Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Keiosha Felix (15) - missing since 30 April 2012

  1. #1
    Administrator Olivia's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    CA
    Posts
    26,644
    Rep Power
    21474880

    Keiosha Felix (15) - missing since 30 April 2012

    http://www.facebook.com/keiosha.felix

    According to the "Find Keiosha Felix Now" Facebook page, the FBI is now involved in the search for the missing 15 year old. Also, the page says an announcement about a Crime Stoppers reward is coming soon. According to Duson Police Chief Frank Andrew, Duson Police and the Lafayette Sheriff's Office are working out details, and we'll pass on the information as soon as it's available. The chief said an announcement could be made over the weekend or next week.

    http://www.katc.com/full-coverage/di...iosha-felix-s/

  2. #2
    Senior Member strozzapreti's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Canadiaeh
    Posts
    592
    Rep Power
    16025108
    The lead investigator on the case was fired apparently, in connection with his work on her case, and there are a bunch of crazy accusations flying around:

    From: http://www.katc.com/full-coverage/di...ix-s/#fcanchor

    Latest Update Fired From The Force, One-Time Lead Investigator On Keiosha Felix Case Fires Back With Texts

    10/10/2012 02:30 AM by Jim Hummel

    Lieutenant Gerald Credeur, the one-time lead investigator on the Keiosha Felix case was fired Tuesday night by the Duson Town Council. Credeur's termination comes amid accusations that he illegally arrested two men in the case, but Credeur is not going down without a fight. Before his dismissal, Credeur's attorney revealed text messages she says are between Credeur and Duson Chief of Police Frank Andrew. They're messages, which if authentic, paint an unflattering and unprofessional picture of the top brass at Duson PD.

    Before the council, Chief Andrew called for Credeur's arrest citing instances in which he says Credeur left him in the dark on the Felix investigation.

    "He would brief me on some things, but then I'd find out that some of those things were not true," said Andrew.

    Credeur was not present for Tuesday's hearing, but his attorney Joslyn Alex fired back. She presented the council with text messages, which apparently show frequent communication between Credeur and Andrew.

    KATC obtained copies of the text messages presented to the council, but cannot independently verify their authenticity.

    In an apparent mass text message to several officers on July 26, Chief Andrew allegedly wrote:

    "We may be dealing with a human [trafficking] case, we may have [stepped] into something more than a runaway."

    In another text, Andrew allegedly invoked the Mickey Shunick case as an apparent self-serving motive for wanting to solve Keiosha's disappearance, writing: "This is a make or [break] case, we can be heros or jester, Mickey hasn't been found, if we can find Keiosha we 10x better than other agencies [combined]."

    On August 13th a number of different police agencies met at the Duson Police Department to discuss the Felix case. It was the same day that Ronald Wilkerson, one of four people arrested in the case, was released from jail (charges were later dropped against both he and his brother, Leon Wilkerson Junior). As Chief Andrew left the meeting that night, he refused to answer any questions about the status of Keiosha Felix, the investigation, and why Ronald Wilkerson was released from jail. In the alleged text messages from that day, Lt. Credeur wrote Chief Andrew with apparent doubts about the case.

    Credeur: "Chief I'm done...they been trying to get something on us."

    Andrew: "No, it's cool... You winning!"

    Chief Andrew also allegedly disclosed he is related to Keiosha Felix. Writing on August 17th:

    Andrew: "Missing girl grandma is my 1st cousin, her great grandma is my daddy's sister."

    Credeur: "Damn y'all close...Have your family come in for an interview...lmao. And I don't like your cousin Patricia."

    Andrew: "Guess I'm a suspect too, huh..."

    Credeur: "Yea just bring the girl back...and tell your cousin in-law leon I don't like him. Lmao. I'm gonna need your DNA...Lol."

    Andrew: "I'll get a lil family history today, having a get together in maurice..."

    It's unclear if the Patricia referenced in the above conversation is in fact Patricia Andrus, Keiosha's aunt, who was charged with accessory to rape and improper supervision of a minor in the 15 year old's disappearance.

    In one instance, Credeur also showed his reluctance to deal with the media.

    Credeur: "Why the (expletive) is tv 3 still calling me..I'm not answering...you give [all] media details..lol."

    Andrew: "I talk to them..Just got off the [phone], with them."

    Credeur: "Cool thanks...you the man."

    After glancing over some of the above text messages, some council members wanted to delay action on Credeur's employment status, however a motion to delay failed by a vote of 3-2. Credeur's termination was approved by that same margin, his attorney says she'll file a wrongful termination lawsuit against the Town of Duson within 60 days.

  3. #3
    Senior Member strozzapreti's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Canadiaeh
    Posts
    592
    Rep Power
    16025108
    Also, a bunch of her family members have been charged with stuff in relation to her disappearance. Apparently, at least at the time of this article, they believe she was still alive but in danger.

    http://www.katc.com/news/keiosha-fel...disappearance/

  4. #4
    Senior Member TupeloHoney's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    ATL
    Posts
    2,927
    Rep Power
    21474850
    http://www.katc.com/news/missing-in-...keiosha-felix/

    (May 1, 2013) Over the past year, the story of 16-year-old Keiosha Felix's disappearance has been rocked with several twists and turns, but very few leads.

    In the months following her disappearance, four people were arrested, including two family members, but charges were later dropped.

    The lead investigator in the case eventually lost his job amid accusations of handling the case improperly, and the investigation has since been turned over to the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office, which says the case has gone cold.

    Keiosha had just turned 15 when she went missing on April 30, 2012, and friends and family held a vigil marking the one-year anniversary of her disappearance on Wednesday.

    The family has been pushing for awareness of this case, and they're holding up the best they can. On Wednesday, friends and family stood united with determination that they'll find her.

    Even after a year, hope for Keiosha's safe return has not dimmed and rang loud and clear on Wednesday. Friends and family, like Keiosha's aunt Lena Lewis remain determined to find her.

    "Keiosha if you're looking at this please come back home, you know we miss you, we love you," Lewis said at a press conference earlier this month.

    Investigators have spent more than 2,000 hours on the case, but still no answers on where she could be. They're currently looking for a man who was captured on surveillance buying a SIM card for a cell phone. Keiosha's password may have been used to activate that device.

    "To some degree we believe that, and once we talk to this guy and determine who he gave that device to, then we can determine that for sure," said Sheriff spokesman Capt. Kip Judice.

    "The only thing we're asking if for the public to help us and other families. If they only knew how much we hurt for our children," Keiosha's grandfather Joseph Narcisse said. "If something like that would happen to them, I wonder how they would take it."

    Family friends like Tammy Charles, have spent the last year dedicating their time to finding Keiosha.

    "I hope we go until we find her. Til' she comes home. People going to get tired of seeing our face. They may get tired of seeing the flyer, but for me personally, I can't give up on her," Charles said. "You know there are stories of people coming home after 18, 20 years. I can't give up."

    Another issue in the case is whether Keiosha left voluntarily or not. Deputies have indicated they think Keiosha doesn't want to be found.

    However it doesn't change the fact she's 16 years old and has not been in contact with her close family, including her own child, for a year now.
    Quote Originally Posted by Not your business View Post
    I will out think the fucking pants off of you and you would thank me for helping you out of them.

  5. #5
    Senior Member Kelly-Jane's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Nunya, Australia
    Posts
    1,682
    Rep Power
    20425676
    A mother at 14, Keiosha was in state custody and on a weekend pass to visit her paternal aunt, Patricia Andrus, at her Duson home when she disappeared. Her daughter, who is now almost 4 years old, has been in state custody since.

    ?Three years and not a word. Nothing. It?s just unbelievable to us,? said Lena Lewis, Keiosha?s maternal aunt. ?We just sit there like, ?Where is she?? We?re like, ?Red, where are you? Where are you?? ?

    The case is open but ?inactive,? especially since tips have dried up over the last two years, said Capt. John Babin, Lafayette Parish Sheriff?s Office spokesman.

    ?They?re presuming that she?s still alive, and they?re working the investigation as if she?s still alive until there?s anything to the contrary,? Babin said.
    Within a year of Keiosha?s disappearance, nine local, state and federal law enforcement agencies between Louisiana and Texas had dedicated about 2,300 hours of manpower and had explored 27 tips from Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, Florida, Minnesota, Maryland, Oregon and California, the Sheriff?s Office said.

    One of those tips brought a northeast Texas teen home to her own family in fall 2012, but Keiosha was not found.

    ?There?s really not a whole lot that?s come up since,? Babin said of new tips.

    Babin said investigators never identified a man sought as a potential witness in Keiosha?s case. He was captured in an AT&T store?s surveillance footage and investigators determined he somehow had access to Keiosha?s smartphone.

    Investigators also haven?t found a connection between the man in those images and a silver and black 2009 Dodge Charger SXT that was of interest in the case, Babin said.Keiosha?s story gained the public?s attention on the heels of the disappearance of 21-year-old Mickey Shunick in summer 2012. But although widespread media attention was brought to Shunick?s case within hours after she went missing, it took weeks for the media to focus on Keiosha?s disappearance. The teen was considered a runaway for more than two months before Duson police reclassified her as an endangered missing child and alerted local media.

    Keiosha had been gone for more than a month when Lewis received word she was missing. Ever since, Lewis said, she?s considered all possibilities for her niece?s fate.

    ?I have thought of so many things, including if there was any way she just didn?t want to come back, thinking the state or whoever was going to mess with her,? Lewis said.

    At the time of her disappearance, Keiosha had turned 15 years old three weeks earlier and was living in a now-shuttered state-run home for teen mothers in Lafayette. Keiosha?s daughter was about 9 months old, and the teenager?s mother was in jail.

    Although law enforcement has never labeled Keiosha?s disappearance as the result of child sex trafficking, ?All aspects of this case are being considered and looked into,? Babin said.
    Text messages leaked when the Duson Police Department was leading the case revealed that at one point the investigation was focused on whether she had been a victim of child sex trafficking.

    According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 1 in 6 endangered runaways reported to the organization were found to likely be a sex trafficking victim, and 68 percent of those children were in the care of social services when they went missing.

    ?(Child sex traffickers are) targeting children who have already had some type of abuse or neglect in their family history that caused them to be removed from the home and placed in state care,? said Melissa Snow, child sex trafficking specialist with the organization.

    From Keiosha?s disappearance on April 30, 2012, until mid-September 2012, the Duson Police Department was in charge of the case and the city?s assistant police chief, Lt. Gerald Credeur, led the investigation. In July 2012, he arrested four people in the case.

    Leon Wilkerson Jr. ? then the boyfriend of Keiosha?s paternal aunt, Andrus, whose Duson home is where Keiosha was last seen ? was arrested in Zachary on a warrant for second-degree kidnapping and simple rape of Keiosha.

    Over the next couple of days, Andrus, her daughter, Portia Felix, and Wilkerson?s brother, Ronald Wilkerson, also were arrested in the girl?s disappearance.

    Andrus was arrested on counts of accessory after the fact to simple rape and improper supervision of a minor by a parent or legal custodian.

    Wilkerson?s brother, Ronald Wilkerson, was arrested at a West Baton Rouge Parish motel on a warrant for simple kidnapping, and Andrus? daughter, Portia Felix ? who shared a home with Andrus at the time ? was arrested on a count of obstructing justice based on allegations she lied to police about having contact with Keiosha after she disappeared.

    But formal charges were never filed against the four. At the time, District Attorney Mike Harson called the accusations ?hearsay? ? and the Wilkerson brothers filed federal lawsuits against former Duson Police Chief Frank Andrew and Credeur.

    Leon Wilkerson was released from jail two days after Andrew told the town?s Board of Aldermen that Credeur had illegally arrested two people for kidnapping, given false testimony and made an illegal search and seizure during the investigation.

    Credeur ended up getting fired because of the arrests, with Duson?s Board of Aldermen determining he made them without probable cause.

    In turn, Credeur filed his own suit for damages in the 15th Judicial District Court, which was settled in November.

    The Wilkersons asked for compensatory and punitive damages and attorney costs. Both men said they lost their jobs because of the accusations and arrests that were not based on probable cause.

    Their suits were settled in February, but it?s unknown how much money they were paid.

    Attorneys in both the Wilkersons? and Credeur?s cases did not respond to requests for the settlement terms. The brothers and Keiosha?s relatives accused in the case have since changed addresses and could not be located for this story. Credeur also was unreachable.

    ?I wish they would have left (Credeur) on the case,? Lewis said. ?He was really trying so hard. I really feel that they let him go because he was getting close to something.?

    But the Lafayette Parish Sheriff?s Office took over the investigation.

    Now Kip Judice, who was involved with the Sheriff?s Office?s investigation, has been appointed police chief of Duson.

    ?My ears and eyes are open. And if there?s something that develops, I will certainly channel that information to the Sheriff?s Office,? Judice said.

    A few days before he took office as Duson?s police chief, Judice said he got a few tips from some of the town?s residents about ?some stuff that?s been heard on the streets of Duson? pertaining to the case, but he didn?t disclose the information.

    Judice also recalled the man pictured in the AT&T surveillance photo.

    ?We never identified that gentleman. That was kind of a lingering issue with the case,? he said.

    A $5,000 reward from the FBI remains standing for information that helps bring Keiosha home, and the NCMEC in August released an age-progressed photo of what the girl may look like at age 17.

    Keiosha turned 18 on April 8, and her daughter, who remains in the state?s custody, will turn 4 in August.

    Lewis said she and other family members are always thinking of Keiosha, and they share tales of spotting men resembling the burly mystery man pictured in the AT&T store wearing a bucket hat, white T-shirt and a rosary around his neck.

    ?I pray that God can give us closure. Give us signs. Give us something,? Lewis said. ?Somebody has to know something.?

    Follow Lanie Lee Cook on Twitter, @lanieleecook, or contact her by phone at (337) 534-0825
    http://theadvocate.com/news/police/1...ee-years-after
    Last edited by Kelly-Jane; 11-26-2015 at 02:25 AM.

  6. #6

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •