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Louisiana daughter says a medium led her to missing mother’s body as she accuses sheriff of botching investigation

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Louisiana daughter says a medium led her to missing mother’s body as she accuses sheriff of botching investigation


A Louisiana daughter has accused the local sheriff’s office of failing to fully investigate her mother’s death last year after a psychic medium led her to her mom’s half-clothed body in the woods.

The mother of three and grandmother of seven, Theresa Jones, was reported missing on Feb. 2, 2023.

Her oldest daughter Ashley Deese spent hours desperately searching for her 56-year-old mom that day and the next day the Union Parish Sheriff’s Office and a K9 unit spent more time searching for Jones, but she was nowhere to be found.

Ashley Deese, the daughter of a missing Louisiana woman, claims a Wisconsin medium led her family to their missing mother’s body. KNOE

Three days after she vanished, Deese and her sister Brittany reached out to a psychic medium in Wisconsin who has a large following thanks to her success in helping to find missing people, KNOE reported.

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The medium, Carolyn Clapper, talked to the sisters on the phone for 45 minutes, sharing step-by-step, detailed instructions on where to find their mom, Deese said.

“There would be a log, [Jones] kept showing me this pronounced log, a very big log in the woods. It wasn’t just little twigs and sticks, it was a log, a huge one, you know you hit this log is basically what she said, you get to this log and my body will be there. There’s water, I saw a creek,” Clapper told KNOE.

Deese set out into the woods near her mother’s house the next morning and spotted a large log.

“It’s like I envisioned what I had heard on the phone last night, that was the landmark, that was the log. So I immediately got ill, shaky, and sick, and started vomiting,” she said.

Theresa Jones was reported missing on Feb. 2, 2023. Ashley Deese

Jones was found face down and partially nude in Edmonds Creek. She only had a top on and no bottoms or underwear.

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Deese called the sheriff who began investigating but never did a rape test or scraped the woman’s fingernails for possible DNA evidence.

“So there’s a woman deceased facedown in a creek, nude. All she had on was a top, no undergarments, nude. There was no rape kit, no scraping of the fingernails. I’m bothered by that,” Deese said.

Three days after she vanished, Deese and her sister Brittany reached out to a psychic medium in Wisconsin who has a large following thanks to her success in helping to find missing people. Union Parish Sheriff’s Office

Union Parish Sheriff Dusty Gates confirmed that neither test was done on Jones’ body in an interview with KNOE. He told the station that his office could have requested either test but he didn’t know if his office ever requested those tests.

The sheriff’s office reportedly told Deese that there were no signs of disturbance in the area where her mother’s body was found so investigators didn’t feel a rape kit or fingernail scraping was needed. The investigators believe her body was nude from the waist down because her bottoms were pulled off by the force of the water.

“This is an assumption or a guess, it might be a good guess, but nonetheless if there’s no clothes, shouldn’t we find the clothing shouldn’t we prove that, shouldn’t there be science behind these ideas,” Clapper said.

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Medium Carolyn Clapper talked to the sisters on the phone for 45 minutes, sharing step-by-step, detailed instructions on where to find their mom, Deese said. KNOE

The medical examiner — who also didn’t do those tests — ruled that Jones’ death was accidental. She died drowning, with methamphetamine intoxication a contributing factor in her death, according to the autopsy.

Jones had a large amount of meth in her system at the time of her death but her daughter said she had been sober for 20 years after a cocaine addiction.

“It doesn’t line up, it doesn’t make sense. And if someone can make it make sense, I will sit down and listen,” Deese said.

The incident report says that Deese told deputies that her mom was back on meth and marijuana and suffered from mental illness, but “refuses to take her medication like she is supposed to.”

Jones was found face down and partially nude in Edmonds Creek. She only had a top on and no bottoms or underwear. KNOE

But Deese said she never said those things.

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“I also feel that as soon as it was known that there was drugs involved, and even a history of drugs, I felt like the sobriety didn’t matter. And I feel like since there was drugs involved, it’s just one more off the street,” she said.

She also criticized the sheriff’s office for failing to speak to Clapper who has helped provide info to other law enforcement agencies that helped find missing people in the past. She said Clapper knew things about the condition of her mother’s body and toxicology report before each was revealed.

“Even if they don’t believe in psychics or they’re skeptical, you know, they still follow up on leads, so they’ll still question me if I know too much about a case and they can’t really explain how I would know the details that I know about a case, it’s their job to follow up,” the medium said.

Both she and Deese pleaded with the deputies to speak to Clapper repeatedly.

“For months, for months I tried getting in touch, for months Ashley tried following up with them, lending my name and my contact information. Months have gone by, nearly a year and a half now,” Clapper said.

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Jones’ case was closed in August 2023.

But her daughter doesn’t believe her death was an accident.

“I do suspect foul play. I haven’t been proved that it wasn’t. And I will suspect that until I’m proved that it’s not,” Deeves said.



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Louisiana remembers Billy DiMaio

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Louisiana remembers Billy DiMaio


NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — On Friday, Jan. 10, Louisiana is remembering Billy DiMaio, a victim of the Jan. 1 Bourbon Street attack.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry declared a period of mourning, ordering that all flags over state buildings be flown at half-staff.

On Friday, the state is remembering DiMaio, who was from New Jersey and a New York-based account executive for a radio station company.

At a Sunday news conference, Landry said he is remembered as a star student and a lacrosse player who had “an unwavering work ethic and positive attitude and kindness.”

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Billy Dimaio was a New York-based Account Executive with a radio station company. (Courtesy/ABC)

Louisiana State Superintendent Cade Brumley also asked school systems to consider a moment of silence at 9 a.m. during the period of mourning.

The New Orleans Police Department and the Archdiocese of New Orleans will ring the bells of St. Louis Cathedral every day through Jan. 23, between 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m. to honor and remember the lives lost and those affected by the terror attack.

Stay up to date with the latest news, weather and sports by downloading the WGNO app on the Apple or Google Play stores and by subscribing to the WGNO newsletter.

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Lower fees coming to homeowner insurance in Louisiana but premiums still high • Louisiana Illuminator

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Lower fees coming to homeowner insurance in Louisiana but premiums still high • Louisiana Illuminator


Homeowners in Louisiana will see a small discount on the fees they pay on top of their property insurance premiums this year. 

The Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. Board of Directors voted Thursday to bring an early end to a 1.36% assessment added to all residential and commercial property insurance policies in the state. Louisiana Citizens is the state-run insurer of last resort for homeowners in environmentally risky areas who cannot find coverage on the private market.

The assessment, which goes toward paying off bonds for debt that Louisiana Citizens incurred from paying claims from hurricanes Katrina and Rita, was originally set to expire in June 2026 but will now end this April.

Gov. Landry signs Temple-backed insurance package

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Additionally, those insured through Louisiana Citizens will no longer have to pay a 10% surcharge when they begin a new policy or renew their existing policy this year. The waiver, part of newly enacted legislation, took effect on Jan. 1 and will last for the next three years. 

Both changes are part of Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple’s efforts to tame skyrocketing insurance rates in Louisiana.

“When Commissioner Temple took office and became chair of the Citizens Board of Directors, he encouraged our staff to find innovative ways for Louisiana Citizens to operate more efficiently and find savings for policyholders,” Louisiana Citizens CEO Richard Newberry said in a press release. “Our team identified this opportunity and brought it to the board for approval at today’s meeting.”

Although most policyholders will see relatively small savings from the changes, Temple said every little bit helps. 

YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.

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Centenary College of Louisiana kicked off its year-long bicentennial celebration Wednesday

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Centenary College of Louisiana kicked off its year-long bicentennial celebration Wednesday


On a bright and chilly winter day, Centenary College of Louisiana kicked off its bicentennial year with a birthday celebration including a proclamation from the City of Shreveport and music by Centenary choir.

It was a grand start to the bicentennial year. Centenary College of Louisiana president, Dr. Christopher L. Holoman said, “we are really excited to be looking back at 200 years, an amazing history. We are so proud of that, but we are even prouder of what we are going to be in the future.”

Centenary College of Louisiana is a national liberal arts college in the heart of Shreveport. This college is deemed the oldest chartered liberal arts college west of the Mississippi River, founded in 1825.

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Holoman said, “200 years is an amazing length of time…Centenary is older than time zones. Centenary is older than golden doodles.”

City of Shreveport mayor, Tom Arceneaux read the citywide proclamation and said, “I am thrilled to be here for more than one reason. One, I’m really glad that Centenary is 200 years old. And two I’m glad to be here 12 days after hip replacement surgery.”

Wednesday’s birthday party is just the start of year-long celebration of special events and gatherings. These events include:

  • special exhibit at the College’s Meadows Museum of Art
  • festive neighborhood party during the Krewe of Highland Mardi Gras parade
  • alumni trip to Centenary’s original campus in Jackson, Louisiana
  • campus art stroll showcasing the talents of the Centenary community

The bicentennial commemoration will conclude with a gala event, Spotlight Centenary, in December 2025.

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To keep up with all the bicentennial year events visit centenary200.com.

Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com.



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