HILLARD, Fla. – The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office is asking for help locating a woman who has been missing from her Hilliard home since Dec. 19 and last seen in Jacksonville 10 days ago -- the day before her boyfriend was arrested.
Authorities said Katherine Gelaro, 47, also known as Melissa Bodden, was last seen Dec. 23 near Sycamore Street in Northwest Jacksonville. The next day Jerry Salis, 37, was arrested in Duval County on charges of burglary, car theft, grand theft, drug possession and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Salis also has a lengthy criminal history, including a stabbing in October and he’s served time in prison. Records also show a woman filed a domestic violence injunction against Salis in 2014.
Bodden lived in Callahan, but the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office said she was last known to be living with Salis in Jacksonville.
She is described as being 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weighing 115 pounds. She has brown eyes and brown hair. She drives a silver 2013 Hyundai Elantra with Florida tag JLLW71.
Calls to her phone go straight to voicemail. Her family members told News4Jax it was unlike their mother to not be with them on the holidays.
“She told me she would be right back -- she wouldn’t be gone too long. She’d be right back,” said Henry Bodden, the woman’s father. “That’s the last I’ve seen her.”
They don’t have any idea where she could be.
Her family believes she was last known to be at her boyfriend’s house. At this time, Salis is not considered a person of interest in her disappearance.
“I didn’t think too much of him when I first seen him. I told her straight, get rid of that boy don’t you mess with that boy, that boy is nothing but trouble," Henry Bodden said.
One of the woman’s two sons reported her missing on Christmas.
If you have any information that could aid in the location of Katherine Bodden Gelaro or Melissa Bodden or have a means of contacting her, please call Nassau County Sheriff’s Office Detective Maldonado at 904-548-4073.
You can also leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers online at www.fccrimestoppers.com.