13 things about Ewing, New Jersey’s Melissa Kohberger

Melissa Anne Kohberger is an American counselor based in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States. She is originally from Pennsylvania, USA.

Melissa Anne Kohberger

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BIOGRAPHY

Kohberger loves Halloween, oddities and “anything that’s a little bit spooky”, according to her. She grew up in a small rural town where she always felt a little bit different and because of this experience, she developed an ability to hold space for people who feel isolated or lost, which contributed to her decision to pursue therapy.

When she is not working with clients, she enjoys writing and learning about history in her spare time. Here are 13 more things about her:

1. Her paternal grandparents are Michael Francis Kohberger Sr. and Henrietta Kathy Votino.
2. Her maternal grandparents are Charles Ralph Ragonese and Madeline Amarando Ragonese.
3. She is one of the three children of Michael Kohberger and MaryAnn Kohberger, who live Indian Mountain Lake, a gated community in Chestnuthill Township, Pennsylvania.
4. She worked as a licensed associate counselor in Ewing, New Jersey.
5. As a therapist, she practiced under the supervision of Nicole Cowan and a member of the Resilience Lab mental health collective.
6. She previously lived in New York City, New York, USA.
7. She has lived in different parts of Pennsylvania including Albrightsville and Effort.
8. Her mental health career began at an addiction treatment facility in Brooklyn, New York City and after that, she moved into a community mental health setting where she worked with children, teens and adults experiencing trauma, mood, personality and substance use disorders.
9. She earned a master’s degree from Centenary University in Hackettstown, New Jersey.
10. She is 3 years younger than her sister Amanda Kohberger.
11. In 1994, her younger brother Bryan Christopher Kohberger was born.
12. Her parents filed for bankruptcy in 1995 and in 2010.
13. On November 11, 2024, she turned 33.

TIMELINE

As a counselor, Kohberger is an expert in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), emotion regulation and career counseling. Among the issues she treats are adjustment disorder, anger issue, anxiety, child issues, chronic pain or illness, job stress, life transitions and personality disorders.

2000s

• Her paternal grandfather turned 73 on June 1, 2006 and died on September 5, 2006.
• Her maternal grandfather turned 84 on October 12, 2008 and died in Monroe County, Pennsylvania on June 17, 2009.

2010s

• On February 8, 2014, her brother Bryan allegedly stole her iPhone, which is approximately worth $400, and sold it at a mall for $200 so he was arrested and charged with misdemeanor theft.

2020s

• Her paternal grandmother turned 85 on August 27, 2020 and died in Las Vegas on August 20, 2021.
• On May 24, 2022, Salvador Ramos fatally shot 19 students and two teachers and wounded seventeen others at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, USA. Later that day, she wrote a poem that says, “Bereft of their laughter, there is now not a sound as we lower our children into the ground, small hands and feet buried six feet deep into the earth of the world that failed them.”
• Her mother shared the poem she wrote on May 24, 2022 in a letter to the editor published on June 2, 2022 in The Pocono Record.
• On November 13, 2022, her brother Bryan killed Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, who were all attending the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, USA.
• On December 30, 2022, her brother Bryan was arrested in Indian Mountain Lake.
• On March 26, 2023, News Nation Now reported that she and Amanda were fired from their respective jobs after Bryan’s arrest.
• On July 2, 2025, her parents attended the hearing before Judge Steven Hippler at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, USA where her brother Bryan pleaded guilty to four counts of murder in exchange for the U.S. government not pursuing the death penalty.
• On July 23, 2025, her brother Bryan was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murders of Goncalves, Mogen, Kernodle and Chapin.