Whooping cranes released into Louisiana wild
December 7, 2015
Clayton Folse
December 9, 2015
Detectives are asking for help in connection with their murder investigation of a Social Security employee at her Bourg home, which she shared with two young nieces,
The girls, ages 7 and 10, are believed to have witnessed the Nov. 30 shooting of 56-year-old Pamela Johnson. They were kidnapped by the shooter, a gloved man who drove away with them in Johnson’s car, then dropped them off on a Houma street.
The girls, officials said, are receiving professional help to deal with the trauma of the shooting, which was not their first brush with tragedy.
On Aug. 22, 2012, those same girls knocked on the door of a neighbor’s
residence on T. Leigh Drive in Houma, and said they could not find their mother but saw blood inside their home.
Responding deputies found the mother, Tiffany Pledger, dead of a gunshot wound. Her estranged husband, Kenneth Pledger, then fatally shot himself.
Ever since the shooting they have lived with Pamela Johnson in her home at 4024 Country Drive in Bourg, near Presque Isle.
A motive has not been determined nor suspects identified by name.
What detectives do know is that Johnson was shot inside the well-maintained brick residence between 5:50 and 6:15 p.m. Mon. Nov. 30.
“The suspect fled her residence with the two children in Johnson’s 2013 Gray Buick Enclave,” Sheriff Jerry Larpenter said. “The vehicle traveled north on La. Highway 24 after leaving Country Drive until the suspect abandoned the vehicle with the two children in it on Wade Street between Brooklyn Avenue and McKinley Street between 6:15 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.”
Johnson’s body was discovered the next day.
Detectives are asking for the public’s help.
“If anyone was travelling along La. Highway 24 from Country Drive to west Houma via the twin span Monday evening and possibly saw the victim’s vehicle, we urge you to contact TPSO,” a statement released Monday says. The Sheriff’s Office phone number is 876-2500.
The suspect is described as a tall, thin, black male between 25-35 years of age. He was wearing dark-colored clothing and gloves while he was driving. The two children were in the back seat of the vehicle and were possibly not visible to other motorists.
Pamela Johnson and her husband, Charles, were in the process of obtaining a divorce. He is believed to have moved out of the Country Drive home in August.
Authorities cautioned that any information, no matter how seemingly insignificant, could be helpful.
Crimestoppers reward money is available. The Crimestoppers number is 1-800-743-7433.
Johnson
