Identified! LA - St Martin Parish, UP5819, hit by truck on I-10, Dec'81 - Michele Elaine Oakes-Gautreaux Boutilier

[Spurser]

St. Martinville is located in St. Martin Parish.

 

[tifflee]

Renee Lessard missing from Saint-Félicien, Quebec since 1976?

http://www.nampn.org/cases/lessard_renee.html
https://www.services.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/missing-disparus/case-dossier.jsf?case=2014003056&id=4

 

[Canaille]

From the St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Office FaceBook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/St-Martin-Parish-Sheriffs-Office-147160045296339/

Public’s Assistance Requested To Help Identify Female Who Died In A Breaux Bridge-I-10 Pedestrian Fatality In December of 1981.

On December 5, 1981, at 12:41 a.m., a female in her mid to late twenties was the victim of pedestrian fatality on 1-10 westbound in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Upon investigation of the incident, law enforcement officers were unable to locate any personal identification in her belongings that may have assisted them in regards to her identity. At the time of her death, she was wearing a gray and black cowl neck sweater (Coronet Casuals Brand), wrangler jeans (size 30-31), white knee socks and red and gray pro wings jogging shoes. She had brown hair, brown eyes and was approximately 5’3”, 130-145 lbs.

Despite several attempts to locate her next of kin, and after several months passed with no one coming forward to identify her, a tomb, casket and services were provided by Pellerin’s Funeral Home and the burial plot was provided by St. Bernard Church. She was ultimately laid to rest in the St. Bernard Cemetery in March of 1982. Two local residents agreed to act as her mother and father, Lester Guidry and Sophie Cormier, who looked after her grave site until their deaths. Another unidentified person has now taken over to ensure she has not been forgotten.

Several local and federal law enforcement agencies in adjoining States were provided the information both at the time of her death and again throughout the years to see if any of their missing persons cases were linked to this case, however, no match was ever established. Additionally, LSU FACES Laboratory also assisted in the investigation by creating a facial approximation in an effort to identify along with her registration being entered into their data base. Additionally, her body was exhumed several years ago and DNA was obtained to assist with identifying her next of kin.

Some additional information that was obtained through the investigation is as follows:

Based on information gathered from a trucker, she may possibly be from the Oklahoma City area and was traveling to Texas. He thought he may have encountered her prior to her death at a truck stop at the I-10/Henderson exit in LA. (He saw the 10th Anniversary story and provided the information). However, it was never confirmed officially that it was in fact the female in question. He also stated that she had told him that she had been dropped off by a trucker and the trucker kept her purse. He stated that he bought her some lunch and gave her $10.00.

Some of the clothing in her possession was manufactured in Canada.
She had one abdominal scar.
A brown paper bag in her possession from Howards Supermarket, 950 Ninth Ave. Port Arthur Texas, that contained the following along with several items of clothing and a jar of Noxzema:
One piece of chicken wrapped in paper marked “Champagne’s (which may correlate with the trucker who bought her lunch)
One pair of Wrangler jeans misses, size 10
One short sleeve plaid western type shirt
Various undergarments
Knee socks, maroon and brown
White nightgown with blue dots-size medium

Last week marked the 36th Anniversary of her death and despite repeated attempts over the last several years to learn her identity, she remains unidentified. We are hoping that through the powers of social media, and the spirit of the Christmas Season, that perhaps someone may be able to identify her.
Due to the sensitive nature of some of the pictures, they are not being posted, however, they can be made available should they be needed to clarify her identity by law enforcement or family members.

Should you have any information as to the identity of this young lady, please contact the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office at (337) 394-3071.
Please share this post so that we can reach as many people as we can in an effort to get her identified.

 

[Tyra1003]

http://www.katc.com/story/37073381/...dia-can-help-identify-jane-doe-after-36-years

On December 5, 1981 a young woman was walking on I-10 near the Breaux Bridge exit heading westbound and was fatally hit by a car.

"We kept her at the funeral home for maybe 3 months hoping someone would show up and no one ever did," said the funeral director who buried her, Ray Pellerin.

The woman to this day remains unidentified and Pellerin hopes social media can help bring closure to her family.

 

[jenlag]

Renee Lessard missing from Saint-Félicien, Quebec since 1976?

http://www.nampn.org/cases/lessard_renee.html
https://www.services.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/missing-disparus/case-dossier.jsf?case=2014003056&id=4

I had just stumbled upon the same case and agree they look a lot alike!

 

[Gardener1850]

BREAUX BRIDGE, La. (KLFY)- Ray Pellerin has been in the funeral business for fifty-five years. He still remembers the call from December 5th, 1981 when authorities called his funeral home about a woman’s body found along I-10.

“I thought in those days, just a day or two we are going to find out who this lady is some family is going to come up and say hey that’s my daughter or whatever and that didn’t happen,” says Pellerin.
Pellerin says families from all over the country came to Breaux Bridge in hopes that they would find their missing loved one.
When no one came forth to claim or identify the woman, Pellerin Funeral home decided to donate a casket, hold a small ceremony, and give the unknown female a proper burial.

In June of 1981 a woman went missing from a VA hospital in Shreveport. Major Ginny Higgins with the St. Martinville Sheriff’s department says they are looking into the possibility of that being the unknown female that’s buried in Breaux Bridge. Pellerin says that if they do find family members, they will hold another funeral.

http://klfy.com/2017/12/14/unknown-women-burred-in-breaux-bridge-still-unidentified-36-years-later/

 

[Teche]

I sent a pm to the St. Martin Parish Sheriff Dept’s Fb page regarding the WS thread.

 

[Teche]

Breaux Bridge has a Champagne’s Bakery that has been around for generations made French bread and baked sweets. There was also a Champagne Grocery store that had a deli. The grocery is now known as Rees Street Market.

From the St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Office FaceBook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/St-Martin-Parish-Sheriffs-Office-147160045296339/

Public’s Assistance Requested To Help Identify Female Who Died In A Breaux Bridge-I-10 Pedestrian Fatality In December of 1981.

On December 5, 1981, at 12:41 a.m., a female in her mid to late twenties was the victim of pedestrian fatality on 1-10 westbound in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Upon investigation of the incident, law enforcement officers were unable to locate any personal identification in her belongings that may have assisted them in regards to her identity. At the time of her death, she was wearing a gray and black cowl neck sweater (Coronet Casuals Brand), wrangler jeans (size 30-31), white knee socks and red and gray pro wings jogging shoes. She had brown hair, brown eyes and was approximately 5’3”, 130-145 lbs.

Despite several attempts to locate her next of kin, and after several months passed with no one coming forward to identify her, a tomb, casket and services were provided by Pellerin’s Funeral Home and the burial plot was provided by St. Bernard Church. She was ultimately laid to rest in the St. Bernard Cemetery in March of 1982. Two local residents agreed to act as her mother and father, Lester Guidry and Sophie Cormier, who looked after her grave site until their deaths. Another unidentified person has now taken over to ensure she has not been forgotten.

Several local and federal law enforcement agencies in adjoining States were provided the information both at the time of her death and again throughout the years to see if any of their missing persons cases were linked to this case, however, no match was ever established. Additionally, LSU FACES Laboratory also assisted in the investigation by creating a facial approximation in an effort to identify along with her registration being entered into their data base. Additionally, her body was exhumed several years ago and DNA was obtained to assist with identifying her next of kin.

Some additional information that was obtained through the investigation is as follows:

Based on information gathered from a trucker, she may possibly be from the Oklahoma City area and was traveling to Texas. He thought he may have encountered her prior to her death at a truck stop at the I-10/Henderson exit in LA. (He saw the 10th Anniversary story and provided the information). However, it was never confirmed officially that it was in fact the female in question. He also stated that she had told him that she had been dropped off by a trucker and the trucker kept her purse. He stated that he bought her some lunch and gave her $10.00.

Some of the clothing in her possession was manufactured in Canada.
She had one abdominal scar.
A brown paper bag in her possession from Howards Supermarket, 950 Ninth Ave. Port Arthur Texas, that contained the following along with several items of clothing and a jar of Noxzema:
One piece of chicken wrapped in paper marked “Champagne’s (which may correlate with the trucker who bought her lunch)
One pair of Wrangler jeans misses, size 10
One short sleeve plaid western type shirt
Various undergarments
Knee socks, maroon and brown
White nightgown with blue dots-size medium

Last week marked the 36th Anniversary of her death and despite repeated attempts over the last several years to learn her identity, she remains unidentified. We are hoping that through the powers of social media, and the spirit of the Christmas Season, that perhaps someone may be able to identify her.
Due to the sensitive nature of some of the pictures, they are not being posted, however, they can be made available should they be needed to clarify her identity by law enforcement or family members.

Should you have any information as to the identity of this young lady, please contact the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office at (337) 394-3071.
Please share this post so that we can reach as many people as we can in an effort to get her identified.

 

[folieadeuxnola]

LA – Breaux Bridge, St. Martin Parish, W/F, 25-35, Dec 1981

Date Discovered: December 5th, 1981

Place of Discovery: Breaux Bridge (I-10), St Martin Parish, Louisiana






B]Physical/Clothing/Medical[/B]
Estimated Age: 25-35 Years Old
Height: 5’0”-5’4 (60” – 64&#8221
Estimated Weight: 130 – 145 lbs.
Hair: Brown, wavy, short length to collar
Eye: Brown
Race: White
Sex: Female
Clothing: UID was wearing; Wrangler blue jeans (Sz 30-31), Greg and black cowl neck (Coronet Casual) sweater with long sleeves and collar (Sz S), white knee socks and (Gelmart) bra. Red and gray (Pro Wings) jogging shoes.
Carrying in Bag; Short sleeved plaid western cowboy style shirt, (3) pairs of (Sears) underwear in blue, red and beige (Sz 38-40), Wrangler blue jeans (Sz 10), white night gown with blue dots (Medium), maroon and brown knee socks.
Jewelry:
Medical/Scars: Scar from navel to pubic hairline, probable caesarean. Healed fracture to the left check bone
Transportation:
Finger Print: Available
Postmortem Interval: 0 Hours
Probable year of death: 1980 (Namus)
Dental Status: Dental information / charting is available and entered (04/18/18)
DNA Status:Sample Submitted Tests Complete (04/18/18)


Circumstances:
In the early morning hours (12:41am) of December 5th, 1981a woman was struck by a vehicle on I-10 westbound near Breaux Bridge St Martin Parish, LA. At the time of her death she was wearing a gray and black cowl neck sweater (Coronet Casual), Wrangler blue jeans, white knee socks, along with red and white (Pro Wing) jogging shoes. She was carrying a brown paper bag from Howard’s Supermarket 950 9th Ave Port Arthur, TX (136 miles / 2 hr. 14 min.). The bag included; jar of Noxzema, piece of chicken wrapped in paper marked “Champagne’s” (Bakery, Breaux Bridge / Market, Lafayette), Wrangler Jeans (Sz 10), short sleeved plaid western shirt, undergarments, knee socks and nightgown. LE learned that some of the clothing with the UID was manufactured in Canada.

A trucker reported a possible encounter with the woman after seeing the 10th anniversary story on the cold case. The trucker encountered a woman at a truck stop at the I-10 Henderson exit. He stated the woman told him that she had been dropped off by another trucker and the trucker kept her purse. He stated that he bought her some lunch and gave her $ 10.00, additional information provided is that she may be from the Oklahoma City, OK area and was traveling to Texas. However, the encountered was never officially confirmed that it was in fact the UID.

UID’s remains were exhumed in 2006 for anthropological analysis and DNA sampling the UID subsequently was reburied.


Investigating Agency:
St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s
400 St. Martin Street, St. Martinville, LA.
UID Case #: SP-5697-81
Tele: 337.394.3071
Web: http://www.stmartinsheriff.org/


Information Resources:

NAMUS
NAMUS Case # 5819: https://identifyus.org/cases/5819
Case Manager: Michael Nance
Tele: 918.527.0080
E-Mail: Michael.Nance@unthsc.edu

LSU Faces
LSU Faces Case MP Case # 06-41: http://identifyla.lsu.edu/profile.php?id=673
Teresa Wilson – Tele: 225.578.4761
Maria Allaire – Tele: 225.578.4775
General E-Mail: faces@lsu.edu
General Web: http://www.lsu.edu/faceslab/
LSU Faces Laboratory FB: https://www.facebook.com/pg/lsufaceslab/posts/

Doe Network Case # 44UFLA: http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/44ufla.html


News Sources:
12/14/17 – St Martin Parish Press Release - http://www.stmartinsheriff.org/news...-I-10-Pedestrian-Fatality-In-December-of-1981
12/14/17 – Daily Advertiser - https://www.theadvertiser.com/story...ues-36-year-old-jane-doe-cold-case/953657001/
12/14/17 – KATC News - http://www.katc.com/story/37073381/...dia-can-help-identify-jane-doe-after-36-years
12/14/17 – KLFY News - http://www.klfy.com/news/unknown-wo...e-still-unidentified-36-years-later/933638745
12/16/17 – KLFY News - http://www.klfy.com/news/publics-as...edestrian-fatality-in-december-1981/933641158
12/14/17 – KQKI News - http://news.kqki.com/index.php/2017...i-10-pedestrian-fatality-in-december-of-1981/
12/14/17 – WAFB News – http://news.kqki.com/index.php/2017...i-10-pedestrian-fatality-in-december-of-1981/



NAMUS Rule Outs as of 04/18/18:

Georgia Nolan - Kentucky
Alma O'Con - Louisiana
Mary Shinn - Arkansas
Nadine Timm - Illinois

 

[carbuff]

It seems like an odd route to take if she really was traveling from Oklahoma City to someplace in Texas.

 

[folieadeuxnola]

It seems like an odd route to take if she really was traveling from Oklahoma City to someplace in Texas.

Completely agree Carbuff ... have been thinking about the bag we do not know how she came in possesion of the bag either she purchased something from the store or someone could have given it to her. If it was her that acquired the bag from the stord it would place her in Port Arthur, TX prior to Dec 5th she would have hitch hicked east bound I-10 to be in the Lafayette area. From the report she was traveling west bound I-10 that would have placed her in the direction of Texas or Oklahoma. IMO she had been in TX and had traveled to somewhere East of at least Lafeyette or further and at the time of the accident she was traveling back. It may be that she stated she was from Oklahoma not necessairly traveling from there. Or could be she was going to Texas to get back to Oklahoma that would be the direction.


Wonder if LE made contact with the store in Port Arthur to see if anyone recalled seeing her. I know its a grocery store busy on the time but still ya never know if someone may remeber seeing her.

Hope I typed that clearly ... my mind thinks faster than I can type STARBUCKs DOUBLE ESPRESSO doesnt help me either :happydance: Now with all the talk of Port Arthur .. turned on some Janis Joplin

 

[folieadeuxnola]

Comparing Connie F Gregory to JD all thou its my feeling the disapperance of Gregory may be domestic related, there are some physical similarities between the two. Connie's NAMUS profile states she has a mole on the left side of her neck, noticed the PM photo the UID had a few moles along her face an neck area. Connie also had children the UID had a scar that most likely was a Cesarean. Believe it was the tip of her nose that caught my eye.

The big kicker ... no Dentals nor DNA available for Gregory to compare to the UID.

Comparing UID to Connie Gregory



Missing from Hudson Kentucky (744 miles)
Date 01/23/1980 (22 months)
Estimated Age: 25-35 Years Old 30 Years Old
Height: 5’0”-5’4 (60” – 64&#8221 5'0" - 60"
Estimated Weight: 130 – 145 lbs.120 lbs
Hair: Brown, wavy, short length to collar Brown
Eye: Brown Brown

Dental Status: Dental information / charting is available and entered (04/18/18) Not Available
DNA Status:Sample Submitted Tests Complete (04/18/18) Not Available

 

[TanaBanana]

I am a very amateur sleuth lol... I run a Facebook page called Missing in Texas that is really just for sharing fliers and information. Someone from the St. Martin Perish sheriffs office contacted me about any possible matches from Texas. I came right on here to see if there was a thread and if anyone had any ideas. I did direct them to the DNA Doe Project. Looks like she’s in Namus, they have DNA etc. I do not think her recon looks like her postmortem.. just my opinion. But it made me think about CarlK. I’m not sure how to see if he would be interested in taking a look at this case. I am an old member but not real tech savvy so I could not figure out how to open my old account with the change and the email I used in 2013 to open my account isn’t even good anymore and I don’t have my password because I just used tapatalk. Problems lol! Still trying to navigate this new site.

 

[folieadeuxnola]

NAMUS RuleOuts as of 09/21/18

MP10862
Alma O'Con
06/09/1981
Caddo LA

MP8385
Nadine Timm
11/16/1965
Will IL

MP10738
Mary Shinn
07/20/1978
Columbia AR

MP1295
Georgia Nolan
11/25/1976
Harlan KY

 

[carbuff]

Updated Namus link: Unidentified Person Case

 

[Menand]

New to this but a friend of mine was the funeral director that buried and adopted her until the family could be found. I know it’s a long shot but this case matches the age eye color hair color and even the scar from a possible cesarean birth.

Missing Person Case

I know Mr Pellerin and he is a wonderful person. I know this weighs heavily on him. I have been posting on Canadian missing persons boards because her clothes were manufactured in Canada and I read somewhere she may have spoken French to a truck driver which could also tie her origins to Canada. Anyway I wouldn’t know how to officially Make a Match to even find out but I’ll keep researching

 

[carbuff]

Side by side of Amber Scholz and the UID. I think you're onto something here.

 

[Menand]

I think so too but I’m not sure what I should do next

 

[carbuff]

I think so too but I’m not sure what I should do next

The easiest thing to do if you're able to phone and comfortable doing it is to look on the Namus contact pages for the phone number for the decedent and the missing person and call one of them, or both. (If you do both, be sure to mention that to both agencies.)

You can email either or both of the Namus contacts, who should also be listed on the contacts page. They'll forward it to the appropriate LE.

You can submit through Doenetwork--there's a form on the main page under Potential Matches--Submit a Match.

In any case, have all the relevant case numbers handy. If you're emailing, you can send links. I usually email the Namus contacts and include links to the Namus, Doenetwork, and Charley Project if I have them, and the NCIC case number if there is one. I also usually send a short summary of what makes me think it's a match--basically what you put in the initial post. Sometimes I put a link to the Websleuths thread(s).

 

[Menand]

I did email the investigator in rock springs with the information. I’ll work on it more when I am home. We are traveling for the holidays