Cold and Missing: Luther Meshell

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The views and opinions expressed in Cold and Missing are exclusively those of the hosts.

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All parties mentioned are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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Cold and Missing also contains adult themes and languages.

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Listener discretion is advised.

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I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin-Sulkowski.

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And I'm your co-host, Eli Sulkowski.

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And this is Cold and Missing, where we cover cold cases and missing person cases.

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Hello everyone and welcome back.

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I'm your host, Ali McLaughlin-Sulkowski.

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And my handsome husband and co-host, Eli Sulkowski, is feeling a little sick this week, so it

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will just be me bringing you the podcast this week.

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Right at the top, I just wanted to say a really big thank you to Arianna, who recently donated

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to our Buy Us a Coffee, which just helps us cover the cost of podcasting and all the expenses

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that go into it.

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Thank you so much for your donation.

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It means the world to us.

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I know times are tight right now.

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Grocery prices are expensive.

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Everything's expensive.

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So when people find an extra five, 10, or even more, it just blows my mind.

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I just want to say thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.

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Thank you.

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So this week we are on episode 44, and we are on a cold case this week.

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So today I have for you the case of Luther Meshell, which takes place in March of 1991

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in Shreveport, Louisiana.

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But first, a little bit about Luther.

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Luther is 50 years old in 1991.

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He was born February 24, 1941, and he would be 82 years old today.

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He often went by the nickname Bud or Buddy.

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He was a retired pulpwood truck driver.

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And a pulpwood truck driver, those are those trucks that have all the logs on the back

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of them that you sometimes see driving down the interstate.

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So he used to drive those trucks, but he had been injured pretty severely 20 years earlier

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when a tree had fallen on him in Texas.

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Because of this, he used crutches and a wheelchair to get around.

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He was the loving father of two, Allen and Tammy.

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Allen is 17 years old in 1991, and Tammy is in her early 20s.

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Luther had just celebrated his 50th birthday the month before in his home on Michel Avenue,

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which is spelled differently from his last name.

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It's the French spelling for Michael.

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His home still had the decorations up, crepe paper and balloons.

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Luther loved music.

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He would occasionally DJ for friends and for parties happening around the area.

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According to his daughter Tammy, quote, he was very outgoing.

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The most important thing to him was me, Allen, his mother, and his music, end quote.

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And now a timeline of events.

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On Wednesday, March 27, 1991.

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So like other cases that we've covered here on Cold and Missing, I don't know a lot

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about the days leading up to the murder, but here is what I do know.

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At around 735 in the evening, Luther's 17 year old son finds Luther dead on the floor

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of his bedroom.

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There are few details available about the crime scene, but what we do know, the scene

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was very brutal.

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There was blood smeared on the kitchen floor.

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Luther had been stabbed multiple times in his chest and his back and his throat had

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been cut.

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At the scene, investigators note that the phone line had been cut so that way nobody

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could call for help.

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In addition, several items were taken from Luther's home.

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Most notably, his 1997 Oldsmobile Delta 88 was missing, his TV, his stereo, and $30.

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His daughter Tammy says, quote, my daddy didn't have a lot of material things.

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They stole his TV, his stereo, his car, $30 and his life.

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And I just don't understand.

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It was obvious they were there as a robbery.

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They didn't have to kill him, end quote.

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Eventually investigators will determine that Luther had been dead around two days by the

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time he was found, which would place his death somewhere between Sunday, March 24 and Monday,

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March 25.

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The next day, Thursday, March 28, police find Luther's 1997 Oldsmobile Delta 88 in a parking

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lot of an apartment complex in the Queensborough neighborhood of Shreveport.

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This would have been about 15 minutes away from Luther's home.

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There are no details around the condition of the car or what, if any, evidence the police

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were able to pull.

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Tammy, Luther's daughter, believes that her father was targeted because he used a wheelchair.

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Police spokesperson Cindy Chadwick says, quote, robbery looks more probable than any motive,

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end quote.

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His son Alan summed it all up by saying, quote, it is just terrible, end quote.

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And then this case feels like it goes cold pretty quickly.

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I'm sure police were working it around the time of the crime, so March of 1991 into April

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of 1991.

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But there's no reporting on it that I could find in local newspaper or in the local media.

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So the next big update that I could find happens in 2009.

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And this comes by effort of Allen and Tammy, Luther's children.

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They start a campaign to find their dad's killer.

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So they make up a bunch of posters and spend hours putting them all over Shreveport, specifically

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around where their father lived, hoping to jog someone's memory.

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There were no details if any leads came from this, but it got people talking about his

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case again in June of 2010.

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So this would be 19 years since Luther's murder.

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Police say they have no leads or suspects.

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The Shreveport spokesperson at this time, Bill Goodin, says, quote, the passage of time

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does not diminish our desires or efforts to solve these homicides.

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The detective who worked these crimes feel a solemn sense of responsibility in that they

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must solve the case to bring closure and justice to the families and victims, end quote.

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Over the years, Crimestoppers had put Luther's case on billboards in the Shreveport area,

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and police had put his case on playing cards put into the prison system.

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So this is something that we've talked about on the podcast before as kind of an investigative

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tool where police will make a deck of cards and each card has a different cold case or

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missing person.

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And they put them into the local county jails and prisons with the belief that people in

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prison would know more about cold cases or missing people.

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All in all, they're just trying to get a jailhouse informant.

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Luther's daughter Tammy says, quote, it's been horrible.

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Everyone said that time would heal the wound, but that hasn't been true in my case.

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The longer it goes, the worse it is.

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I just want to know.

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I simply want to know.

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Police say they continue to review the case file in hopes of finding new leads that might

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lead to arrest.

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But as of now, they have nothing.

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Tammy said, quote, if anyone can remember anything, please come forward and help solve

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this so my brother and I can heal and get some closure.

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I'm not concerned about the jail time or the death penalty.

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I just want to know, end quote.

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In March of 2016, the local media started covering Luther's case on the anniversary

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of his murder each year for a few years.

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However, in 2016, it was noted that while the family believed that robbery was a motive,

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they also believe a female acquaintance was involved in the murder.

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But there are no more details surrounding this.

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Police have not given up on the case.

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Corporal Marcus Hines says, quote, you can't afford to give up on a case because there's

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been so many cases in the past that through continuous efforts, they've been able to

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be in arrest and closure for the family, end quote.

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And Luther's daughter Tammy says in March of 2016, it's been 25 years full of questions

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of so many memories being lost, end quote.

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And that was really the last update that I could find.

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Media had covered the case again, but there had been no real updates or changes in the

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story from years prior.

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And at this point, this case is now 32 years cold.

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So if you know anything about the murder of Luther Meshell in March of 1991 in Shreveport

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at 318-673-7373.

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And the sources for the timeline today come from the Shreveport Journal, The Times,

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and KTBS 3.

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So that is all we know of Luther Meshell's murder.

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And it's obviously such a horrible one.

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Here's a man who was already vulnerable.

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You know, he was using crutches and wheelchairs to get around.

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So the brutalness of this crime just seems like way too much.

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What I keep coming back to in this case, as I've been researching it again and again,

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is just how brutal his murder truly was to be stabbed so many times, to have your throat

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cut.

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The fact that there was blood smeared in one room, but he was found in another room, just

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suggests such great violence and, frankly, overkill that seems so unnecessary for the

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things that were taken.

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A TV, a stereo, $30.

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And his car, which was later abandoned.

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So really all these people got were a TV, a stereo, and $30.

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And I say people.

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Maybe it's just one person.

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I don't know.

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I was interested when I read later in the 2016 review of the case in the local media

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how the family mentioned a female acquaintance just because this case does seem so violent.

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That just for a robbery to have taken place, that it's like there has to be something

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more involved in this.

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And of course, maybe it was just robbery.

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Me personally, in my life, I know somebody who was murdered after she walked in on her

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home being robbed.

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And her murder was really brutal as well.

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And nothing of any significant value was taken.

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And the person who has been charged with her crime didn't know her beforehand, had no personal

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vendetta against her or her family, but just happened to be robbing her home when she came

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home from school.

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So I do have a personal experience with just like a violent robbery kind of gone wrong

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or interrupted.

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So I do know that it can happen.

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And I do believe it does happen.

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It's really sad to see people's lives taken over material things, things that can be bought

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and replaced, traded, and things that eventually upgrade, get new things.

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But people's lives can never be replaced.

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That's just something I come to again and again is just like why, what is the motive

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here?

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Was it just robbery as the police say is the most likely things were taken, of course,

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but is there something else?

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Again, I don't want to speculate too hard on that, but the family did mention the female

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acquaintance.

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Another thing I have a lot of questions about is just his car being found.

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I would love to know more details around that.

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Was there anything missing from the car?

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What kind of condition was the car in?

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Was it locked?

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Was it unlocked?

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Were the keys in it?

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Have his keys been found?

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Were they able to lift any fingerprints from the steering wheel, the rear view mirror,

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the car handles, the car door?

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I think if I was handed this case tomorrow and just asked like, hey, what would you do

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next?

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I think one of the first things I would be interested in is, is there anything from this

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car that could be tested with advanced technology or just reviewed more closely?

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And also while police say they have no suspects or leads, I wonder if there has ever been

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a person of interest or just who have they interviewed and crossed off?

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Is there somebody that they considered that they were able to rule out?

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I would just be interested to know who has popped up in this, what stories have cropped

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up in Luther's death, just because there's so little information surrounding it.

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But as soon as I heard the story, I just instantly felt that this is a case that cold and missing

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should cover.

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This is somebody who was already vulnerable.

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This is somebody who could take care of himself and did take care of himself, but somebody

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like took advantage of his vulnerability.

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And I just, you know, it feels like it just is such a great injustice.

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And I just knew it was a case that I had to find out more about and research and just

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try to get his name out there again.

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So again, if you know anything about the murder of Luther Meshell in Shreveport, Louisiana

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in March of 1991, please call the Shreveport Caddo Parish Crime Stoppers at 318-673-7373.

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And again, another big thank you to Arianna for donating to us.

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If that's something that you are interested in, if you've got $5 burning a hole in your

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pocket, you can go to our website, coldandmissing.com.

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And from there, you can donate to us.

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You can also leave us a review, which we appreciate so much.

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We've had lots of reviews on the website recently and on Apple podcasts.

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So thank you, thank you, thank you again.

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If you've done this, it really helps other people just find us and view us with credibility,

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knowing that other people have listened and have enjoyed.

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So thank you for being part of that.

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I appreciate it so much.

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And just by reviewing and sharing this podcast with your friends and family, you are helping

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get these names out there, helping get these cases back in people's minds and talking about

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them.

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And you are directly doing this work along with us.

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So thank you so much for being here, for coming along with us on this journey as we enter

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our second year here shortly at the end of the summer.

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Will be our one year anniversary of the podcast.

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And I'm so proud of this and I'm so proud of the community that's being built around

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it.

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If you want to be a part of it, you can follow us on Instagram at Cold and Missing.

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We have lots of conversations in the comment sections.

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Also on YouTube, I always post our podcasts just on YouTube.

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There's no fancy video with it.

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I am in my mid thirties and very busy, so I do not have time to make videos.

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I do apologize, but I do put the audio up there with pictures of the people we're covering.

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And there's lots of conversation happening in the comments over on YouTube as well.

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So you're always more than welcome to join us over there and hop in.

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But other than that, I hope you have a great week and stay safe, y'all.