LA LA - Nelda Hardwick, 34, Lake Charles, 14 Oct 1993

[Kat]

The Doe Network:
Case File 1002DFLA

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1002dfla.html

Nelda Louise Hardwick
Missing since October 14, 1993 from Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana
Classification: Endangered Missing



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Vital Statistics
•Date Of Birth: January 3, 1959
•Age at Time of Disappearance: 34 years old
•Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'3"; 110 lbs.
•Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Dark brown hair; hazel eyes.
•Marks, Scars: Her left leg is shorter than her right and she walks with an obvious limp.
•Clothing: She was wearing casual clothing.
•Dentals: She has a complete set of dentures.
•AKA: Nelda Bailey; Nelda Frug
•DNA: Available



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Circumstances of Disappearance
Hardwick disappeared from her home in Lake Charles, LA in October 1993. She had been at home with her boyfriend and her children. The children were bathed and put to bed. The boyfriend went to bed as well and when he woke up the next morning he found a note saying she was going to the store and she would be right back. She never returned.
According to family members Hardwick would never have simply left behind her four children. Foul play is suspected in her disappearance.



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Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office
337-491-3719
Email

Agency Case Number: 93-054275

NCIC Number: M-683291078
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office
National Center for Missing Adults
KPLCTV

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/h/hardwick_nelda.html
Her case has been classifed as a homicide.

http://identifyla.lsu.edu/profile_mp.php?id=186

https://www.findthemissing.org/cases/625/0/
NamUs profile:
Dental: charted and entered
DNA: Sample submitted-tests complete
Fingerprints: NA

Nelda has been missing almost 17 years. Her four children deserve to know what happened to and where their Mother is, come home soon.

 

[CatFancier]

Miss. exhumation sought in new leads on 2 missing La. women

Faulk told the newspaper he has been contacted over the past year by several groups looking into missing persons cases. That led to the discovery of similarities in the “Jane Doe” who died in the county of a hit-and-run accident in 1998 and two missing Louisiana women, Faye Aline Self, of Coushatta, and Nelda Louise Hardwick, of Lake Charles.

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/arti...xhumation-sought-new-leads-2-missing-La-women

 

[mikkismom]

MS judge to decide on exhuming body believed to be missing LC woman

http://www.kplctv.com/story/2315727...uming-body-believed-to-be-of-missing-lc-woman

 

[CatFancier]

Jane Doe may be missing La. woman

http://www.fox8live.com/story/23727417/jane-doe-may-be-missing-la-woman

 

[bessie]

No ruling on Jane Doe, but niece ordered to clean grave marker

WLOX
Posted: Oct 18, 2013 11:31 AM CST Updated: Oct 18, 2013 8:21 PM CST
By Michelle Lady

snipped
Hardwick's family members took the stand Friday trying to convince Judge Lisa Dodson that the woman buried in Hancock County 15 years ago is their loved one.

snipped
Judge Dodson said she needed a week to read the entire case file before she makes a ruling. But before she will announce her decision, she ordered Lori Test to clean the grave marker she defaced.

"Tell me why you wrote on the headstone?" Judge Dodson asked. "Because, I guess, having a moment of emotion, I couldn't stand the thought that she was sitting in there without her name on there," Lori Test answered.

Much more at this link including quotes from relatives' testimony, and disrepancies questioned by the judge.

 

[bessie]

Update: Judge delays final decision on exhuming body in Hancock County

Sun Herald
Published: October 18, 2013
By ROBIN FITZGERALD

Dr. Mark LeVaughn, Mississippi's chief medical examiner, said he would help Faulk and a forensic anthropology team from a university unearth the remains. Another university has agreed to try to compile a DNA profile that could be compared to DNA from Hardwick's family.

"There is a high probability we will find biological material suitable for testing," LeVaughn said.

If the comparison isn't a match to Hardwick's family, the profile could be used to identify Jane Doe through DNA profiles in various databases, LeVaughn said.

Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2013/10/18/5041334/judge-delays-final-decision-on.html#storylink=cpy

Much more at the link

 

[vermontaigne]

Looks like the exhumation is a go. According to her Charley Project entry, foul play was suspected in her 1993 disappearance, and this woman was struck by a car in 1998, so I'm not sure what leads her family to think it's likely her, but will be good to have her DNA in CODIS, anyway.

 

[antechinusRAWR]

According to the following article the family have been convinced since viewing the autopsy photos

http://www.seacoastecho.com/article_7545.shtml

Dec 17, 2013, 18:40
A forensic anthropology team arrived in Hancock County Tuesday and began the process of exhuming an unidentified woman buried at St. Joseph's Cemetery, formerly Rotten Bayou Cemetery.

snipped for space

Forensic anthropologist Nicholas Hermann and his team from Mississippi State University began Tuesday by marking off "Jane Doe's" grave of and doing preliminary work at the site. The actual exhumation of the body will not take place until later this week, Faulk said.

 

[bessie]

I'm not surprised. The autopsy photos do bear a very strong resemblance to Nelda. The identity of the other Hancock County Jane Doe was finally confirmed recently. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll see both cases resolved before the end of the year.

 

[alb1on]

Came across this by accident. It seems that when the exhumation went ahead they found the wrong body in the grave.

http://archive.clarionledger.com/ar...ne-Doe-exhumations-after-John-Doe-found-grave

I can understand records being lost but not regarding a 1998 case - 1898, perhaps. Is this typical of the local authorities and has anyone been held to account for such an appalling situation?

 

[ellie b]

So, who is the unknown man ?......does he now become a UID ?

 

[alb1on]

So, who is the unknown man ?......does he now become a UID ?

That is a very good question. However, it may be that I have been unfair to the authorities. The following story gives some background (and a possible identity for the body found). It seems Hurricane Katrina swept around all the grave markers in 2005.

http://raycomgroup.worldnow.com/story/25714819/action-report-lost-grave-at-st-joseph-cemetery

 

[malaika]

I don't know what came of the UID mentioned in prior posts, it sounds like that one may never be resolved...


That said, I submitted Nelda's name as a possible match for a UID in Florida in 1995. [I am unable to make the WebSleuth search function locate a thread for this UID]... appreciate anyone's help-



Florida UID#1995-463 --discovered 1995

[ NamUs UP # 5316, profile-- https://identifyus.org/en/cases/5316 ] :

 

[CastlesBurning]

Bumping for Nelda, now missing 27 years

 

[bearfossils]

Bumping for Nelda. Furious that the cemetery where Jane Doe was buried was so poorly maintained that they found some other unidentified male in her grave! We should care more as a society for our dead, especially those who are unidentified or have fallen victim to foul play. I hope they try to find where Jane Doe’s body is actually buried so her true identity can be known and perhaps she can find some justice.

If Nelda is this Jane Doe, and the coroner who speculated on her fate is correct, then what happened to her is a nightmare beyond comprehension. She vanished in the middle of the night, no clues to her fate, and then suddenly resurfaces years later after escaping from the man who kept her captive, only to be killed by a speeding car. It gives me chills just to think about it. Somewhere out there is a monster who has never been caught.

 

[John/Jane Doe]

Nelda Louise Hardwick – The Charley Project

 

[spartanx]

To be fair there doesn't really seem to be anything about her disappearance that would indicate one way or the other so I was wondering if there might have been some physical sign on the body that would indicate she might have been held...
it's a strange case but it's not impossible that something could have caused her to run away (stress?). It's certainly happened before (Brenda Heist comes to mind) and seems a bit more common than being picked off the street and held captive (although neither of those things are exactly common)... I was wondering if the coroner might have gone with that story so as not to hurt the family's feelings... so they would stop looking... maybe he saw them as desperate and it was the only thing he could think of...
whatever the case
rest in peace