Highway Patrol: 185 leads and a year later, South Dakota woman's homicide still unsolved

NEW BLOOMFIELD — Friday will mark one year since troopers discovered 40-year-old Melissa Peskey dead behind the wheel of her car on I-70 near Boonville. Sgt. Scott White said as one year since the Sioux Falls, South Dakota woman's death approaches, the Highway Patrol is still actively working the case.

On Dec. 13, 2018, troopers responded to a traffic crash on I-70 in Cooper County. Upon arrival, they found Peskey dead. Her two children, ages five and eleven at the time, were also in the car, uninjured.

On Dec. 17, the Boone County Medical Examiner's office conducted an autopsy which determined that Pesky died of a gunshot wound from a weapon fired from outside the vehicle.

As of Wednesday, White said troopers have followed up on 185 leads and issued 50 search warrants and six subpoenas. Of those 185 leads, he said eight were still active. White said the patrol was 'awaiting some information requested from some recent warrants that were served.'

MSHP continues to receive tips on the case as well, the most recent coming in last month.

Our CBS-affiliate in Sioux Falls, KELO, featured the Peskey family in 2014 when Melissa's husband, Ryan, was raising money for the Children's Miracle Network by giving hot air balloon rides. The Peskey's daughter, Charlee, was born prematurely and cared for at a CMN hospital.

Less than a week after Melissa's death, Ryan told KELO-TV investigators considered him a "person of interest" because he did not answer his phone when troopers called him the night of his wife's death.

Peskey's family has offered a $10,000 reward for information in the case.