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James Barry (21) was stabbed to death inside his mother’s Loxahatchee, Florida home during the early morning hours of November 17th, 2016. James’ mother’s boyfriend, Guy Hand, awoke that morning to the sound of James screaming. Guy ran into James’ bedroom and found him fatally wounded on his bed. It was clear that James had been stabbed, and the assailant had already fled the scene. Guy attempted to CPR to no avail; James died before the paramedics were able to get to him.

Three days later, James’ ex-girlfriend Melanie Eam (20) was arrested for his murder. Police found her at her family’s home in Silver Spring, Maryland—where she reportedly fled after committing the crime. While investigating James’ death, police learned that James and Melanie had recently broken up after being in a relationship for two years. James reportedly ended the relationship via text message. After being taken into custody, Melanie admitted to stabbing James in a fit of rage. The confession was recorded, and in the recording a detective is heard asking Melanie how many times she stabbed James. Melanie replied, “I don’t know, it’s not like I counted.” When the detective asked her why she stabbed him, she explained that “he set me off” when he decided to end the relationship through text instead of in person.

Despite confessing to the crime, Melanie still pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder. Her defense team pointed the finger at Guy, the boyfriend of James’ mother. Melanie’s lawyers cast suspicion on Guy because he moved the murder weapon after the police arrived at the home. Guy stated he found the 13 and ½ inch butcher knife on the bedside table in James’ room, and he moved it so nobody else would get hurt. He also reportedly washed one of his blood-soaked hands. The defense claimed that Melanie and Guy got into an argument, and that James stepped in-between the two of them and was then accidentally stabbed by Guy.

18-year-old Zoe Campos disappeared from Lubbock, Texas on November 17th, 2013. Earlier that night, Zoe and her sister Savannah went out to dinner before returning to Zoe’s apartment to watch a movie. After that, Zoe told Savannah that she was going to hang out with a friend before going to pick their mother up from work. Around 1:30am, Zoe texted her mother to let her know that she was on her way to pick her up. However, Zoe never showed up and was never seen or heard from again. Three days later, Zoe’s aunt spotted an unknown man driving Zoe’s car. She attempted to follow the car before eventually losing sight of it. A short while later, the car was found abandoned at an apartment complex on Utica Ave. After speaking to Savannah, investigators learned that Zoe apparently planned to meet up with a man named Carlos Rodriguez on the evening of November 17th. Phone records corroborate this as well; the last phone call on Zoe’s phone was with a ‘Carlos Rodriguez.’ Savannah did not know this person, and the nature of Zoe’s relationship with Carlos was unknown to Zoe’s family and friends. Police were able to locate and question Carlos—he said that he and Zoe were ‘acquaintances’ who met up that night to smoke marijuana. Carlos told police that when Zoe showed up at his home, he realized that he did not have any marijuana, so Zoe left to go retrieve some—but never returned.

Carlos was initially not charged with anything related to Zoe’s disappearance. Zoe’s family feared she might have been trafficked. Meanwhile, Carlos stayed on the police’s radar and ended up getting arrested in 2017 for an unrelated stalking charge. Years passed without any leads in Zoe’s case, until 2018 when, investigators received a tip that led them to searching a backyard of a home in Lubbock. During said search, a bone was reportedly found. It was later revealed that the bone was found on property close to Carlos’ family’s old home. Then, exactly five years to the day of Zoe’s disappearance, Carlos was arrested and charged with her murder. The road to justice was a long one for Zoe Campos and her loved ones. It took years, but as the case unfolded, the truth about what happened was finally revealed.