Sony Millbrook was 28 years old and had five children when she stopped showing up around Memphis, Tennessee.
It was January 27, 2010, and she never came to pick up her children from school. No one heard from her again until March 15, when police entered room 222 at the Budget Lodge motel following a complaint about a foul smell. Beneath the mattress, wedged inside the metal bed frame, was her body. Before that day, the room had been rented and cleaned at least five times. Other guests slept there, complained about the stench, and left without knowing what lay beneath them.
Police identified LaKeith Moody, Sony’s partner and the father of four of her children, as a suspect. He had a history of domestic violence against her and an active restraining order. He was arrested weeks later while driving the victim’s car. In 2014, a jury found him guilty of murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison.