The bodies of a missing mother and her 7-year-old daughter were found 10 days after they vanished in Washington, police said.
Meshay Melendez, 27, and her daughter, Layla Stewart, were found dead on March 22 in a rural area near Washougal, about 15 miles east of Vancouver, the Vancouver Police Department said in a news release.
The two were last seen leaving a friend’s home with the woman’s ex-boyfriend in a burgundy Dodge Charger at about 6 a.m. March 12, police said.
A welfare check was conducted on Melendez’s apartment March 18 in Vancouver, where authorities said they found only her barking dog inside.
The next day, Melendez’s mother found her vehicle abandoned near the Vancouver Village shopping mall, police said.
Police said they then got a search warrant for her ex-boyfriend’s home and arrested him on charges of tampering with a witness, fourth-degree assault, drive-by shooting, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and violation of domestic violence orders.
Melendez was listed as the protected person in the domestic violence order, police said.
Police said “unique identifying genetic marks” led officers to believe the bodies found near Washougal belonged to the mother and daughter. The cause and manner of death have not been determined yet.
The ex-boyfriend is also accused of shooting at Melendez’s apartment Dec. 13, The Columbian reported.
A court ordered him to not contact Melendez on March 3, and he was determined to be an “extreme risk” to the woman, the news outlet reported. An investigation is ongoing, police said, and no charges have yet been filed against the man in connection to the two deaths.
Vancouver is about 10 miles north of Portland.