Unraveling the Chilling Case of a Pregnant EMT ...

It was around 430 p

Published Time: 28.12.2024 - 17:31:19 Modified Time: 28.12.2024 - 17:31:19

It was around 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 25, 2020, when a woman called 911 to report that her neighbor’s home was on fire.

The fire department quickly arrived at the modest ranch style home and encountered heavy smoke.

Firefighters combing through the wreckage soon found the body of nine-month pregnant Melissa Lamesch, 27, lying facedown on the kitchen floor.

Melissa’s death shocked the tiny town of Mt. Morris, Ill., where she had recently moved in with her father Gus to await the arrival of her son — and the disturbing case is the subject of the upcoming episode of People Magazine Investigates. Titled "Inferno of Lies," the episode airs Monday, Dec. 30, at 9/8c on ID. (An exclusive clip is shown below.)

At first, authorities wondered if Melissa, an EMT, may have died from natural causes due to pregnancy complications, or of smoke inhalation after experiencing a medical emergency.

However, the case took a sinister turn when a coroner ruled the expectant mother had died from strangulation.

“That just all came as a shock,” says Melissa’s sister Cassie. “Melissa didn't have any enemies.”

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However, authorities soon zeroed in on Matthew Plote, a firefighter and paramedic at the Carol Streams Fire Department.

The two had first met around 2013 while they were both still in college. They became friends and started to meet up for casual sexual encounters.

Their relationship changed after Melissa discovered she was pregnant.

Melissa told her family that Plote didn't want anything to do with having a child and that she would be raising her son on her own.

“I thou -

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ght Melissa was better off,” says Cassie. “She was a strong woman. She could do it.”

The day of Melissa’s death, Cassie says she was on the phone talking to her sister when Plote showed up at Melissa’s house unexpectedly, for the second time in a matter of days.

“She looks out the window and she's like, ‘You've got to be kidding me,” Cassie remembers. “She's like, 'You know what? I'll make this quick. I'll let you know what he wanted.'”

Cassie never spoke to her sister again.

Authorities said Plote admitted to being at Melissa’s home that day but denied the killing.

In March of 2022, about a year-and-a-half after Melissa's death, Plote was arrested on charges including murder, the intentional homicide of an unborn child and arson.

During his March 2024 trial, prosecutors argued that the former firefighter/paramedic, who had been involved with multiple women, killed Melissa because he had no interest in becoming a father.

He was found guilty on March 22.

Following the verdict, her family shared moving testimonies.

Melissa’s mother, Deanna Lamesch, shared the significance of the day they lost Melissa and her unborn child, noting that it happened the day before Thanksgiving and two days before her baby was due.

“How do you come back from that?” she said.

Plote was sentenced in June 2024 to life in prison.

People Magazine Investigates: Inferno of Lies airs Monday, Dec. 30, at 9/8c on ID.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.