4-15-21
The body pulled from the Mississippi River on Tuesday has been identified as missing LSU freshman Kori Gauthier of Opelousas. LSU Chief of Police Bart Thompson said Wednesday the confirmation is a difficult conclusion for all involved but they hope the discovery will bring closure for Gauthier’s family. Gauthier had been missing since last week when her unoccupied car was found on the I-10 bridge between Baton Rouge and Port Allen after a driver crashed into it, but she was nowhere to be found. A cause of death has not yet been released.
THE SEARCH CONTINUES FOLLOWING THE CAPSIZING OF A LIFT VESSEL IN THE GULF SOUTH OF PORT FOURCHON TUESDAY. SIX PEOPLE HAVE BEEN RESCUED, ONE WAS FOUND DEAD AND TWELVE PEOPLE ARE STILL MISSING. SOME ACADIANA FAMILIES HAVE CONFIRMED TO KATC TV THAT FOUR ACADIANA MEN WERE ON THE BOAT. THEY ARE JAY GUEVARA OF LAFAYETTE, SIXTY-TWO-YEAR-OLD GREGORY WALCOTT OF ABBEVILLE, DYLAN DASPIT OF IBERIA PARISH AND THIRTY-ONE-YEAR-OLD QUINON PITRE FROM THE LAWTELL AREA.
THE LAKE ARTHUR NARCOTICS TEAM AND PATROL DIVISION ARRESTED TWO PEOPLE FOR POSSESSING ILLEGAL DRUGS. THE DIVISION PULLED OVER A MOTORIST WHO HAD JUST LEFT A HOUSE KNOWN FOR DRUG ACTIVITY. THE DRIVER, CYNTHIA KILLINGSWORTH, CONSENTED TO ALLOW POLICE TO SEARCH HER VEHICLE AND THEY FOUND A BAG OF CRYSTAL METH AND ANOTHER BAG ON HER PERSON. THEY ALSO ARRESTED JOSHUA CONSTANT FOR POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED DANGEROUS SUBSTANCE.
More than 1,000 people have called into Louisiana’s coronavirus vaccine hotline since it launched a week ago, and one-third of those callers have signed up for vaccination appointments. That’s according to state health department data released Wednesday. Louisiana launched the hotline at 1-855-453-0774 last week to help people schedule appointments and to connect those reluctant about getting the shot to medical professionals who can answer questions. It’s part of a broader statewide effort to try to overcome vaccine reluctance.
AFTER GOING UP THE PAST FEW DAYS, COVID-NINETEEN HOSPITALIZATIONS WERE DOWN BY FIVE IN LOUISIANA, ACCORDING TO YESTERDAY’S REPORT FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. THE NUMBER OF PATIENTS ON VENTILATORS STAYED THE SAME. THE STATE HAD NINE CONFIRMED COVID-NINETEEN DEATHS. THERE WERE TWO HUNDRED FIFTY-NINE NEW CASES.
THERE WERE TWO NEW DEATHS IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. ONE IN CALCASIEU AND THE OTHER IN JEFF DAVIS PARISH. MEANWHILE, ACADIANA ADDED ONE MORE DEATH, WHICH WAS IN SAINT LANDRY PARISH. ACADIANA HAD THIRTY-EIGHT NEW CONFIRMED COVID-NINETEEN CASES, INCLUDING THIRTEEN IN ST. MARY PARISH. SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA HAD TWENTY-TWO NEW CASES, MOST ALL OF WHICH WERE IN CALCASIEU PARISH, WITH TWENTY.
TWO MORE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH THE MURDER OF A CROWLEY TEENAGER LAST MAY. SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD EMORI CARTER WAS SHOT AND KILLED BY SOMEONE PASSING IN A MOVING VEHICLE ON WEST TENTH STREET. YESTERDAY U-S MARSHALS ARRESTED JADARIOUS J-D SIMMONS AND CRYSTAL SAVOY IN EVANGELINE PARISH, WHO BOTH FACE ACCESSORY TO FIRST DEGREE MURDER COUNTS AS WELL AS NUMEROUS OTHER CHARGES. LAST MONTH, A GRAND JURY INDICTED SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD DEANDRE CITIZEN OF CROWLEY AND SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD AZURI WILLIS OF OPELOUSAS ON CHARGES OF FIRST DEGREE MURDER FOR THE DEATH OF CARTER.
A NONPROFIT RESEARCH GROUP BASED OUT OF WASHINGTON D.C. HAS FOUND THAT THE AVERAGE LAFAYETTE DRIVER LOSES MORE THAN TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS A YEAR DUE TO POOR ROAD CONDITIONS. THE GROUP, CALLED TRIP, FOUND THAT THIRTY-NINE PERCENT OF MAJOR ROADS IN LAFAYETTE ARE RATED IN POOR CONDITION WHILE TWENTY-THREE PERCENT ARE IN MEDIOCRE CONDITION. TRIP IS WANTING THE LOUISIANA LEGISLATURE TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT THE FUNDING AND RESOURCES NEEDED TO MAKE SURE INFRASTRUCTURE IS VIABLE. THE LOUISIANA COALITION TO FIX OUR ROADS PRESIDENT ERICH PONTI SAYS THE COST TO DRIVERS IN THE STATE HAS RISEN BY NINE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS.
