Vegas Heat

(CBS News)  This story originally aired on Nov. 6, 2008. It was updated on July 14, 2009.

On an early December morning outside Las Vegas, firefighters responded to a report of a possible brushfire. But what they found instead was a burning car, with the body of a woman inside.

Who was this woman and what led to her murder? Correspondent Peter Van Sant reports for "48 Hours Mystery".

The Clark County Coroner's Office had a mystery on his hands: a charred corpse with an unrecognizable face, discovered inside a car on Sandy Valley Road.

Clark County Coroner Mike Murphy said medical examiners could tell the victim was female, but they had little else to identify her. "Fingerprints were not a possibility because of the burning of the body, facial recognition was not a possibility."

He named the body "Sandy Valley Jane Doe" after the desert area where it was found. It would take weeks to make a positive identification.

"It was found the face was covered with duct tape…so the next question why would that occur?" Murphy says. "I can tell you there was evidence of some type of an accelerant being used."

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To investigators, it appeared that an accelerant, like lighter fluid, had been used to start and spread the fire.

It was dawn on Dec. 14, 2005, that Las Vegas Homicide Detectives Robert Wilson and Dean O'Kelley came upon the smoldering car.

"This is as it was. The whole dash was burned away. The steering wheel was completely consumed. Fire investigators that came out to the scene told us that we were lookin' at a fire in excess of 1,200 degrees," O'Kelley explains, looking at the burnt-out car. "I certainly believe that the objective is not to destroy the vehicle, but to destroy the body in the trunk."

The plates checked back to a Kelly Ryan. Detectives headed to her house expecting to find out that the body in the car was Kelly Ryan's, and that's when Detective Wilson got his first surprise: "So I just went ahead and knocked on the door. She says, 'Well I'm Kelly Ryan,'" he recalls.

Kelly Ryan is one of the most famous fitness athletes in the world, whose nickname was "Flyin' Ryan."

Megan Foley trained with Kelly and was her best friend. "She was 'Flyin' Ryan.' She would fly through the air, do crazy different things in the air that nobody else could do," Megan remembers.

Kelly was born to be a star. She had once been on the U.S. gymnastics team, trained by legendary Olympics coach Bela Karolyi.

In a 1996 interview, Kelly described what helped make her a champion in her sport. "You can be athletic," she said. "And there's a lot of passion in this sport. I think that comes through in our routines and the way we carry ourselves on stage."

Back at Kelly's house - still trying to figure out who was in that trunk - Det. Wilson was in for another surprise: Craig Titus, Kelly's muscle-bound husband.

A champion in his own right, Craig Titus was known as the bad boy of bodybuilding. Craig was such a star, he was hired by Motley Crue lead singer Vince Neil to whip the hard-partying rock star back into shape for a special that aired on VH-1.

After meeting Craig, Wilson asked Kelly if she knew where her car was. "And she said, 'No, I don't. I think maybe our assistant took it,'" Wilson remembers. "And that was the first time that we heard anything about someone named Melissa."

"Melissa" was Melissa James, Kelly and Craig's 28-year-old live-in assistant.

Kelly told detectives that Melissa had just left Las Vegas the day before, heading to New Jersey to spend Christmas with her mother.

Maura James, Melissa's mom, went to Newark Airport to pick up her daughter, but she wasn't there when the plane landed on the morning of Dec. 14.

Meanwhile, Melissa's friend Samantha Anderson was trying to reach her best friend. Desperate, she called Maura. "And she [Maura} said, 'She [Melissa] didn't get off the airplane!'" Samantha remembers.

Melissa was missing.

Three days had passed and Maura was growing frantic. She'd been told about the body in the car, but it still had not been identified. Then, Craig Titus called. "He said that the police had come and talked to him and that he didn't even think it was her in the trunk," Maura remembers.

Craig told Maura he was sure Melissa was alive. "But then I thought, 'Who's in the trunk then? And where's Melissa?'" she remembers.

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[Wildwood1966]

The poor Jersey girl - she did not stand a chance once she let "that couple" help her - they are both so guilty it is sad - perhaps God will make sure they are taken care of and Melissa's family can remember her for the girl she was and coould have been God Bless them

[wyo-kid]

Craig looked like a freak, even at his best I wonder if Melissa ever had any hots for such a freaky looking guy, as I understand his personality wasn't anything to crave. Was jealousy really the cause ?

[hercule1122]

The recurring theme in so many of these cases is drug use and abuse. I see these creepy guys at the gym who strut around and probably have the IQ of their body heat. I don't judge someone on body mass, but these guys can be real turn-offs. I have no doubt that these evil people will never again have a pleasant day, and wish them their just rewards. They planned it and ran like hell when they thought they were on the radar of the police. I hope you have time to realize the trauma you have caused so many people.

[csi-lover]

This was the same judge in the OJ Simpson case. OJ got more time than these 2 losers, and he didn't kill anyone (or at least he wasn't convicted). OJ's biggest mistake was he went to trial instead of just admitting he did it and entered into a plea bargain like these 2 "bodybuilders'. Kelly and Craig should have gotten more time in prison than they did. Notice Kelly without her makeup on? Just another dog in my opinion, as makeup is just an illusion. Always look below the surface. It's no wonder she was jealous of Melissa. And Craig? What an ugly duckling! Their ego is what got in their way. To see Kelly cry after being caught was pathetic. What got me was the camera that caught them putting the lighter fluid in their car, then saying they didn't have anything to do with it. Yea right. These scumbags almost got away with it, as the fire and heat were so intense the body of Mellissa was unrecognizable. They are truly devils, and someone may hunt them down like packrats when they get out of prison.

[andacar]

I have never understood any of this. I'm so lucky to be married to my wife: big and curvy and beautiful. Too many couples think it's all about being ripped and having not an ounce of fat. When are they going to realize the fat is all in their pea brained heads? Somebody once said about the fashion industry something that applies to entertainment; when you scratch the surface, all you find beneath is more surface. Kelly and Craig are sad, pathetic people.

[abcabt1]

...my heart goes out to the mother and family of Melissa...she was a woman, beautiful, and caring...she did not deserve this whatever her faults...i guess the moral here is be very careful who you make your friends...this crew turned out to be her worst enemies...i hope mom is part of a survivors group so that she now can help others avoid this kind of horror and a mothers worst nightmare...take care mom!
abt

[capecodgurl]

I worked for Corelle Co. in 2005. I had no idea Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan were on the run, and famous body builders. They both came into the store a few days before Christmas and both made purchases for kitchen items with their debit cards. I remember them for a variety of reasons. Its scary to think they had just murdered their live-in assistant. My heart goes out to her family, especially her Mother. Shortly after they were in the store they both were arrested. Thank God! If I had known I would of called the police while they were in the store casually shopping. Justice is not served with a 6 yr sentence. I do believe they BOTH should of gotten LIFE with No chance of being out in society.
Craig Titus got what he deserves~ he's sitting in a jail cell.

EG from MASS

[dsmffar]

Neither of these 2 got what was due them! It is obvious they did it just be hearing one of his friends and then one of her friends tell about the discusions they had. They each told their friend the same story. Gees, what a justice system we have, horrible and unfair. Melissa's poor mother. God Bless her. I can not begin to feel what she feels and has to live with.

Final remark - they both look nasty, ugly, and disguisting!

[britter368]

They took about 60 years of life from Melissa, and Kelly only gets six years taken from hers? However, the real judgement will come from God. That's not something she can escape.

[roistacher35]

As a former competitive bodybuilder I have seen all sides of the sport. There are many positive aspects to it such as goal setting, dedication, focus etc.. Of course there is the downside as well. Everyone needs to realize that Craig and Kelly were extreme cases of drugs, partying lifestyle, and swinging. You can safely assume that 99% of the bodybuilding world is not doing cocaine, meth, and commiting murder. I owe a lot of my success as a doctor to my days of bodybuilding. I set my goals and worked incredible hard to accomplish them. I take the positive things I learned from the bodybuilding lifestyle.