Triathletes, Community Gather at Vigil for Slain Simsbury Woman – Mother, Runner, Insurance Executive

Members of the Simsbury community gathered Sunday to remember a local mother who died of a stab wound in Simsbury's only homicide since 2012.

Melissa Millan, 54, had been jogging on Iron Horse Boulevard Thursday night near the bike trail that passes through the heart of Simsbury before she was found injured alongside the road at about 8 p.m., police said. She later died at the hospital.

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Community members gathered at Winding Trails in Farmington, where Millan has raced before, for vigil Sunday afternoon to remember Millan. The vigil was originally scheduled to be held near the spot on Iron Horse Boulevard where Millan was found.

Lynne Tapper remembers her friend and fellow runner as "an amazing friend," "athlete," mother" and "executive," who was "just an amazingly special person." She said that her passing is a "huge loss" and that Millan will be missed.

"She found time for everything in her life and for the people in her life and she made every person she ever spent time with feel special and they were the most important person to her," said Tapper, who has known Millan for nine years and raced with her at Winding Trails. "....I don't know how I'm going to come back here and race without her...We wanted to remember her life. This is where she lived. One of the places. There's a lot of dimensions to Melissa and I'm not going to pretend I knew all of them, but we created a community that she was a part of for nine years...And every time she walked into our training sessions, I smiled just to know she was there and gave her a big hug."

Tapper and friends of Millan's who trained for triathlons with her through Team Training New England helped organize the event.

"To our dear friend and fellow triathlete, may the wind always be at your back. Our hearts are broken as we try to process the untimely death of Melissa Millan last night (Thursday, November 20) on Iron Horse Boulevard in Simsbury," the organization posted Friday on a memorial page for Millan on the Team Training New England website. "Melissa has been a pillar of the TTNE community since she first trained with us in 2006. Regardless of her formidable responsibilities at home and at work, she made every effort to mentor "newbie" triathletes and provide moral and other support to her team members year in and year out, without fail!"

On the memorial page, her fellow triathletes in the organization described her as an "extraordinary human being" who "touched so many lives in a profound and genuine way."

"Melissa's loss is UNFATHOMABLE — for her kids, her dad, Chris, brothers,
sisters- in-law, nieces, nephews, and the rest of us," the event organizers wrote, adding, "Although her presence will always be missed, her spirit will live on in all the people whose lives she has touched."

Police initially considered the possibility it was a hit-and-run, but found no evidence to back that theory. After examining the body, the state medical examiner's office ruled her death a homicide and said she died of a "stab wound of chest."

Simsbury police are searching for answers, after a woman’s mysterious death.

In addition to being a mother of two and active community member, Millan was a senior vice president at MassMutual and a volunteer at Connecticut Family Theatre in West Hartford where her children were students.

The vigil organizers invited people who attended the vigil to participate in a Yin Yoga session afterward with Julie Erasmus at Be.Yoga in Avon at 17 West Main Street between 4:30  and 5:45 p.m.

Police are investigating after a MassMutual insurance executive was found dead near a bike path in Simsbury.

Friends who knew Millan and her children from summers spent at the private West Hill Beach Club in New Hartford are also reflecting on their friend as they process her passing.

"Melissa was a wonderful, warm woman with a keen sense of humor and sharp intelect," Sally Albrecht, former president of the beach club board and a friend of Millan's, wrote to NBC Connecticut in an email. "We so loved having her and her kids at the Beach Club. Melissa's passing is a confusing and heartbreaking tragedy for all of us, especially her family."

Tapper said that she "can't imagine what her family is going through, but we were her extended family."

“I feel for her children. But hopefully she was, she was a great inspiration and she’ll live on in them and I know she will in all of us," Tapper said. " We will keep racing and keep training because that’s what she would have wanted us to do.”

Meanwhile Simsbury police have increased patrols near Iron Horse Boulevard. Investigators combed the area on Saturday night to no avail and are following leads in the investigation.

No suspects have been identified at this time.

Police ask anyone with information to call detectives at 860-658-3145.

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