November Dance
November 20, 2006
Bayou Walk gets mixed reviews
November 22, 2006
Tri-Parish Times
Law enforcement officials confirmed Monday the body found at a Jefferson Parish hospital last Thursday morning is that of a Cut Off woman missing since mid-October.
A maintenance worker found the body of Karen Plaisance, 60, in the back seat of a Chrysler PT Cruiser as he was cleaning the third floor of Ochsner Medical Center’s parking garage last week, authorities reported.
Plaisance was first reported missing by her husband on Oct. 17.
“It appeared as though she had been dead for quite some time,” said Col. John Fortunato, spokesman for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. His office was notified about 10 a.m. Thursday, he said.
On Nov. 17th, a car matching the description of the vehicle found at the Metairie hospital was first reported missing in Lafourche Parish, according to Larry Weidel, spokesman for the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office.
“We reported the woman missing and put her on the NCIC,” he said, referring to the National Crime Information Center’s database. The computerized system indexes criminal justice information, including missing person reports, across the nation.
Weidel said the license plate on the PT Cruiser and Plaisance’s vehicle led JPSO detectives to Lafourche Parish.
“That’s how when Jefferson Parish discovered the body in the vehicle they checked it out and found out there was a missing person’s report and they called us,” he said.
Detectives with the LPSO and JPSO are working in conjunction on the case, he said.
An autopsy was performed Friday morning by the Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Office, Weidel said. The preliminary results showed no indication of trauma or foul-play, he noted.
A toxicology report is pending, which should determine the exact cause of the woman’s death, Weidel said. “I think the body had been in the car for a couple of weeks. It was pretty badly decomposed.”
LPSO detectives provided the coroner’s office with dental records and X-rays, which were used to confirm the woman’s identity, he said.
Weidel said Plaisance’s identity was confirmed late Friday and detectives notified her family.
Investigators said it appears the car had been sitting in the parking lot for quite some.
The Associated Press contributed to portions of this article.
Shelll Armstron can be reached at (985) 876-3008 or shell@tri-parishtimes.com
