A missing mother and her 7-year-old daughter were found dead in a heavily wooded embankment in rural Washington Wednesday.
Meshay Melendez, 27, and Layla Stewart are believed to be the bodies found off a roadway in Washougal shortly before 10 a.m.
A passerby called the Clark County Sheriff's Office to report spotting “life-sized mannequins” down an embankment in heavy brush.
Investigators said that they were able to identify the pair based on “unique identifying genetic marks.”
Melendez and her daughter vanished early on March 12 from an apartment on the 7700 block of Vancouver Mall Drive.
Deputies only found her dog when they searched the apartment; the mother and daughter were last seen with Melendez's ex-boyfriend Kirkland Warren leaving an acquaintance's home in a Dodge Charger.
Warren has since been arrested after a friend told investigators that she saw her “unresponsive” in the vehicle.
