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Criminal Records - Most Wanted |
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Profile |
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Name: Unknown Dan Melichar Killer
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Wanted for :
Murder, Stuart, FL;
Dec 06, 2006
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Location(s) |
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Last Seen : Stuart, FL |
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Possible Location : Florida |
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Last Known : Unkown |
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Traits |
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Case Story |
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Van Crashes Into Tree; "Dan The Stucco Man" Stabbed |
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On Dec. 6, 2006, cops in Stuart, Fla. received a 9-1-1 call at about 8 p.m. A van had just plowed into a mailbox, a tree and a light pole on Martin Luther King Blvd. When police arrived on the scene, the found Dan Melichar, very badly injured in the driver’s seat.
Police assumed that something terrible must have happened to cause the driver to lose control. The man was airlifted to St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach. He died shortly after.
“It is very difficult to recall that evening,“ says Jan Melichar, Dan’s wife of 21 years. “To sit at home waiting for the man you absolutely adored and planned on spending every day with, only to answer a knock at the door of a deputy who is there to inform of his brutal passing."
Police learned the reason Dan lost control of his van was because he had been stabbed three times. Now the question was, why and by whom?
Police do have one clue: they were able to recover what they say is the murder weapon, a knife with a very distinctive handle.
Police are hopping that someone recognizes it.
See photos of what police say is the murder weapon |
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Dan The Stucco Man- Stabbed On Front Law |
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Dan Melichar was well known and well liked in his community and around the town of Port St. Lucie. He was born in Michigan, but lived most of his life in Florida.
Dan owned a stucco business, and over the years, his business became very successful. Jan says very few contractors work with stucco because it’s difficult to work with.
Dan’s true passion was remodeling old houses. Because of his specialty with stucco, he was known as “Dan the Stucco Man.” His license plate and business both bore the name.
Jan tells AMW that her husband was a hard worker. He spent most of his days and nights fixing up old homes that he had purchased. Once the homes were fixed up to Dan’s liking, he would sell them.
The Night of December, 2006
One of houses he was working on was located at 905 Tarpon Street in St. Lucie, just blocks from where Dan crashed his van.
Jan says she was a little concerned for Dan’s safety when he worked on the Tarpon Street house. There were a couple of times that Dan and a group of guys from across the street had exchanged words.
According to Jan, Dan thought some guys were going into the house when he wasn’t there and taking some of his supplies. Jan says he confronted the young men and told them to stop, but overall Dan felt safe. On the morning of December 6, 2006, Dan headed over to the Tarpon house to put some finishing touches on the house.
He was almost finished and would soon put a for sale sign out front. Jan talked to Dan at around 4 p.m. right before diner. Her told her was going to pick up some supplies and grab a bite to eat with a friend.
Police believe that when Dan returned to the house, he was confronted by at least two unidentified men. Witnesses told police that Dan and the men argued and gunshots rang out through the neighborhood.
Police say the men missed Dan, but as he ran to his van in an attempt to get away, they stabbed him three times.
Dan, bleeding heavily, still managed to get into his van and drive for help, but he didn’t make it. He crashed in front of a house located at 904 Martin Luther King Blvd, just a mere 500 feet from the Stuart Police Station. |
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A Huge Loss For A Community |
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Dan touched many people's lives, and for some he was their livelihood.
"To have to tell the men who worked for and respected your husband that they no longer have employment was a difficult task,” says Jan. “To inform contractors, who to this day still call, that the man they depended on to do the very best job was no longer here was difficult.”
A lot of people depended on Dan. He was liked, trusted and cared about by the people around him. He worked his whole life building a business and supporting a family, and in an instant, it was all gone.
The hardest thing was for Jan to tell her 23-year-old daughter that her father was dead, and to tell his mother, who had lost her own husband just months before, that her son was never coming home.
A Family Needs Justice, And Police Need Help
Stuart Police say Dan’s murder was absolutely senseless. They have talked to people around the neighborhood, and to some who police believe witnessed the stabbing, but they still have no named suspects.
“It's the biggest unsolved homicide this department has,” says Det. Michael Gerwan of the Stuart Police. “Dan’s family doesn’t even celebrate Christmas anymore.”
Det. Gerwan believes that Dan stood up to the wrong guy or group of guys and he paid for it with is life.
Detectives need your help. Dan’s family needs your help. Police are confident that there are people out there who know what happened that night.
Police are encouraging anyone who knows something to do the right thing, come forward, and help a family solve their loved one's murder. |
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