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How a sinkhole caused a whirlpool and formed Louisiana’s deepest lake

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How a sinkhole caused a whirlpool and formed Louisiana’s deepest lake


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While Louisiana’s largest lake, the Toledo Bend Reservoir, spans 1,200 miles of shoreline, the state’s deepest lake only spans 1,125 acres.

Lake Peigneur is the deepest lake in Louisiana, with a depth measuring approximately 200 feet.

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Lake Peigneur is a brackish lake, meaning it contains saltwater but has less salinity than seawater, located in New Iberia Parish in South Louisiana.

How did Lake Peigneur become the deepest lake in Louisiana?

Lake Peigneur was not always considered the deepest lake in Louisiana, as it was only a 10-foot-deep freshwater lake 40 years ago.

On Nov. 20, 1980, an oil rig crew was attempting to free a 14-inch drill bit when they heard popping noises and the rig began to tilt. Shortly after the crew abandoned the rig and headed for shore, the crew watched the 150-foot oil rig disappear into the 10-foot-deep lake.

Soon, a whirlpool formed in place of the oil rig. The whirlpool grew rapidly until it was able to suck up nearby boats, barges, trees, a house and half an island.

At the same location of the oil drilling site, there was also a salt mine, and when the whirlpool formed after the oil rig collapsed, the mine began to fill with water. As the whirlpool grew, water was able to enter the mine at such a force that it caused a geyser to spew out of the mine’s opening for hours until the lake was drained.

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After the lake was emptied, the Delcambre Canal began to flow backward, marking the only time in history that the Gulf of Mexico flowed into the continental U.S. This backflow continued until the entire mine and lake were filled with water, except now the lake was filled with saltwater, according to an article published on Louisiana Tech Digital Commons.

Can you swim in Lake Peigneur?

Before the oil rig and salt mine accident, Lake Peigneur was a popular spot for fishing and recreational activities. However, since the lake is almost entirely surrounded by private property, visitors will have to enter the nearby Rip Van Winkle Gardens in order to get a closer look, according to Atlas Obscura.

While there are no reports indicating the lake is unsafe, the lake is not exactly developed for public access. However, there are things to do around Lake Peigneur, like visiting Rip Van Winkle Gardens on Jefferson Island, or visiting Avery Island to tour the Tabasco Factory.

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Presley Bo Tyler is a reporter for the Louisiana Deep South Connect Team for USA Today. Find her on X @PresleyTyler02 and email at PTyler@Gannett.com



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Louisiana

Pipeline blowout reported in St. Helena Parish, authorities say

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Pipeline blowout reported in St. Helena Parish, authorities say


ST. HELENA PARISH, La. (WAFB) – Authorities are warning people to avoid one part of St. Helena Parish following a pipeline blowout.

According to the St. Helena Parish Sheriff’s Office, the blowout happened Saturday along Nesom Road off of Highway 16.

Officials said they evacuated some residents living near where the incident took place. Many of the impacted people live on Nesom Road, Dennis Lee Road, and Burkett Lane.

According to the sheriff’s office, no one will be allowed back into the surrounding neighborhoods until the all clear is given.

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No injuries have been reported.

Any potential leak following the blowout has been stopped.

Louisiana State Police and multiple fire departments have been notified of the situation.

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Copyright 2026 WAFB. All rights reserved.



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Podcast helps Louisiana police arrest 4 suspects in decades-old murder of teen girl Roxanne Sharp

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Podcast helps Louisiana police arrest 4 suspects in decades-old murder of teen girl Roxanne Sharp


Louisiana police say a podcast helped them solve the decades-old killing of a 16-year-old girl and announced Friday that four men now face criminal charges in connection with her rape and murder.

In 1982, teenager Roxanne Sharp was killed in the woods of St. Tammany Parish, about 30 miles north of New Orleans. Police struggled to solve the case due to a lack of evidence and witnesses willing to come forward.

But then, investigators approached a local media company, which agreed to produce a podcast, “Who Killed Roxanne Sharp?” renewing public interest in the case after its six-part series aired last year.

Roxanne Sharp — here in Covington, Louisiana in 1980 — was raped and murdered at age 16 in 1982. AP

Louisiana State Police spokesperson Marc Gremillion credited the podcast with generating crucial tips from the public and prompting new witnesses to approach investigators.

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“It helped our investigators piece together where Roxanne was days before to the time she died, to where we’re at now,” Gremillion told The Associated Press. “It was a very large help with getting that message out to the public, and then, therefore, those witnesses getting back to us.”

Over the past few days, police charged four men with aggravated rape and second-degree murder: Perry Wayne Taylor, 64; Darrell Dean Spell, 64; Carlos Cooper, 64; and Billy Williams, Jr., 62.

Cooper and Taylor were already in prison on unrelated charges, and Williams and Spell were arrested earlier this week.

Sharp was an acquaintance of the four arrested suspects and was known to frequent the neighborhood where they lived, Gremillion added.

The podcast “Who Killed Roxanne Sharp?” renewed public interest in the case. WDSU
Police have charged four men with aggravated rape and second-degree murder. WDSU

“We appreciate the hard work and love that has been shown to Roxanne Sharp’s case,” Sharp’s niece, Michele Lappin, said in a statement on behalf of her family. “We hope that with justice will come healing and closure for our family, her loved ones, and the community.”

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Billy Williams Jr.’s son, Billy Williams III, said his father is innocent of the crime.

“He thinks they’re putting him in for something he didn’t do,” the younger Williams said. “He says he would never in his life hurt anyone.”

Louisiana police credited the podcast with helping them track down the four suspects. WDSU

The St. Tammany Parish clerk of court did not have attorneys listed for any of the suspects. Family members of Spell, Cooper and Taylor did not respond to requests for comment via phone numbers associated with them.

“When we started the podcast, we kind of thought nobody cared — we were quickly corrected,” said Charles Dowdy, vice president of Northshore Media, which produced the podcast. “A lot of people stepped up and said they knew Roxanne, they remembered her, they were friends with her.”

Dowdy recorded audio as investigators recreated the crime scene using measuring tapes to mark the exact locations where Sharp’s body was found and where other pieces of evidence were uncovered.

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“It clearly showed that she’d been grabbed on the street and dragged into the woods,” Dowdy said.

Sharp was killed in the woods of St. Tammany Parish, about 30 miles north of New Orleans. WDSU

Police had once thought the case solved after serial killer Henry Lucas claimed responsibility for Sharp’s murder. But Lucas, known for making false confessions, later retracted his claim, and other evidence disproved his connection to the murder.

St. Tammany Parish resident Justin Joiner, 39, told the AP that his father, a Covington police officer, had been one of the first law enforcement to arrive at the scene of Sharp’s death and remained frustrated about the lack of closure for the rest of his life.

He kept a briefcase full of his notes on the case until he passed away last year.

“It’s been a big black cloud on the community,” Joiner said. “Nobody would talk about it — it was hush, hush, you talk about it in your house, not in public.”

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Joiner added that the podcast opened up discussion about the case across generations and throughout the community.

“Cold cases don’t close themselves,” Covington Police Department Chief Michael Ferrell said in a statement.

“They close because people show up, year after year, and refuse to quit. That is exactly what our agencies did, and today, Roxanne and her family finally have the justice they have waited so long for.”



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Martha Odom, killed in Mall of Louisiana shooting, loved ballet, Dr Pepper, writing

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Martha Odom, killed in Mall of Louisiana shooting, loved ballet, Dr Pepper, writing


She was a writer, a dancer, a Dr Pepper enthusiast.

Martha Odom, 17, died after being caught in the crossfire of a shooting Thursday at the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge. Odom, a senior at Ascension Episcopal School in Lafayette, visited the mall with friends for their “senior skip day” as graduation approached in just three weeks.

Odom planned to attend Sewanee, also known as the University of the South, where she was going to study English and creative writing. Instead, she and two other classmates from Ascension Episcopal were hit in the crossfire in a food court shooting that police say happened when two groups started arguing and drew guns.

She died from a gunshot wound to the chest, the coroner’s office reported Friday.

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After Odom’s name became public Friday morning, and outpouring of social media tributes for her followed. She leaves behind her parents and a younger sister.

Odom was an overachiever: captain of the girls’ soccer team at her school, editor of the student newspaper, a teacher at her dance studio. She won second place in the Lafayette Public Library’s 2026 Writes of Spring contest.

She planned to spend her summer before college at Ballet Austin’s summer intensive, a chance to “train in the timeless art of dance,” she wrote in the student newspaper.

“Her classmates, Ascension faculty, and our Blue Gator families remember Martha as a joyful presence whose kindness and infectious enthusiasm brought light to all who knew her,” the school shared on social media.

Her family visited New York City over spring break, and she wrote about how much she enjoyed eating at Raising Cane’s in Times Square, going to a New York Rangers’ hockey game and seeing several Broadway musicals, including “The Outsiders” and “Cats: The Jellicle Ball.”

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In other writings for the student newspaper, she shared her observations about Taylor Swift (‘captivating,’ ‘empowering’), being a debutante late last year (‘had the time of my life’) and how much her soccer team had improved (‘the soccer team is a family’).

She also took sharp interest in journalism and shared her fears about the press losing independence. In one student newspaper piece, she wrote about the inaccurate portrayals of journalists as lead characters in rom-coms including “13 Going on 30” and “27 Dresses.”

“What did rom-coms get wrong about journalists? Their drive,” she wrote. “It takes grit to unearth the information in an article. It takes bravery to be that bridge between the people and their government. A lack of that grit leads to an epidemic of self-censorship, where writers hesitate to publish critical works for fear of penalties.”

Odom summed up her beliefs in a Psalm from the Bible she shared in her Instagram biography.

“Behold,” reads Psalm 133:1 that she cited. “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.”

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