She Tried to Escape Boat Launch But Was Mortally Wounded — Then Police Allegedly Found Her Ex with a Gun in the Woods

A Minnesota man is accused of fatally attacking his ex-girlfriend at a boat launch — then attempting to evade police by climbing up a tree.

Craig Alan Hameister, 44, faces two counts of murder in the second degree in connection with the death of 36-year-old Melissa Hunt.

According to a criminal complaint obtained by PEOPLE, Wabash County Sheriff’s deputies were called to a home in Kellogg on June 18 just before 5 p.m. after a woman – identified as Hunt – drove into the home’s driveway with “significant facial injuries.”

Once at the scene, deputies observed injuries to her face, including several teeth and a portion of her jaw, per the complaint.

Hunt allegedly told deputies that Hameister hit her with a stick at a new boat launch in Kellogg. She was transported to a local hospital where she died of her injuries just over an hour later.

Deputies went to the boat launch but did not locate any evidence that it was a crime scene, becuase it had “rained heavily at the time of the search,” the complaint states.

Deputies found Hameister’s truck at a home outside Chatfield and a live 9-millimeter round on the truck’s floor. A witness allegedly told law enforcement that Hameister showed up at the property and appeared “frantic” and said, “something bad happened” before he took off on a motorcycle.

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Hameister was later apprehended after an alleged hours long standoff in the Chester Woods area, where he climbed a tree to evade arrest. Police allegedly found a 9-millimeter handgun at the bottom of the tree.

An investigator witnessing Hunt’s autopsy observed “that the facial wound of the victim has gunshot residue embedded in the wound,” according to the complaint.

Hameister is being held on $2 million bail. He has yet to enter a plea, and his attorney declined to comment about the case.

His next court appearance is scheduled for July 3.