<body><div><p><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=11W0aO_0lTFO0Fd00" style="display:none" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=11W0aO_0lTFO0Fd00" width="1280" height="720" ></p><p> A <a href="https://www.insideedition.com/tag/washington" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Washington </a> mother and daughter were found dead by officials after not being heard from or seen by family and friends for over a week, according to authorities. </p><p> Meshay Melendez, 27, and her daughter, Layla Stewart, 7, were found dead by the Clark County Sheriff’s Department on March 22 after a passerby reported seeing what they believed to be “life-sized mannequins” off the side of the road in thick brush,the sheriff’s office <a href="https://flashalert.net/id/ClarkSheriff?alert=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> said </a> . </p><p> Deputies responded and found two bodies, which were later believed by the <a href="https://flashalert.net/id/VancouverPD" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Vancouver police </a> to be those of the <a href="https://www.insideedition.com/tag/missing" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> missing </a> mother and daughter. </p><p> Police responded to Melendez’s apartment to do a welfare check on March 18 after her family and friends had not heard from her since March 12. When they arrived they found the apartment empty except for the family's dog, <a href="https://www.insideedition.com/tag/police" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> police </a> said. </p><nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate><p> Melendez’s car was found by her mom on March 19, the same day police executed a search warrant at the home of Melendez’s ex-boyfriend, Kirkland C. Warren, according to police. </p><p> Warren is a person of interest in the pair’s disappearance and was taken into custody by police on charges of tampering with a witness, violation of DV orders, assault IV-DV, drive-by shooting, and unlawful possession of a firearm, police said. </p><p> The cause and manner of death of Melendez and her daughter are still pending and the investigation is ongoing, according to police. </p><p> According to jail records, Warren is being held in custody at the Clark County jail. His next court date is April 21. </p><h2> Related Stories </h2><iframe height="315" src="https://embed.insideedition.com/video-embed/video_iframe_player/878c285d-04d1-4eca-9d62-c2d51881a530" width="100%"></iframe><nbtemplate data-id="AdPlaceholder" data-content="JTdCJTdE"></nbtemplate></div></body>

Mountain View, CA

Meshay Melendez’s car was found by her mom on March 19, the same day police executed a search warrant at the home of Melendez’s ex-boyfriend, Kirkland C. Warren, according to police.