GUILTY LA - Merrell Stewart, 26, Houma, 18 February 2010

HOUMA, La. -- Terrebonne Parish deputies are on their third day of their search for a missing 26-year-old woman last seen in Houma.

Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Vernon Bourgeois said Merrell Stewart has been missing since Thursday night. He said the last time someone saw Stewart was around 7:30 p.m. that day when she was with her boyfriend, Corey Galmore. Galmore turned himself into deputies for an outstanding child support warrant, but he denied having anything to do with her disappearance.

Bourgeois said Stewart missed work, school and her child's first birthday Friday. Stewart's family told police she usually uses her phone extensively, but after pulling her phone records, there has been no activity from her line.

Bourgeois said since Friday police have searched her apartment and vehicle, and Cadaver trained dogs have been searching the wooded area near her home.

If you know anything about Stewart's whereabouts, call the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office, (985) 876-2500. All calls can remain anonymous.

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HOUMA — A search continues today for a 26-year-old woman missing since Thursday night, according to the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office.

Merrell Stewart has not answered her cell phone, reported to work or attended school since that evening, relatives told investigators. Relatives reported her missing Friday, after she missed her daughter's first birthday, said sheriff's Maj. Malcolm Wolfe.

“She was no where to be found,” he said.

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HOUMA -- The body of a 26-year-old woman found off U.S. 90 this afternoon appeared to be dropped from an elevated secton of the highway near Chacahoula, authorities said.

Merell Stewart was found about 5 miles away from her Gray duplex at about 12:30 p.m., Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Vernon Bourgeois said during a press conference this afternoon. A search team found Stewart clothed, unbound and submerged in about a foot of water in the marshy area near the intersection of U.S. 90 and La. 20.

A cause of death has not been determined and there were no apparent injuries to her body, Bourgeois said.

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Stewart's body was found Feb. 23 off the elevated portion of U.S. 90 near the La. 20 exit. The cause of death, the Terrebonne coroner said, was asphyxiation.

Maj. Malcolm Wolfe of the Terrebonne Sheriff's Office said no suspects have been named, and that there is no timetable on when an arrest may be made. It is still being treated as a homicide...

Police attention has mostly focused on the father of the dead woman's two children. The man, identified as Corey Galmore, was arrested on unrelated charges around the time Stewart's body was found and questioned regarding her disappearance. He has since been arrested by Thibodaux Police on Sept. 9, booked on drug charges.

“What are they waiting for? For him to confess?” Coleman said during a telephone interview.

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Corey Galmore, 30, of Gray, is set for trial Jan. 11 in Judge Johnny Walker's courtroom. He is charged with second-degree murder in the death of his live-in girlfriend, Merrell Stewart, 26. Authorities said he strangled Stewart and dumped her body in a Chacahoula swamp, where it was found Feb. 23, 2010.

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A Houma man accused of killing his girlfriend in 2010 and dumping her body in a Chacahoula swamp will spend five years in prison after pleading guilty to tampering with evidence.

State District Court Judge Johnny Walker dismissed the second-degree murder charge against 30-year-old Corey Galmore, who pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice Tuesday as part of the prosecutor's offer.

"It was disappointing," Terrebonne Assistant District Attorney Chris Erny said. "Unfortunately, when you get one of these cases, you know in your heart that he's guilty, but there's just not enough evidence."

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