Family left with questions after Elsanor woman burns to death

Published: Jun. 5, 2023 at 10:49 PM CDT

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) -A Baldwin County woman is dead after sheriff’s investigators said she burned to death at her home in Elsanor. It happened on May 27th. Deputies said she was taken to the hospital and put on a ventilator but didn’t make it.

“Melissa was an amazing woman. She’d do anything for anybody. She’d give the shirt off her back if she could...She was like a daughter to me. She’s one of my best friends and she’s going to be missed very much,” Julie Wiggins, Melissa Wilson’s aunt, said through tears.

Melissa Wilson was 33. She had three daughters she loved. She was known by so many as a bubbly line cook at Mac & Jerry’s off Highway 59 in Robertsdale.

Melissa had recently separated from her husband and was living with her Aunt Julie and Uncle Bobby Wiggins.

When Julie and Bobby found out she was in the hospital after being severely burned two Saturday’s ago at her home, they were heartbroken.

Melissa’s aunt Darlene Sealy couldn’t believe it either.

Sealy said, “She had third degree burns...95-98% of her body. The only thing that was not affected, was her hair. Everything else from her forehead down was burned third degree.”

Bobby said he went out to the scene that night to pick up the couple’s three girls and immediately called the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office.

Julie said, “I just knew it wasn’t an accident. Something bad happened to her that she didn’t deserve.”

Investigators said an autopsy is being done.

As the family waits for that, they also have to plan Melissa’s funeral and their hearts are with Melissa’s three girls.

Bobby said, “They loved their mama. This is really going to affect them in time. Not having your mama when you’re young like that, it’s tough.”

Julie added, “They were her world. She’d do anything and everything she could for those girls.”

If you would like to help this family out, they have a GoFundMe just for Melissa’s three daughters.

If you know anything about what could have happened to Melissa, give the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office a call.