DECATUR, Mich. — 64-year-old Melody Rohrer was reported missing back on September 20, 2021 by her husband, after she failed to return from a jog near the Oak Shore Campgrounds in Decatur. It was quick thinking investigators and their knowledge of technology that made solving the case possible.
31-year-old Colby Delea Martin would soon be arrested and charged with her murder.
Investigators say the evidence in the case showed that Martin struck her with his vehicle on purpose, with the intention of killing her.
He is accused of then taking her body to another site, and committing a sexual assault.
After that, he left her body on Purgatory Road near the Three Rivers State Game Area.
When the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office first received the missing persons report from Rohrer’s family, they filed subpoenas for her phone.
“What jumped out at the investigators at that time was her SIM card,” Sheriff Daniel Abbott told FOX 17 on Thursday. “It showed that the SIM card was taken out of her phone, put in the suspect’s phone.”
They immediately found something suspicious— Rohrer’s SIM card seemed to have been removed from her phone, and placed into a phone belonging to Colby Martin.
Investigators located Martin fairly quickly, after pinging his phone.
They would discover far more nefarious activities within his electronics.
Investigators say that in the days immediately prior to and after Rohrer’s death, Martin made multiple online searches related to necrophilia, and sexual assault.
Martin also reportedly visited an online sex chat room while in possession of her body.
“I think he was driving around looking for a victim, and unfortunately she happened to be in a desolate area, and he was able to commit the crime right there,” Sheriff Abbott said on Thursday.
Despite leading the Sheriff's Office to her body, Martin has maintained that he hit her on accident, and denies sexually assaulting her.
Investigators say they found a used condom in Martin's vehicle, complete with Rohre's and his DNA on it.
"We don't use those tools to go outside the box. We use those tools to help solve crimes, to help put bad people in jail where they need to be," Sheriff Abbott explained.
Martin went on trial earlier this year, facing charges of open murder, failure to stop at the scene of an accident, and concealing the death of an individual.
He was found guilty on all counts, and sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of ever being paroled.
“When you put that type of evidence in front of jurors sitting there, I don't think you can solidify a case any harder than that one, based on the evidence, with everything linking in with the motive,” Sheriff Abbott said.
Prosecutors were not able to bring charges against Martin for the alleged sexual assault he committed after the murder, as Michigan does not currently have any laws on the books addressing such a crime.
"We're trying to get some laws passed on Melody's behalf, out of Lansing. Hopefully that will come to fruition before long," Sheriff Abbott said on Thursday. "My heart still goes out to that family."
Thankfully, as Sheriff Abbott expressed on Thursday, the electronic evidence presented in court was enough to convey to jurors the seriousness of Martin's crimes.
Staying on top of current technology is a constant effort.
"In law enforcement, we've got to keep up with the times. When these classes come out, when new technology comes out, we're constantly sending our Deputies to that, to stay up with the times," Abbott said.
