| |
Picou was going over his files once more when his desk phone rang. “Picou.”
“Detective, I have a concerned parent. Her daughter went out for a morning run, and hasn’t come back home.”
Picou dreaded hearing that they may have another missing woman, especially a younger woman. He waited as the dispatcher escorted the mom to his desk. He saw the baby in her arms and cringed. “Detective Picou?”
“Yes, please have a seat.”
Mrs. Dawson stated, “Sally went out for her usual morning run before school, but never came home.” Forcing back the tears, she continued, “Detective, my daughter would never leave her son. He means the world to her.”
Picou asked, “What about the baby’s father? Are there any problems between Sally and him?”
“No, when he found out she was pregnant, he left. He joined the military and the last I heard he was stationed overseas.”
Picou’s brows knitted together. This scenario was turning out to be too commonplace around here. He needed to ascertain if this was a missing person’s case or a young girl who suddenly decided to run away.
Mrs. Dawson handed him a photo, “Here is a photo of Sally.”
Picou stared at the photo of Sally Dawson. She looked so young and innocent, a complete opposite to the women they suspected their serial killer hunted.
After Mrs. Dawson left, he called Detective Melancon. “We have another missing woman. Sally Dawson went for a run and didn’t return home. I’m arranging a search party now.”
“Damn, I don’t like this. If it is our guy, he is escalating.”
After hanging up with Melancon, he arranged the search team, "We will search the marshlands, walking trails and dock. Brent Comeaux with Wildlife and Fisheries is asking for volunteers also. We will search in a grid pattern to make sure nothing is missed."
After everyone was assigned a section to search they headed out. By lunchtime dread had settled heavy in Picou’s gut, he told Melancon, "Alons pas! No luck today. All the search parties came up empty handed."
“I don’t understand how she disappeared into thin air.”
As the search party left, Picou wondered if they would ever know what happened to Sally Dawson, or even Misty Olivier. No one had heard from Misty since the night she disappeared.