A Life Stolen: Nereida ‘Nettie’ Melendez

Murder, She Told

Kristen Seavey

True Crime, Society & Culture, Documentary

4.9 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 3 January 2023

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

1989 - Worcecster, Massachusetts. 17-year-old Nereida “Nettie” Melendez had a big day ahead of her, and plans for her bright future. June 5th, 1989, was just the beginning: her high school graduation. But when her name was called onstage to get her diploma, Nettie was nowhere to be found. Her family started to panic. Nettie was responsible, and it was highly unlike her to miss such an important event. Their panic ended in tragedy when her body was recovered after a family search the next day. To this day, her case still remains unsolved. Nettie’s brother, Peter Vasquez, and her cousin Doris, reflect on Nettie’s life, their frustrations with the slow moving investigation, and what they would say if they were face to face with her killer. Detailed sources can be found on murdershetold.com Connect on Instagram @murdershetoldpodcast Support the show here If you have any information on the murder of Nettie Melendez, I encourage you to call the Worcester Police Dept at 508-799-8466, text TIPWPD to CRIMES (274637), or submit an anonymous tip. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Murder She Told, true crime stories from Maine, New England and small town USA.
0:18.8	I'm Kristen Ceevy.
0:20.6	You can connect with the show at MurderSheTold.com or on Instagram at MurderSheToldPodcast.
0:30.0	Telling her story is very important, getting to know who Nettie was is very important.
0:37.8	I don't want her memory to die ever.
0:40.7	She may not be here, but she's here forever and always in the heart and in the heart of
0:46.0	her family and her friends in the community of Worcester.
0:52.2	Narada Melendez, who went by Nettie, spent the evening of Saturday, June 4, 1989, baking
0:59.0	at her home in Worcester, Mass.
1:01.3	Her graduation ceremony from North High School was set for the next day, and 17-year-old
1:06.6	Nettie was making cookies and cupcakes for a party after the event.
1:11.2	Monday would be a busy day, with errands and graduation rehearsal in the morning, the
1:16.2	ceremony in the evening, and her graduation celebration that night.
1:21.6	She called one of her older brothers and his wife, asking them to come over and help her
1:26.1	bake.
1:27.2	Nettie was excited and proud to graduate high school.
1:30.8	She had insisted that her older sister, Jolanda, come home for the ceremony and party.
1:36.0	When Jolanda explained that she couldn't afford to buy Nettie a present and wasn't going
1:39.8	to attend, Nettie insisted that just Jolanda's being there was enough.
1:45.3	So Jolanda and her newlywed husband headed back to the family home in Worcester to celebrate
1:50.2	her youngest sister's accomplishment.
1:53.5	Like many teens on the edge of adulthood, Nettie dreamed of getting out of the neighborhood
	...

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