Melissa Hunt gave deputies enough information to identify Craig Alan Hameister before she died.
KELLOGG, Minn. — Melissa Hunt reached a nearby home after being shot at a rural boat launch, giving deputies the name and vehicle description that helped lead them to her ex-boyfriend and later to a 34.5-year prison sentence.
Hunt’s final account became central to the case against Craig Alan Hameister, 45, of Rochester. Hameister was sentenced Monday to 415 months in prison after pleading guilty in March to second-degree intentional murder. He admitted he shot Hunt in the face with a handgun and acted with intent to kill her.
The case began just before 5 p.m. on June 18, 2025, when Hunt drove into a driveway near Kellogg with devastating injuries. Court documents said she was missing several teeth and part of her jaw. Deputies said she had trouble speaking, but she still named “Craig” as the person who attacked her. Other reports of the charging record said she tried to say Hameister’s last name, could not complete it, then began spelling it until deputies understood whom she meant. She also described a white pickup with big tires and said the attack took place at the new boat launch in Kellogg.
That information gave investigators a starting point while Hunt was rushed to a hospital. She died a little more than an hour after she was found. At first, the account pointed to a beating because Hunt said she had been hit with a stick. But the injuries and later forensic findings changed the direction of the case. The autopsy showed gunshot residue embedded in the wound to her face. Investigators did not find a stick or similar weapon at the boat launch, but they did find an unspent 9 mm round there. Officials later said Hameister had shot Hunt at close range, fled the scene and left her to save herself.
Deputies then followed the vehicle information Hunt gave them. Hameister’s white truck was found at a home outside Chatfield in Olmsted County. Court documents said the truck’s door was open and a live 9 mm round was on the floor. People at the property told law enforcement Hameister had arrived in a frantic state. One witness said he stated that “something bad happened” and that police would come. The witness also told police a 9 mm handgun was missing and that Hameister had left on a motorcycle. Those details helped widen the search while investigators connected the shooting scene, the truck and the missing gun.
Law enforcement later found Hameister in the Chester Woods area after a standoff that lasted several hours. Officials said he climbed a tree as he tried to avoid arrest. A 9 mm handgun was recovered at the base of the tree. That weapon, the live round in the truck, the ammunition found at the boat launch and Hunt’s account formed the case that prosecutors later brought into court. Hameister was first charged with two counts of second-degree murder and a manslaughter count. He was held on $2 million bail or bond after his arrest.
The early court fight showed how much weight both sides placed on evidence and procedure. Defense lawyers filed a motion challenging the intentional murder charge, arguing there was not enough probable cause. They also sought to omit Hameister’s statements to law enforcement, saying he had gone without sleep for a significant period and had not knowingly waived his right to remain silent. Prosecutors filed notice that they would seek an aggravated sentence if Hameister was convicted. They argued that Hunt’s injuries, Hameister’s alleged failure to call for help and the claim that he lured Hunt from her home to the boat launch supported a harsher punishment.
The plea changed the course of the case. On March 3, Hameister admitted in Wabasha County court that he shot Hunt. The admission to second-degree intentional murder removed the uncertainty that would have come with a trial and gave prosecutors a conviction based on Hameister’s own words. Attorney General Keith Ellison said at the time that Hunt was a kind and caring woman and that the plea ensured Hameister would be held accountable. Ellison’s office handled the prosecution after Wabasha County Attorney Matthew Stinson referred the case to the state under a statute that allows the attorney general to appear in criminal matters when a county attorney requests it.
Sentencing on Monday turned the plea into a prison term. The court imposed 415 months, about 34.5 years, and gave Hameister credit for 327 days served. The judge also ordered $10,134.97 in restitution. Ellison said after sentencing that Hunt “should still be with us today” and thanked the Wabasha County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for their roles in the investigation and prosecution. The attorney general’s office described Hunt as a mother, daughter, sister and aunt.
The killing drew attention across Minnesota because of the sharp contrast between the rural setting and the violence described in court records. Kellogg is a small Wabasha County community near the Mississippi River, and the boat launch became the focus of a murder investigation after what began as a report of a badly injured woman at a home. Heavy rain affected the first search of the launch, according to charging details, and officials said investigators did not immediately find clear evidence of the crime scene there. Later findings, including ammunition and autopsy evidence, filled in parts of the record.
The most important piece remained Hunt’s own words and gestures. Even with injuries that limited her speech, she gave deputies a first name, helped them identify a last name and described a truck. Prosecutors later paired that information with forensic findings and Hameister’s admission. The public record does not state what led Hunt and Hameister to the boat launch that day or fully explain why he shot her. It does show that Hunt’s effort to reach help shaped the investigation from its first minutes.
Hameister is now under sentence in the Minnesota prison system, and the Wabasha County case has ended with a conviction for second-degree intentional murder. As of June 3, 2026, the next public milestone is the continuing service of the 415-month sentence and the processing of restitution.
Author note: Last updated June 3, 2026.