It's been more than nine years since Dallas Police detectives discovered Melissa LeSueur's body behind a southeast Dallas school. Her murder investigation has gone cold.
She was found shot execution style in a field of wildflowers.
"It's like you read when the mob kills somebody. That's what I thought – they had to shoot her twice – I thought, 'Well, why?'" said Melissa LeSueur's mother, Jean Powell.
It's a question to which she may never get the answer. Her 35-year-old daughter was brutally murdered back in 2007.
Jean Powell and her husband, Don Powell, remember like it was yesterday. They were watching the news and saw a report of a woman's body found in a field behind Seagoville High School.
"This helicopter spotted this body in a field. Well, we didn't think much about it, and then at the same time, the doorbell rang and the deputy was at the door, and I said, 'Oh, my God.' I knew then," said LeSueur's step-father, Don Powell.
He not only had the gut-wrenching feeling that something horrific had happened, but also prior instincts would prove both of them right.
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"I used to beg her to move out of Dallas because she had met some bad people, I thought," Jean Powell said. "She said she couldn't make that kind of money over here (in Burleson). She wouldn't move back. She said she had her friends over there. That's the way it turned out to be, just bad friends," said Don Powell.
Her parents say she was a beautiful woman who loved nature, especially wildflowers. They added that her spirit darkened with addiction. LeSueur had recently acquainted herself with drug dealers but was seeking therapy.
On the day of her murder, her car was stolen but eventually found and wiped clean. Then, a witness tip helped investigators hone in on several people.
"They've tried so many times to get a confession and they can't do it," Don Powell said.
Over the years police have questioned several persons of interest and say everyone remains a suspect, but to this day have no concrete evidence. Don Powell is almost 80 years old, and his wife is just a few years younger. They're slowing down as the years pass, but remain determined for justice before it's too late.
"I hope in my lifetime that someone is caught, but I'm beginning to doubt it," said Jean Powell.
Her biggest fear, Jean Powell said, is "that I'll die before I find out who did it. I want to face them and I want them to tell me why they did it."
"I don't see how they could live inside their body with it, and I hope to God they die and burn in hell," said Don Powell said.
Anyone with information about this cold case is asked to call Dallas Police. A $10,000 reward is available for information that leads to a viable arrest.
