Louisiana
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.
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.
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.
Jones was found face down and partially nude in Edmonds Creek. She only had a top on and no bottoms or underwear.
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.
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.
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.”
But Deese said she never said those things.
“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.
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.
Louisiana
Louisiana DOTD starts final pass for storm debris cleanup
MONROE, La. (KNOE) – The winter storm took a toll on North Louisiana, leaving debris scattered across roadways and yards.
Contracted debris removal for the storm began on Feb. 9, 2026, and has been mostly completed.
To ensure all hazards on the rights-of-way are picked up, crews will be doing one final pass to remove any final debris.
Crews will be going along state routes in the following parishes:
- East Carroll
- West Carroll
- Richland
- Morehouse
- Jackson
- Madison
Louisiana DOTD stresses that this pass is only for naturally occurring debris from the winter storm.
“We really don’t want people going into their backyards and finding debris to put out there. That’s not really the purpose of this, really is supposed to be naturally occurring storm debris. So, you know, don’t put your household debris and waste and things out on the right of way” said Erin Buchanan, Public Information Officer, Louisiana DOTD.
Crews will not be passing through local or parish-owned roads.
If you are unsure what the rights-of-way is on a state route, the best rule of thumb is to place it on the roadside of the utility pole.
Buchanan says she hopes the final pass will be finished by the end of April.
Any debris placed on state roadways after the completion of final pass will have to be removed through normal waste management means or by the property owner.
If you want to find out if your route is part of the final pass, Louisiana DOTD asks you to call their hotline at 850-849-6726.
Copyright 2026 KNOE. All rights reserved.
Louisiana
La. Tech professor from Clnton receives award
V. Elaine Thompson, associate professor of history and undergraduate coordinator for the School of Human Inquiry at Louisiana Tech University, has received the Garnie W. McGinty Lifetime Meritorious Service Award from the Louisiana Historical Association.
The prize honors Garnie McGinty, a longtime professor of history at Louisiana Tech University, and is the organization’s highest honor. The honor is awarded annually to those who have made significant contributions to scholarship in Louisiana history, to the historical profession in Louisiana or to the association.
Samuel Shepherd, professor emeritus at Centenary College of Louisiana, praised Thompson’s lifelong dedication in his nomination of her for the award.
“Louisiana history has radiated through Dr. Thompson’s entire life,” Shepherd said. “Her passion about the state’s past has been matched by her extensive knowledge and deep understanding of it. She has enriched the minds of students and scholars, as well as the general public, and stimulated them to discover more about Louisiana and its people. She richly deserves her McGinty honor.”
Thompson’s honor completes a trio of distinctions within the Louisiana Historical Association, as she has also served as president and been elected to the Company of Fellows.
“It has been my privilege to serve the members of the LHA, my colleagues, and my students during the past two decades,” Thompson said. “ I’m honored and delighted to be recognized for my efforts, and I look forward to many more years of diligent work in researching, teaching, and promoting Louisiana history. I’m so grateful to the Louisiana Historical Association and to the McGinty Trust for this award.”
Thompson, who grew up in Clinton, has been a member of the Louisiana Tech faculty since 2004.
Louisiana
Louisiana House passes bill to fine parents for children’s school threats
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – The Louisiana House passed a bill that would hold parents financially responsible when their children threaten schools.
House Bill 137 would allow courts to fine parents up to $5,000 if a child under 14 is convicted of making a school threat. The bill now heads to the Senate.
The convicted children could also face a mental health exam, up to a year of probation or six months in juvenile detention, and mandatory counseling in a back on track youth program.
Supporters say the measure will deter threats, while critics call it a dangerous precedent.
The proposal is making its way through the legislature as part of the 2026 Regular Legislative Session, which must adjourn no later than 6 p.m. on Monday, June 1.
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