[News Bot]

Volunteers in boats combed a wooded area near the St. Helena Parish line Sunday without success in their search for a missing Sunday school teacher authorities fear may have met with foul play Friday.

Livingston Parish Sheriff's detectives planned to organize a more extensive search today for the 58-year-old widow and Sunday school teacher who was last heard from just before noon Friday. Barbara B. Blount, a resident off La. 1036 north of Holden, is described as 5-foot-seven-inches tall with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. She wears glasses and the last known contact with her was sometime around 11:30 a.m. Friday when a neighbor spoke to her by phone, Sheriff's Office spokesman Perry Rushing said..
Her abandoned silver 2006 Toyota Camry 4 door was located in a wooded area near her home Friday afternoon.

Her car was discovered about 4:15 p.m. abandoned and partially hidden on a "logging road" about a quarter mile from her home, Rushing said. The vehicle was towed to the State Police Crime Lab for analysis. Due to the extremely heavy thunderstorms that dropped more than two inches of rain on the area Friday night and early Saturday morning, the area where the car was found is currently under as much as six feet of water, thus hampering search efforts by the estimated 100 volunteers from the area, Rushing said.

Resources being used in the search range from volunteers on horseback to people on 4 wheelers to friends and even strangers in small boats. The Sheriff's Office Air Support Helicopter has also been used. Authorities were waiting for the water to recede enough to conduct a grid search of the area. Three dogs from the Slidell-based Louisiana Search and Rescue team were used to search the area Sunday with no result.

Anyone with any information is urged to call the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office at 1-225-686-2241 or 1-800-443-7681

Source: Livingston Parish News

[BR Today]

Update from WAFB:

The search for a woman missing from the Holden area is stopping, at least for now.
Crews have suspended the search for Barbara Blount, who has now been missing for a week.
Law enforcement in the area say they are following leads in the search and they'll keep 9NEWS updated when there's a break of any kind in the case.

I hope that this woman is found safe and sound. This is a tragedy for her, her friends and her family.

[BR Today]

Latest from LivingstonParishNews.com

Family members and law enforcement continued to search for Barbara Blount on Friday, a week after her mysterious disappearance.
Sheriff's detectives say she was apparently taken from her rural home on La. 1036 by force, probably between 11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. May 2.
The woods around Barbara Blount's home were searched the first few days after the disappearance, but since then, detectives have moved on, Sheriff's spokesman Perry Rushing said Friday.
"The woods are no longer our primary area of interest," Rushing said Friday. "The investigation has shifted to another location."
Family members say a door into the missing woman's home was left open, but there were no signs of a forced entry. Money and a gun were still in the house and a cordless phone was found on the ground in the carport, relatives say.
Barbara Blount's car, a silver 2006 Toyota Camry, was found very near her home, pulled off on a logging road, but still visible from the highway, Rushing said.

Columbus Blount, a relative who also lives in Holden, said the Camry had veered somewhat to the right, toward the woods, before stopping.
Barbara Blount's car keys were found lying on the ground, away from the car, near La. 1036, Columbus Blount said.
Family members keep speculating over the few clues they have about Blount's disappearance, but it's all guesswork, because they have nothing substantial to go on, Columbus said.
"We don't know why her keys were left on the ground like that," Columbus said. "You read about these things happening in other places, but when it all comes out, it's always the opposite of what you thought."
Blount's daughter, Christie, said law enforcement has been active, seeking the help of family members to look through Barbara Blount's home and try to point out anything that looks out of place, unusual in any way.
Family members have been finger printed, Christie said, apparently to help find fingerprints of somebody who didn't belong in the house.
Family members said they were not sure whether the Federal Bureau of Investigation was on the case.
Rushing declined to comment on FBI involvement, but said the Sheriff's Office is "using every resource that can contribute to the investigation, including the State Police."
Rushing also said that the Sheriff's Office welcomes any information that might be relevant to the case.
"We are following leads and if anybody has any information, this would be the best time to come forward," Rushing said.
"The family would be very grateful for anyone who knows anything, no matter how trivial, to come forward," Christie said.
The area of La. 1036 around Blount's home is not busy. The home is in a sparsely settled area of Livingston Parish, near the St. Helena Parish border, Columbus said.
Barbara Blount is 58 years old, 5'7" tall, wears glasses and has dark brown hair and hazel eyes, Rushing said.
She has a large family in the Holden area, including her grown son and daughter.
Barbara Blount attends services at Magnolia Baptist Church three times a week and serves on church committees, Christie said.
The search will continue, no matter how long it takes to find the truth, Christie said.
Christie, who is taking care of her mother's dog, said she is praying along with hundreds of other friends and family members who still hope that they will soon get good news.
Anyone who would prefer to give information anonymously can call Crime Stoppers at 344-STOP. Information can also be called in to the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office at 686-2241, ext. 351, or 443-7681

[BR Today]

Update from The Advocate:

Livingston Parish sheriff’s investigators are continuing to pursue leads in the disappearance of a Holden woman missing since May 2, deputies said Monday.
But a ground search of the area around where Barbara Blount’s car was discovered was suspended last week, said Deputy Perry Rushing, a spokesman for the parish Sheriff’s Office.

Rushing said the case is still being treated as a missing person investigation. He said investigators have been interviewing family and friends to understand Blount’s habits.

Blount’s 2006 Toyota Camry did not appear to be stolen, Rushing said, but he would not comment on whether investigators had found any evidence in or around it.

The car was found abandoned on a logging road about a quarter-mile from Blount’s house, 35580 La. 1036, Holden. Backwater flooding from heavy rains in the low-lying area nearby initially hampered searches by law enforcement investigators and volunteers.

A neighbor last heard from Blount about 11:30 a.m. May 2, deputies have said. Family members have said Blount would not leave home without telling someone she was gone and authorities believe she was taken from her residence against her will.

[LSU Mike]

Anybody got the latest on this poor lady?

[BR Today]

Anybody got the latest on this poor lady?

According to one of the local radio stations yesterday, Texas EquuSearch Mounted Search and Recovery Team is coming here to assist with the search and are saying they need volunteers.

I don't have any numbers to call for them as I missed it on the report, but you can always call the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office who i'm sure could point you in the right direction to help.

LPSO - 225-686-2241

[gigi4256]

Has anything happened here? Has anyone heard anything? There is nothing in the papers or on the news regarding this lady. Is she still missing?