Headline: State Police Recognized In Cold Case
BOBBY ARDOIN
Editor/Consulting Writer
Louisiana State Police criminal investigators were applauded by the Opelousas Board of Aldermen Tuesday night for investigative assistance provided to city police in helping solve the eight-year-old cold case murder of Erica Hunt.
Opelousas Police Chief Graig LeBlanc introduced investigator first class Anthony Pardo, trooper first Matthew Landry and supervisors Brad Guidroz and Paul Dubois, of the State Police Bureau of Investigation who assisted local authorities in helping solve the case that resulted in the arrest of Jamal Barnes in November.
LeBlanc honored Landry and Pardo with plaques and praised their persistence and diligence in helping sort through evidence and using DNA testing that allegedly linked Barnes to the homicide that investigators allege occurred in 2016.
During the presentation ceremony, LeBlanc said the State Police investigative team demonstrated classic law enforcement excellence.
“This investigation showed that in law enforcement, it’s never too late or never too long,” said LeBlanc, who also recognized the assistance from OPD lieutenant Brandon Harris.
The skeletal remains of Hunt, said LeBlanc, was discovered in December, 2018, during a search involving a missing young boy in a rural area of Evangeline Parish. LeBlanc said the boy was found alive.
Hunt, 20, was reported missing by family members on July 6, 2016. Barnes was identified by authorities as the brother-in-law of Erica Hunt.
Authorities have recognized the assistance of deputies from St. Landry and Evangeline parishes during the investigation for Hunt.
LeBlanc said OPD and other investigative agencies decided to reopen the missing persons case of Hunt in 2018 and designate her disappearance as a cold case.
In November LeBlanc said Barnes confessed to killing Hunt during questioning by investigators. Barnes was later booked into the St. Landry Parish Jail and charged with second degree murder in connection with the homicide of Hunt.
