The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office has identified the body found last Friday in a field behind Alternative Powersports, near Kenmore Boulevard. Investigators said it appeared that the victim, Melisa Midori Townsend,had been at the location for a few days at the time of discovery.
Her next of kin were notified Sunday. An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.
Townsend provides a peek into the drug culture on the west side of Pensacola. At age 30, she was arrested for Possession Of Cocaine, Narcotic Equipment Possess-And Or Use and Resisting Arrest Without Violence. The following year, she was arrested twice on drug charges. In 2009 she was convicted for prostitution (Charges were Crimes Against Person-Positive For HIV). Townsend was arrested five times for county ordinance violations with criminal penalties.
Her last arrest was Drug Equipment Possession in June 2012. She died owing the county over $5,000 in court costs.
Melisa Midori Townsend was only 35 when she died. She looks much older in the photo released by ECSO.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is looking to speak to anyone that may have seen Townsend in the last couple of weeks. She was known to frequent the areas of Davis Highway, Brent Lane, Pensacola Boulevard, Olive Road and Burgess Road.
Anyone with information about Townsend during the last two weeks is asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office at (850) 436-9620 or Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers at (850) 433-STOP.