Summary
In August 1994, two men discovered the remains of an unidentified individual on Lake Mead Boulevard near the entrance to the Lake Mead Recreation Area. The area is a short drive to the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. The men were hiking when they made the discovery in a dirt turnout. It was determined that the remains were that of a White female. The woman’s body was found in a wash. She had been dragged to the area. On the following day, the Clark County Coroner’s Office determined that the remains were that of Melanie White. It was White, who was 27 years old, had died by homicide due to strangulation and blunt force trauma.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department led the investigation, and many leads were received and tracked. None were successful in identifying the person responsible for Melanie’s death. In 2010, the department’s Cold Case Detectives reviewed the case and submitted evidence from the crime scene for traditional DNA testing. An STR profile was developed for an unknown male suspect. The profile was uploaded to CODIS, but there was no match to a known individual.
In 2021, using funding provided by Vegas Justice League, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department submitted evidence to Othram in The Woodlands, Texas to determine if advanced DNA testing could finally identify the person responsible for Melanie’s murder. Using Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing®, Othram scientists developed a DNA profile for the unknown male suspect. This profile was used in a genealogical search by Othram’s forensic genetic genealogy team to develop new leads in the case. 
These leads were returned to detectives with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and a follow-up investigation was conducted. This follow-up investigation led to the identification of potential relatives of the suspect. Comparison DNA tests were conducted, leading to the positive identification of the suspect as Arthur Lavery, who was born September 7, 1955. Lavery grew up in the Las Vegas area. He was 38 years old when he murdered Melanie White. Arthur Lavery died in 2021.
The identification of Melanie White’s killer marks the twelfth case in the State of Nevada where officials have publicly identified an individual using technology developed by Othram. Read about other Nevada cases on DNASolves.
Michael Vogen
Director of Case Management
Michael works with law enforcement agencies throughout the United States and Canada on “unsolvable“ cases that can benefit from advanced DNA testing methods. He helps these agencies use cutting edge DNA sequencing and new forensic techniques to develop investigative leads for their cases.