MAINE, Maine — People who knew Melissa Sousa say they had longed feared she has been the victim of domestic violence.
Officials identified a body found in Sousa's home as 29-year-old Melissa Sousa.
The Gold Street home was where Sousa lived with boyfriend, Nicholas Lovejoy, and her twin daughters.
Lovejoy was charged with her murder.
While police continue to investigate exactly what happened to the young mother, domestic violence victim advocates are speaking out about abuse.
Sousa who lives in Waterville is the young woman police have been searching for since Tuesday when she was last seen putting her twin, 8-year-old daughters on the school bus.
When phone calls and texts went unanswered, her friend and co-worker Meghan Legasse called police.
She knew something wasn't right.
"I feel like she would have contacted someone, if she knew all of this was going on she would have said something" Legasse said through tears.
Legasse had believed Sousa's boyfriend and father of the twins, Nicolas Lovejoy, was the reason Sousa went missing.
"She was scared many times to go home. A lot of her friends tried to give her options to get out but she knows she couldn't leave without her girls and he said you can leave but you're not leaving with the kids."
Stories like this unfortunately don't surprise domestic violence victim advocates. They say Domestic Violence is one of Maine's biggest public safety threats.
"Nearly half of homicides, every year, are domestic related" says Rebecca Hobb, the Executive Director of Through These Doors, a domestic violence advocacy group serving Cumberland County
Whose homicides happen it can be an even more frightening time for those who are being victimized.
"It often is a really dangerous time for them because the perpetrators may take that as an opportunity to scare them more."
Hobb says leaving a relationship in the short term can be dangerous.
"If someone is considering leaving an abusive relationship it's really important they reach out to somebody for help, particularly a professional advocate to help with a safety plan, maybe a protection order."
Hobb says most of the people they serve move on to have a life free of abuse and violence.
"The stories we hear about homicide are not most people's experience, most people can go on and build a new life. And find happiness. We all deserve to be happy."
Meghan Legasse says that's all her friend Melissa, wanted.
"She's a good person who cares about her kids. She just wants to be happy, and I don't think she got the chance to do that."
There are eight domestic violence resource centers in Maine and last year they served more than 14,000 people. If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence please call 1-866-834-HELP (4357).