Suspect arrested in killing at Lake Tahoe

Tuesday, June 13, 2000 | 5:31 a.m.

Charles Newport, 19, was being held Tuesday in the South Lake Tahoe Jail and will receive "some sort of homicide-related charge," said Detective Martin Hewlett of the South Lake Tahoe Police Department.

Melissa Hanson's body was found in her bedroom closet Saturday morning at the 800 block of Clement Street.

Hanson, who was also known as Melissa Monoogan, did not respond to her mother's knock on her bedroom door at 6 a.m. Around 6:35 a.m. her mother entered the room and found her in the closet, not breathing, police said.

Investigators were awaiting results from Monday's autopsy at the Sacramento County Coroner's Office.

Kim Payne, a close friend of Hanson, said she saw Hanson Friday and has no idea what caused her death.

"I'm wondering what happened," said Payne, 21, who works at Savvy, a women's clothing store in South Lake Tahoe. "I took her to work that day (Friday). She was my best friend."

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