New developments in unsolved Jennings murders

shadowraiths

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New developments in unsolved Jennings murders
By Lee Peck
November 11, 2008

New developments into the investigation of the six unsolved deaths of Jennings women. Authorities confirm the identity of the sixth body found in the Jennings area since 2005 as 24-year-old Crystal Benoit Zeno. DNA confirmed it was Zeno's badly decomposed body that was discovered September 11th off Lacour Road.

A preliminary autopsy ruled her death as a homicide. Meanwhile a full autopsy and toxicology are still pending. Investigators will continue to compare evidence from Zeno's case to the other five victims. Anyone who knows Zeno's whereabouts after Wednesday August 27th is asked to contact their local law enforcement agency.

Now to the search for 17-year-old Brittney Gary. Sunday will mark a week since her disappearance. 7 News was there Saturday afternoon as volunteers continued their search, including a private investigator now employed to look into the rash of unsolved murders.
Full article: click here
 
It is interesting that the latest girl to go missing was a cousin of one of the victims and a good friend of another. Simply a coincidence or was she targeted?
 
In a small town of 10,000, it looks like the serial killer is one of them. It's amazing that no one has been caught, since it seems most the victims knew each other. He is hiding in plain sight and knows just where to hide the bodies. They need to find this latest girl while there is still evidence. Thanks, Shadowraiths for the update.
 
That's definitely a serial killer at work there. It's surprising they won't involve the FBI. Sounds like a one horse town of which the sheriff's office doesn't have the knowledge or funds to investigate the murders properly.
If Brittany went missing with a cell phone on her; why wasn't the cell phone pinged?
 
Do we have a thread for all 6 of these murders together? It's no doubt a serial killer at work.
 
In a small town of 10,000, it looks like the serial killer is one of them. It's amazing that no one has been caught, since it seems most the victims knew each other. He is hiding in plain sight and knows just where to hide the bodies. They need to find this latest girl while there is still evidence. Thanks, Shadowraiths for the update.

I am amazed, really. Six girls and one disapears who is related to one and friends with another, just does not seem a unrelated.
 
As her mother takes action, she's worried her daughter may be the latest victim in the string of unsolved deaths of Jennings women. She was the cousin of one of the victims as well as a friend to several others, and Brittney had expressed concern to her mother.

"She was scared, she was like you don't know who you can trust anymore, they can be your friend. You just never know," said Brittney's mother Teresa Gary.
http://www.kplctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9317692&nav=0nqxHmI6

I copied this from the link Shadow posted.
It made me wonder who else this girl would have expressed this concern to.
 
Im glad someone posted this. I live in Lake Charles where most of the news is coming from. Its so sad that they havent caught the guy yet. I hope they find the girl alive but its not looking too good.
 
Jennings murder investigation update
KATC
November 11, 2008

51-year-old Frankie Richard and his niece, 22-year-old Hannah Conner are in jail charged with killing one of the victims, 21-year-old Kristin Gary Lopez. Neither one of the two is a stranger to police.

[...]

So far detectives haven't been able to connect Ernestine Patterson, Loretta Lynn Prejean, or Whitnei Dubois to the two suspects. However, witnesses say they saw Richard with Whitnei Dubois in the last few days she was alive.
Full article: click here

I tried finding information regarding the aforementioned victims but was unable to find anything on the web, usenet, or in any news paper archives. Given the number of victims per capita (i.e., small town) in the short time-frame (under 3 years), I'm surprised there is so little info out there.

Btw, and as an aside to the person wondering why the FBI isn't involved. The are. From the original article:

Also working the case is the FBI. Teresa was questioned by them on Friday and says they're not counting anyone out in Brittney's disappearance.
 
:doh:That was my slight; i forgot i had read about the FBI in the article..
I wonder if they will find the man and his niece responsible in the other murders as well..
 
Woman's Body Found in Local Canal
Posted: September 12, 2008
Updated: September 29, 2008
By Britney Glaser

*The first body was found in May 2005 by a fisherman in the Grand Marais drainage canal off LA 1126. The victim was identified as 29-year-old Loretta Lynn Chaisson Lewis of Jennings.

*The second victim was found in June 2005, floating in a drainage canal off LA 102. The victim is identified as 30-year-old Ernestine Marie Daniel Patterson of Jennings.

*The third victim was found in March 2007, by a fisherman in the Petitjean Canal off LA 99. The victim is identified as 21-year-old Kristen Elizabeth Gary Lopez of Jennings.

*The fourth victim was found in May 2007, near the intersection of Bobby and Earl Duhon Roads. The victim is identified as 26-year-old Whitnei Charlene Dubois of Jennings.

*The fifth victim was found in May 2008, by a city police officer off East Racca Road. The victim is identified as 23-year-old Laconia Shontel "Muggy" Brown of Jennings.
Full article: click here
Also see:
 
Are they incompetent or what? Obviously it's the work of a serial killer!
"And although all the dead women used drugs - most commonly, crack cocaine - and sometimes traded sex for drugs, spent time in jail, knew each other and were disposed of in similar ways, authorities hesitate to say a serial killer is responsible for their deaths."
http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20081116/NEWS01/811160314
 
This article has some additional information about these murders http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20081116/NEWS01/811160332&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

From above article (bolding mine):

Patterson was the only official homicide until this year when LaConia "Muggy" Brown, 23, was found in the middle of a gravel road on the city/parish border just hours after she was last seen.

She was doused in bleach but died from what Edwards said was a slit throat. The gravel road leads to a police shooting range, guaranteeing that a police officer would find the body.
 
Are they incompetent or what? Obviously it's the work of a serial killer! "And although all the dead women used drugs - most commonly, crack cocaine - and sometimes traded sex for drugs, spent time in jail, knew each other and were disposed of in similar ways, authorities hesitate to say a serial killer is responsible for their deaths."
http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20081116/NEWS01/811160314
(my bold)



LOL I can't trust myself to post anything more than the news article/url with stories like this as I'm sure any personal comment would get me banned!


7 young women dead in 3 years and "Jefferson Davis officials wonder if they have serial killer". That's cartoonist material.


I know the 7 deaths don't automatically mean it's a serial killer but "wondering" should have kicked in long before now.


AmandaBrown23, It says Brittany had a 5+ block walk from the store to her home. "Blocks" makes me think the area was a populated one....stores and homes etc. Do you know if that's right? Thanks.
 
picture.php


theadvertiser.com
 
(my bold)



LOL I can't trust myself to post anything more than the news article/url with stories like this as I'm sure any personal comment would get me banned!


7 young women dead in 3 years and "Jefferson Davis officials wonder if they have serial killer". That's cartoonist material.


I know the 7 deaths don't automatically mean it's a serial killer but "wondering" should have kicked in long before now.


AmandaBrown23, It says Brittany had a 5+ block walk from the store to her home. "Blocks" makes me think the area was a populated one....stores and homes etc. Do you know if that's right? Thanks.


Im pretty sure it was pretty populated. There isnt much open space out in Jennings, its not very big at all. I am so sad to hear that the girl may have been found dead. Her mom was on the news here and it broke my heart. She was crying so hard and she just knew the serial killer got her.
 
Im pretty sure it was pretty populated. There isnt much open space out in Jennings, its not very big at all. I am so sad to hear that the girl may have been found dead. Her mom was on the news here and it broke my heart. She was crying so hard and she just knew the serial killer got her.

What really concerns me is that one of this girls family members was murdered by the serial killer, so if someone picked her up obviously she knew them.
 
http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20081116/NEWS01/811160323

More interesting info from the above link (bolding mine):
Brittney's cousin, Kristen Elizabeth Gary Lopez, was the third victim, and her best friend, fourth victim LaConia Shontel "Muggy" Brown, died earlier this year.


A week before Brittney went missing, a serial killer profiler told a private investigator that another girl would be killed before Christmas.


Every one of the victims is connected to the Gary family in some way, and Teresa Gary said they knew all of them. The second victim, Ernesteine Marie Daniel Patterson, was one of Teresa Gary's employees at Wendy's.


The family had returned to Jennings less than a week before Brittney's disappearance after living with family in Houston and Lufkin, Texas, for four months. Her daughter had done drugs in the past, Gary said, but was clean while they lived in Texas.
 

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