Vernon Sheriff asking for help solving 1980 cold case murder

LEESVILLE, LA (KPLC) - The Vernon Parish Sheriff's Office has formed a team to investigate cold case homicides in the parish, and is first focusing on a 1980 murder.

The team is seeking the public's help in its investigation of the unsolved homicide of 15-year-old Mary Darlene Howard, whose body was found in a wooded area on West Boundary Road in the Sandy Hill area in Vernon Parish on April 27, 1980, according to Sheriff Sam Craft.

Howard was last seen by her mother around 10 a.m. on April 15, 1980, at their home in Mike's Trailer Park, located in the Sandy Hill / Bundicks Road area of Leesville.

Investigators will be reviewing case documentation, evidentiary items, and re-interviewing witnesses and suspects for this cold case and others. VPSO also is attempting to locate family members of Howard's, said Craft.

Anyone with information regarding cold homicide cases is asked to contact Detective Rhonda Jordan or Detective Jerry Twyman at 337-238-7248.