Maye Elma Mechling

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Siskiyou County Sheriffs Department (CA)

Offense Location:

Klamath River, CA

Summary:

Maye Elma Mechling, a 77-year-old widow, was found shot to death on the kitchen floor of her home on McKinney Creek Road in Klamath River, Siskiyou County, on March 28, 1991, two days after she was last seen collecting her mail. Her bedroom had been ransacked but nothing was taken, and investigators believe the scene was staged to look like a burglary. The Sheriff's Cold Case Unit reopened the case in February 2025 and has identified multiple persons of interest.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Offense:

Maye Elma Mechling, 77, was a lifelong Siskiyou County resident who lived alone in a single-family home at McKinney Creek Road in Klamath River, a remote, wooded area far from other residences. She had been widowed about three years earlier when her husband died in a car crash. Neighbors described her as a good and loving person who visited elderly friends daily, kept a tidy home and was financially stable. According to the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office she was in good health and did not appear to be in trouble or under duress. She was last seen on Tuesday, March 26, 1991, at about 4:00 p.m., collecting her mail from her mailbox at the corner of Walker Road and McKinney Creek Road. At about 11:15 a.m. on Thursday, March 28, 1991, Edward and Joann Tawney reported to the Sheriff's Office that they had found her dead on the kitchen floor of her home. She had died of a gunshot wound to the head consistent with a .30-caliber type firearm. Detectives found no sign of forced entry; the front door was unlocked. A milk container lay next to her body and a cup of black coffee sat on the kitchen counter. Her bedroom had been ransacked, but none of her personal property appeared to have been taken. Because there was no forced entry and coffee was being prepared, investigators believe she most likely knew the person or people responsible, and that the ransacking was staged to make it look as though she had been killed during a burglary attempt. On February 12, 2025, the Sheriff's Office announced that its Cold Case Unit had reopened the investigation and had identified multiple persons of interest through the renewed inquiry. No names have been released and no arrest has been publicly reported. The Sheriff's Office is asking anyone who knew Mrs. Mechling, or who lived in or visited the Klamath River and McKinney Creek area in March 1991, to come forward.

Additional Details:

The case is handled by the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office Cold Case Unit, which reopened it in February 2025. Anyone with information is asked to call the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office 24-hour dispatch center at (530) 841-2900 or to use the anonymous tip form on the Sheriff's Office Unsolved Siskiyou website (https://unsolved-siskiyou.hub.arcgis.com/).

Case Last Updated:

Oct 23, 2026