Earlier this month, I wrote about the Documentary Team investigating the Melissa Witt murder out of Fort Smith and the information they released about Larry Swearingen, a possible suspect in that case.
Swearingen is currently on death row in Texas for the kidnapping and murder of another young woman — Melissa Trotter. The similarities between the two crimes are unsettling.
The Documentary Team is now highlighting a second suspect. His name is Travis Crouch.
He is an Ozark native and is currently in prison in Colorado for the rape of another young woman. According to authorities, Crouch has been a top suspect in Melissa’s disappearance and murder.
At the time of Melissa’s murder, Crouch was a carpenter at a church camp north of Ozark near where Missy’s body was found. In fact, the camp was located just a few miles from where Melissa’s body was recovered.
Crouch has a history of arrests involving violence and sexual assault. In 1997, Crouch was panhandling at a Boulder, Colorado shopping mall when he started talking to a girl who later got into his vehicle. He then took her to a mountain and sexually assaulted her.
Crouch grew up in the Franklin County area where Witt’s body was found. Crouch often hunted in that very area. Because Witt’s body was found during deer season in such a remote area, police believe only a hunter or someone familiar with the area could have dumped her body without being caught.
If anyone has information about Travis Crouch, please contact the Documentary Team at [email protected].
