She was ready to reinvent her life, and just one flight stood between her and a new beginning.

But when that plane took off, the 19-year-old expectant mother wasn't on board.

Three months later, her family learned the devastating truth.

A suspect confessed to the killing soon after,

but his defense raised eyebrows.

I'm Kylie Lowe,

and this is the case of Melody Star DeRosia Waters

on Dark Down East.

It was January 11, 1991, and Carla McMillian checked her watch for what felt like the hundredth time.

Her daughter, 19-year-old Melody Star DeRosia Waters,

was supposed to be on a flight out of Manchester, New Hampshire,

at 3.25 p.m. that day.

But even though the arrivals board showed that her plane touched down,

there was no melody making her way up the jet bridge.

According to Deborah Snyder's reporting for the Concord Monitor,

the conversations Carla had with her daughter in the days leading up to the flight were both heavy

and hopeful. Melody was struggling with money with substance use, but she just found out she was

pregnant just about four weeks along, and she was so excited to be a mom.

She wanted to be the best mother she could be for her baby, and Melody was ready to turn her

life around. Melody called her mother from New Hampshire to share the news and ask for help. Melody

wanted to pursue her high school equivalency certificate and enter a

substance use treatment program. Though their mother-daughter relationship had faced its share of

...