MITCHELL, S.D. — A truck driver is facing a second-degree murder charge for his alleged involvement in the grisly death of a woman found Monday at a Mitchell truck stop.
An arrest affidavit from the Davison County Clerk of Court says authorities were called to the scene at approximately 11 p.m. Monday, March 11, after a truck driver reported finding a body under a pile of pallets at the I-90 Travel Center.
The victim was identified as Melody Faye Gooch, a 57-year-old woman from Detroit.
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley on Thursday said Anthony Melvin Harris Sr., 60, of Detroit, was apprehended and taken into custody in Washington state and has been charged with Gooch’s murder.
According to the affidavit, Mitchell police were called to the scene on Monday and noted “it appeared the deceased person was struck by a vehicle in the parking lot where the human entrails were located. Around the human entrails was blood spatter consistent with a person being struck by a vehicle and then dragged away from the initial impact point.”
The affidavit says the woman appeared to have been run over multiple times due to the damage to the body, which was mangled and partially dismembered.
No identification, cell phone or other personal belongings of the victim were found.
Officers watching surveillance video reportedly noticed a truck making suspicious movements in the truck stop lot for about 30 to 35 minutes. The truck was seen leaving the area at about 6:06 p.m. and heading westbound on Interstate 90.
When officers returned to the scene in daylight, they found bloody shoes and a garbage sack containing the victim’s head in a dumpster. Video surveillance reportedly showed the same semi stopping at the dumpster “for a period of time,” court documents say.
South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation agents contacted Harris Sr.’s trucking company, Transfinity Logistics Inc., for his daily logbook records, which showed he traveled 22 miles east/northeast of Mitchell at approximately 6:50 p.m. on Sunday, March 10, and “shut down” at 7:05 p.m., court documents say.
The logbook showed he was at the same location in the Travel Center parking lot at the time Gooch is suspected to have been killed.
Gooch’s family members identified Harris Sr. as the last person known to be with her, the affidavit says. Harris Sr. reportedly told her family members that she went into a store for food and never came back out. He also told the family that he found her cell phone in the door pocket of his cab, that the phone was broken and that he did not know where Gooch was located.
Harris Sr. was intercepted by Washington State Troopers at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, March 14, in the same semi and trailer reportedly seen on video surveillance.
Gooch’s remains were sent to a forensic pathologist for examination, which concluded that her cause of death was being hit, struck or run over by a vehicle.
Harris Sr. has been charged in Davison County with second-degree murder and improper disposal of human remains without a permit. Second-degree murder is a Class B felony, punishable by mandatory life in prison if convicted.
Bond for Harris Sr. was set at $250,000.
Jackley said he is working closely with the Davison County State’s Attorney’s Office on the case, but the attorney general also acknowledged that Harris, Sr., could be extradited and face charges elsewhere.
Regarding potential ties to Mitchell, Jackley said law enforcement is requesting information about any sighting of Gooch “in the Mitchell-Spencer area.”
“Beyond that there are no known significant ties at this time,” Jackley said.
Luke Hagen was promoted to editor of the Mitchell Republic in 2014. He has worked for the newspaper since 2008 and has covered sports, outdoors, education, features and breaking news. He can be reached at [email protected].
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