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Neighbors from across St. James Parish have volunteered their time to help in the search for the missing girl. However, family members said they were called off because the FBI is now investigating...
An aunt of the missing girl said family and friends are praying Celestine will say something that would lead them to Dorsey.
Are there any deets on John Celestine yet?
"Some of the information he gave us was inaccurate," Martin said. "We felt like it certainly wasn't in any way or form helping us, it was hindering us in trying to find Talaija."
Talaija Dorsey, 12, of St. James, was last seen at her home on Pecan Street early Tuesday morning. A command post has been set up at Fifth Ward Elementary School.
Sheriffs deputies could be seen around 1:30 p.m. searching a white mini-van that was up on blocks in the yard outside the trailer home.
Martin said he could not comment on the search of the mini-van, other than to say someone told officers they had seen someone standing near the vehicle on the day of Talaijas disappearance.
Officers have searched the area and fields by foot and on four-wheelers, Martin said, as well as by air with the use of two helicopters from the Livingston Parish Sheriffs Office. Every deputy is in the search in the St. James community, Martin said.
The St. James Parish Sheriffs Office broadened its search Thursday for a missing 12-year-old girl to nearby parishes where her mothers fiancé, John Celestine, owns wooded property, Sheriff Willy Martin said.
Family members said deputies arrested Celestine on Tuesday evening after they searched a white minivan and found Talaija Dorseys slippers inside the van...
The white minivan, which was up on blocks when it was searched, was moved from the front yard of the familys home late Wednesday or early Thursday by the Sheriffs Office.
Come on John," Watis said. "Do the right thing. Thats what Im saying to him. Ive been telling Jesus, all day, let Johns mouth reveal what he did...
The search Friday will turn to Jefferson Parish along roadways heading to Gretna, where Celestine works.
Authorities said they want to canvas all rural areas of John Celestine's route to work. Celestine, 42, is the fiancé to Talajia’s mother. He remains in police custody, since he is refusing to cooperate with authorities. Celestine is in custody on an obstruction of justice charge.
Deputies are zeroed in on Celestine and his whereabouts the morning that Talajia went missing. According to deputies, he left the family home around 4 a.m. and went to a property in Assumption Parish, before arriving at work in Gretna.
The St. James Parish Sheriff’s Office is seeking information about a white Chrysler Concord that might be connected with the disappearance on Tuesday of Talaija Dorsey, 12, from the community of St. James.
Deputies are concentrating more and more on Celestine, but have yet to identify his as the suspect. He is being held on obstruction charges in this case. Deputies also say he has a prior, out-of-state arrest for child cruelty against a family member, though he was not charged ultimately in that case.
"We're concerned about some inconsistencies with some issues in the family unit and some things that we've learned about the person of interest that concerns us," said Martin.
Investigators are processing evidence collected from Dorsey's family home as well as the family's cars.
The St. James Sheriff's Office is also searching for a vehicle allegedly linked to the 12-year-old's disappearance and Celestine. Officers are searching for a missing white 2001 Chrysler Concord.
On Thursday, about 35 officers from local, state and federal agencies searched in sugar cane fields in Assumption Parish. Officials on horseback, ATVs and planes searched the land with no avail. Officials say that Celestine does not own the land, but has connections to the property.
A missing car??? How does that happen without the help of someone else or it being near somewhere he would be able to walk from or get a ride from. Certainly, work can tell the last time he had the car there. Or mama should certainly know when the car stopped showing up home, right? Well, if it went missing between work and home, I would get with ProjectNola ASAP!!!! They have lots of video footage in Orleans Parish. I would certainly see if I could pinpont that missing car. A missing car??? Ugh. I wonder what sis heard that made her notice things in the middle of the night. More people know more. That is my suspicion here.
The St. James Parish Sheriff’s Office is asking for help from anyone who might have seen John Celestine’s 2001 white, four-door Chrysler Concorde on or about Tuesday, July 1, the day 12-year-old Talaija Dorsey went missing. Investigators want to know where the car was seen...
Sheriff Willy Martin said the Sheriff’s Office is processing both the Chrysler Concorde and a white minivan that was in disrepair in the front yard of the home, both of which belong to Celestine, “even though we saw no sign of the crime” in the cars or in the trailer home on Pecan Street in St. James, where the family lived.
Concerns continue to grow in St. James Parish as the search for 12-year-old Talaija Dorsey enters day five. Investigators said they retraced their steps throughout St. James Parish and neighboring parishes Saturday...
"We are right now regrouping and revisiting where we think routes he may have taken as he moved around that morning. We know he went to work that morning and he works in Jefferson Parish," Martin said.
Investigators have processed evidence collected from Celestine's cars and the home he shared with Talaija and her family, but the sheriff said they've found nothing that would incriminate him in this case.