Melissa Vissman, 31, of Ottawa, Illinois, was one of two people found dead after a rural Sheridan home was shot up and set on fire in the early hours of July 17, 2025. Deputies received a 911 call about shots fired just before 1 a.m.; about 25 minutes later a second call reported the house ablaze. After firefighters extinguished the blaze, the LaSalle County Coroner identified Melissa and 42-year-old Sidney A. Schiltz of Sheridan. Officials said both victims suffered multiple gunshot wounds, though precise causes of death were withheld pending further forensic testing because of fire damage.

Investigators reported two others escaped the residence; one of those people placed the 911 call and another was injured by shrapnel. Prosecutors later said the house had been associated with narcotics and money and that an argument over drugs or cash may have preceded the shooting. Witnesses described a gunman demanding money, cocaine, and a gun from a safe before leaving.

A suspect, 45-year-old Ronald W. Martin Jr., was arrested on July 18 after an hours-long manhunt; prosecutors charged him with multiple counts of first-degree murder and alleged he set the fire to conceal the crime scene. He was found hiding on family-owned rural property with assistance from U.S. Marshals and Illinois State Police air support. Was anyone in the Sheridan or Ottawa area aware of tensions at that residence or the people who were helping move belongings that night?