The family of 37-year-old Melissa Kerry Samnath is grieving and demanding justice after the New York accountant was killed while vacationing in Jamaica to celebrate her birthday.
Just hours after arriving on the island, Samnath sent a desperate WhatsApp message to relatives in Queens Village, New York.
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“I need you to call the cops. Look at my location. It is a pink house,” she wrote shortly before 11 p.m.
The message, sent just over an hour before her 37th birthday, was the last communication her family received from her.
Soon after, relatives said they received a devastating phone call from a woman in Jamaica informing them that Samnath had been killed.
An autopsy later confirmed that she died from multiple blunt-force trauma injuries to the head.
Family Remembers a Loving Relative
Samnath’s niece, Janice Wynter, described her aunt as a caring and devoted family member.
“She didn’t deserve that,” Wynter said. “My aunt was one of the most loving persons ever.”
She said Samnath, the youngest of four siblings, was always the one who stepped in to care for family members during difficult times.
“We can’t understand why he did this to her,” Wynter said. “She was the baby of our family, and now we have to bring her body home to bury.”
Investigators Trace Her to Suspect’s Home
Police believe Samnath met the suspect online before traveling to Jamaica.
Investigators later traced her to the man’s residence in Norwood, St. James, where detectives reportedly found bloodstains and some of her personal belongings.
Residents of the pink apartment complex said they were shocked when police descended on the property, but the suspect had already fled.
Surveillance footage reportedly shows the man carrying Samnath’s luggage while she walked behind him after leaving her Airbnb accommodations.
She was later taken to Cornwall Regional Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Suspect Remains at Large
The suspect, who reportedly moved from Ocho Rios to Montego Bay about two years ago, is believed to frequent St. James, St. Ann, and St. Mary.
Despite multiple police operations and widespread social media attention, he has not yet been apprehended.
According to Wynter, the suspect’s mother called the family and said her son admitted to killing Samnath and leaving her in a wheelchair outside the hospital.
“He didn’t even have the audacity to take her into the hospital,” Wynter said.
Community and Family Call for Justice
Joshua Cummings, councillor for the Montego Bay Central Division, said the incident has shocked residents of Norwood, which had gone nearly two years without a murder.
Samnath’s relatives are now warning women to exercise caution when meeting people they have connected with online.
“There is a murderer on the run, and he is in an area with a lot of tourists,” Wynter said. “Women need to be careful because you don’t know what he is capable of.”
As Jamaican police continue their search, Samnath’s family remains focused on bringing her body home and seeking justice for a woman they say was kind, loving, and taken far too soon.
