Mellin was last seen in the parking lot of the Buenaventura Shopping Center; she worked there as a sales clerk at Broadway Department Store. She left work shortly after closing and was last seen standing next to her car at 9:40 p.m. She was accompanied by an unknown Caucasian man between 30 and 40 years old. The man drove a light-colored vehicle. He was apparently assisting in changing Mellin's left rear tire.

Mellin never arrived home from work and has never been heard from again. At 7:00 a.m. the next day, her father went to the shopping center and found her car up on the bumper jack with the flat tire still attached. The spare tire was lying on the ground nearby. Mellin's flat tire had been punctured in the sidewall with a sharp instrument. There was no sign of Mellin at the scene and she has never been heard from again. She is missing under suspicious circumstances and her case is unsolved.