Family mourns woman abducted one year ago
Exactly one year after Holden resident Barbara Ann Blount disappeared, her loved ones gathered Saturday morning at her church to pray for her return.
Blount’s children, siblings, other relatives and friends sat in the pews of Magnolia Baptist Church in Holden for a prayer vigil in her honor.
Some bowed their heads in prayer. Others silently dabbed tears from their eyes. Every now and then, someone let out a whimper, an indication that the grief Blount’s family and friends suffered one year ago has never subsided.
Blount was 58 years old when she was taken from her residence against her will, the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office reported at the time.
Hours after her abduction, Blount’s silver 2006 Toyota Camry was found parked on a road in a wooded area a quarter of a mile from her home.
Blount has not been seen or heard from since Friday, May 2, 2008.
Suzanne Honeycutt, one of Blount’s nieces, said there have been no leads in her aunt’s disappearance. The missing woman’s credit cards remain unused.
“We don’t know anything, but we don’t think it was a random act,” Honeycutt said.
The active search for Blount was suspended several weeks after her disappearance. Honeycutt and the rest of her relatives believe the public’s eye has turned away from them and their missing relative.
She handed out fliers with Blount’s picture earlier this week and was surprised by the public’s reaction.
“People thought she had been found,” Honeycutt said.
Honeycutt said her aunt lived a quiet life. She was active in her church. Each night she cooked dinner for her two children who each lived on the same road as their mother. She took care of her cattle and drove her sister to doctor’s appointments.
“She was never in the wrong place,” Honeycutt said.
Blount talked to her sister, Mary Brumfield, every day.
“She was my best friend,” Brumfield said of Blount.
Family gatherings have not been the same since Blount vanished. When the last such gathering was held, Brumfield said, “I couldn’t bring myself to go because she wasn’t there.”
Brumfield said she would be to able to accept her sister’s death, but the uncertainty of what happened to Blount haunts her.
The Rev. Berkley Boyd has been pastor of Magnolia Baptist Church for the past seven months. He never met Blount, but said Saturday he had heard many good things about her.
“We don’t know why bad things happen to good people,” Boyd said during prayer in church. “We know beyond doubt that Barbara was a good person.”
During Saturday’s vigil for Blount, Honeycutt prayed aloud for police and FBI investigators handling the disappearance. She also prayed that the party responsible for Blount’s abduction come forward.
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