the world. And, the firm is where Melissa Lewis, A By The Book attorney found Great Success for herself and her clients. She was, by all accounts, a workaholic who loves what she did. No shrinking violet, either. Melissa loved those splashy Office Parties just as much as the other lawyers. She had found herself a nice slice of the american pie. And that is the thing about a 38yearold Melissa Lewis, even as she raised her voice in class, her sad end wasnt far off and her unexpected death would get caught up in a Chain Of Events right out of a john grisham novel. Murder, betrayal, and billions of dollars in fraud. Melissa lewis it ended up being the beginning of the end. Missy, as her family called her, had come so far. Penthouse lawyering wasnt likely for a restless high school dropout. Here was a kid who didnt finish high school, she got the ged ticket. Correct. She didnt plan to be a high school dropout, she was in a hurry to get on with life. And focused enough, finally, to finish college. Then, in her late 20s, to go for a law degree. She breezed past the younger law students to become the prestigious editor of the law review and she caught the eye of one of her professors, Scott Rothstein, who took her on as an intern. Office manager Deborah Vegas met her on the first day of work. What did melissa bring to the party . She was smart and capable. You know, she was everything that you would want in an associate attorney. She was also one of the nicest people deborah says she had ever met. The two became fast friends. We were like sisters. She knew all my faults and flaws. And she loved me anyways. Deborah and melissa saw the firm grow tenfold in just a few years. Their gregarious boss, scott, was the front man. He hobnob with a whos who of big deal names in sports, politics, and business, even future residence. Fundraisers . Scott was your man. Once you were named there, you truly cannot imagine how many people knock on your door. The door scott knocked on was melissas. Melissa was the one, he knew that she could handle it, he knew she wouldnt let anything fall through the cracks. Melissa specialized in employment law, but volunteered her time for battered women and victims rights. She also worked on building a Memorial Garden for crime victims. She was always a champion for the underdog. Melissa eventually met a lawyer from a different firm and married. But, after five years, the marriage had come undone and ended in a messy divorce. That divorce, just devastated her. After melissas divorce, she took on a second fulltime job. Missy did not have children herself . She didnt want children. She wanted her career. When her best friend deborahs own marriage was hitting the rocks, melissa was there for her, to. Playing the same Great Aunt Role for deborahs fourth kids pick the two became inseparable at work and outside the office. She is cooking for me and the kids, and we have movie night on saturdays. After her divorce, a still shaky melissa started dating a little, but work, not relationships, would occupy her front and center. Eventually, her diligence paid off. In 2008, after seven years of the firm, the former intern was made the first female partner. She shared with me, early on, that she hopes to be a judge one day. And deborah had done well for herself, to. After all those years working as a paralegal and keeper of the supply cabinet, her boss, scott, promoted her to Chief Operating Officer. Not bad for someone who never finished college. Things were going really well at the Rothstein Law Firm . Yes. Then came march 5th, 2008. Just one week after melissa had been made partner. It was a wednesday night. Deborah tried to call her several times, but got no answer. The next morning, when melissa was a noshow at work, deborah called her friend repeatedly, but to no avail. Then, she got a hold of melissas sister, carrie. Kerry was like, we all know, something is wrong. Deborah told her boss, scott. Wellconnected attorney that he was, he called the Police Officer he knew in plantation, florida, where melissa lived. The officer agreed to meet deborah and carrie at melissas house. And they got there, everything seems to be normal inside the home. Nothing was tossed, drawers werent opened. Nothing. The only thing i miss was in her garage. Melissas car was gone. That is when they all saw something bizarre. A fine mist of what looks like Orange Spray Paint throughout the garage. Did whatever the stuff in the garage affect you . Yes. I started coughing and i said, that pepper spray. Respray. Like many women, melissa was known to carry it canister of it for self protection. Had she been attacked . Had she used it . I knew right then, that she absolutely never made it into her house. Something had happened in that garage. Something very disturbing, and it wasnt looking good for rising attorney Melissa Lewis. Coming up where is melissa . The answer comes all too soon , when dateline continues. Rohns means everything to me. Control is everything to me. Feel significant Symptom Relief at 4 weeks with skyrizi, including less Abdominal Pain and fewer bowel movements. Skyrizi is the first il23 inhibitor that can deliver remission and visibly improve damage of the intestinal lining. And the majority of people experienced longlasting remission at one year. Serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to. Liver problems may occur in crohns disease. Nows the time to ask your gastroenterologist how you can take control of your crohns with skyrizi. Control is everything to me. Learn how abbvie could help you save. Norman, bad news. I never graduated from med school. What . But the good news is. Xfinity mobile just got even better now, you can automatically connect to wifi speeds up to a gig on the go. Plus, buy one unlimited line and get one free for a year. I gotta get this deal. Thats like 20 a month per unlimited line. I dont want to miss that. Thats amazing doc. Mobile savings are calling. Visit xfinitymobile. Com to learn more. Doc . Dennis murphy Fort Lauderdale attorney Melissa Lewis was missing, and her friends and family were in a panic. She hadnt responded to phone calls and didnt show up for work. Shes not one to take a Mental Health day. No. No. Ft. Lauderdale attorney, Melissa Friends And Family were in a panic. She had not responded to phone calls and did not show up for work. She is not one for Mental Health days . No. This was going to be a high profile case. Melissas boss, Scott Rothstein was a powerbroker attorney with a bit of extra juice with local police. Plantation Police Detective brian kennedy. He was our union attorney. Venue, they were friends. At melissas house, the mysteries piled up in her car was gone and pepper spray was all over her garage. Melissa also had a dog, and there was pepper spray on the dogs face, as well. Our concern is raised greatly, at this point, that she is in some sort of danger. Detectives wanted to know what melissa had been wearing the previous day at work. Deborah knew exactly. In You Brown Pantsuit with pinstripes. Sure enough, there she was, captured on Security Cameras in her office lobby, talking with another lawyer at 7 00 p. M. After leaving work, her sister, carrie, says she went to the supermarket. How do you know she had gone to the supermarket . She actually called my daughter, that night, she was the last one and she said im going to publix. Detectives to store surveillance video. There was melissa in the cosmetics aisle, reaching for something on the shelf. The Cameras Leader showed her leaving, documenting the start of her pathway to doom. You got the timeline . Now we have a timestamp during which we believe she arrived home. Based on the distance to publix and her house. It was probably around 8 30. From the pepper spray on the walls and floor, it appeared melissa came home and was attacked inside the garage. Detectives also found a small button on the garage floor, perhaps ripped from the pantsuit. Then, one detective had an idea. Use the gps and Security System in melissas vehicle to locate her. Its a cadillac. The cadillac has onstar, they are able to activate the onstar. Tell us the location of the vehicle through gps, and brought us right to this parking lot. The car was about half a mile from melissas house in this medical Office Parking lot, that melissa never went to. Three onstar, you could remotely open the vehicle . They were able to remotely open the vehicle for us. What do you find . We find a suit jacket that she was wearing the night before, and on the subject if there was a missing button, significant because the corresponding button, was found on her garage floor. The jacket smelled of pepper spray, to. There were two shoes found in the car, but nothing else. Melissa had been wearing a sterling silver ring, Diamond Earrings and a 5000 watch. She also had an expensive product handbag, and an iphone. Could very well be the target of an opportunistic grab and run. We have no clues or leads. Police did find a tiny drop of melissas blood in her car and on the tile in her house. But, there were no fingerprints other than melissas in either place. Dna testing would take longer. Now the question is, where is melissa . Thats the milliondollar question at this point. Two days after she went missing, a worker made a gruesome discovery in a water pump at a nearby canal. First thing that comes to his mind is, its just a manikin, then he realizes its a body. It was 38yearold Melissa Lewis. The missing persons case was now a murder investigation. Its still a whodunit, we have no idea. Reporter the news media quickly picked up on the story. My husband told me. He saw it on the news. How did he tell you . He came to my work, and i just broke down. I couldnt believe it. Police called the victims best friend, deborah. I just collapsed to the ground. Your friend, melissa, was dumped into a drainage canal. This wonderful beautiful person, nothing that kind. When the medical examiners report was completed, it showed that she had been strangled. Is such a personal thing to do to somebody. To have to look them in the eyes and do that. And up close and personal killing, no question. With those timeless questions of all investigations went unanswered. Who . And why . Coming up, A Person Of Interest very close to home. I said he better not have done anything to her. And a missing sulfone of great interest to police, when dateline continues. When you smell the amazing scent of gain flings. Time stops. and you realize youre in love. Steve . With a laundry detergent. gain flings. Seriously good scent. Dennis murphy the hunt was on for a suspect in the Strangulation Murder of Melissa Lewis. The lawyers body was found floating in a canal two days after she went missing. The hunt was on for suspecting the Strangulation Murder of Melissa Lewis. The lawyers body was found floating in a canal two days after she went missing. As they always do, detectives looked at the circle she moved in. Was there something in the background of my victim that accounts for what happened here . We dont think so. She is a prominent attorney, she is safety conscious, she carries her pepper spray. Melissa specialized in people with writes. Employment lawsuits. Detectives couldnt find any history of bad blood between melissa and her clients or people she had sued. Detectives spoke with the ex husband, but his alibi was solid. And then, they look at the current men in her life. What about boyfriends. She had been dating some guys. We assigned detectives to go out and talk to them and they were alibi that out pretty quickly. They also wanted to speak with melissas coworker and best friend, deborah. Who better to talk to to find out what someones habits were and what they like to do. That she have strange men coming to her home . Far from it, deborah told detectives. Most nights, melissa was either at deborahs cooking for her and her kids are at home with her dogs. Still, they continued to pick deborahs brain. Just, 1 million, you cannot even imagine the questions they ask you. Detectives also spoke with melissas sister, carrie, when asked who she thought might have done that. Who is he . My exhusband, because we had just gotten divorced and he knew my sister, he got served by her for firm. He thought she might have something to do with it . She said that he had come to her house, and kind of scared her. Detectives found out he had a record. So, they checked out the sisters exhusband. He was a subject of interest early on in the investigation. He came in, he consented to any type of the questions that we asked of him, he answered them voluntarily, he had been released from prison in the past. So you havent ruled him out yet . Not yet. With a list of possible suspects drinking, detectives shifted their focus to something that might provide the first break in the case. Detectives but in an Emergency Request to the Phone Company to see if it could help track her cell phone. When he got the report, detective kendall couldnt believe what he saw. Melissas iphone had been active after the murder, and someone had actually gone into her voicemail and playback messages. To try to make sense as to what he would want to do. Police were dumbfounded to learn that someone would know the cell phone was a detectives best friend and could be tracked with cell towers. It was bold or stupid or both. The self it is telling that towers, here i am . It is giving us the general vicinity of an area, where that sulfone communicated. The Phone Records showed that person had been on the move from the time of the murder, into the next day. How important is the story told by the cell phone . Very important for cell phone is like someone dropping pieces of popcorn to leave a trail. But the trail was unwinding. Cell phone towers dont pinpoint exact locations. We know from that cell phone tower, there is a maybe three or four mile radius that we are looking to try to figure out where that phone is. Investigators believe melissa was killed in her garage around 8 30 p. M. On wednesday. That night, her phone went south from her home in plantation, eventually stopping at an area in miami gardens. From midnight until 1 00 alien. Thursday the phone went northeaster for ft. Lauderdale than for the north to pompano beach. Shortly afterwards, turned back towards ft. Lauderdale. But, somewhere along the way, the signal was lost. Either the buttery battery died or the killer dumped the phone. By thursday, the day after the murder, the phone, or whoever had it, traveled a distance of about 60 miles. Obviously, who was with that cell phone is most likely the last person with melissa. Detectives also focused on those five hours the phone was stationary in miami gardens. Was the killer home in bed . We have to identify if melissa knows somebody in this area. Does anything, but that point . We have no reason to believe anyone shes dating or anybody she knows lives there. Melissas family confirmed that. Police asked everyone remotely involved in the case, and the answer kept coming up, now. By now, police had also cleared the exhusband of melissas sister. Did not have a connection to the area, either. But, when they asked deborah if she knew Anyone Around there, her jaw dropped. She said she did know someone. I was like, i do not think it was him. But cops are funny. They dont just take peoples word for things. They check them out. Police identified and cleared a number of po