Anne Royale Suazo, 50, of North Las Vegas, Nevada, was last seen by her adult daughter, Bethany Rodriguez, at approximately 6:00 a.m. on April 3, 2001, at the residence the two shared. Suazo, who stood 5'0"–5'1" and had red hair and blue eyes, had separated from her husband the prior year and was dating Michael Messick, a pizza deliveryman. Rodriguez told investigators Messick arrived at the residence in the early morning hours in an unkempt state; she and her mother briefly argued about his presence before Suazo left with him in her minivan, saying she would return shortly. Suazo did not report for her shift later that morning at a candy store in Meadows Mall where she worked, and has not been seen since. That evening, Messick visited an acquaintance's apartment on East Charleston Boulevard in Las Vegas, where he reportedly washed his hands immediately upon arrival and displayed agitated, paranoid behavior over several hours. Because it was uncharacteristic for Suazo to go without contacting family, her relatives reported her missing on April 6, 2001. Her minivan was found abandoned near Charleston Boulevard and Antelope Way in Las Vegas on April 9; investigators noted the vehicle's interior appeared to have been cleaned and its carpet shampooed before discovery.
North Las Vegas Police Department, assisted by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, investigated Suazo's disappearance alongside the homicide of Messick's mother, Hisayo Miller, whose beaten and stabbed body was found in her Las Vegas condominium on April 11, 2001. Laboratory testing subsequently linked traces of Suazo's blood to the underside of Messick's vehicle. Messick was charged with murder in both cases, and a Clark County jury convicted him in June 2003 of first-degree murder in his mother's death and second-degree murder in Suazo's case; he was sentenced to consecutive life prison terms, one without parole eligibility and one with eligibility after 10 years. The Nevada Supreme Court denied his appeal in February 2005. Suazo's body has never been located and her case remains open as an unresolved missing person case.
