Melissa disappeared Miami, Florida on August 3, 1998. She was abducted by her non-custodial mother, Cecil Jacqueline Argote. Melissa's custodial father, Carlos E. Bustamante, has custody of her. A family court judge allowed Argote to take Melissa to Colombia for a three-week vacation, even though Carlos told the court he was afraid Argote would not return her. Argotte testified under oath that she would return Melissa to the United States on August 23. She never did.

A photograph of Argote and her vital statistics are posted below this case summary. A felony warrant was issued for her arrest on December 20, 2000 and a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warrant for international parental kidnapping was issued for her on November 15, 2002.

Argote and Melissa are still believed to be in Colombia, where Argote has waged a legal battle to keep her daughter from returning to the United States. Carlos has applied for Melissa's return under the terms of the Hague Treaty on the Civil Aspects of International child abduction, but Melissa is still with her mother. She therefore remains classified as a missing person.