By LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / Febuary 6, 1999

HAHNVILLE – St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne revealed Fridaytwo previously-unclassified deaths during 1997-98 have been re- classified as homicides.

Meanwhile, investigations continue in other recent cases.

The deaths of Gary Pierre, 20, of Norco, whose body was found in a wooded area of Montz, and of Larry Ranson, 38, of Luling, whose body was found near Louisiana Highway 3160 near Hahnville, were both caused by strangulation, according to the sheriff.

Though both victims were allegedly “heavily involved with drugs,” Champagne stressed, the two murders are apparently unrelated.

Pierre was found Dec. 14, 1997 on Vickers Lane, off C.C. Road. Champagnesaid it was obvious he was bound up at one point. The sheriff said Pierrewas heavily involved in drugs and was last seen in LaPlace, not far from where he was found.

Ranson was found July 31, 1998, alongside Louisiana Highway 3160 near Hahnville, strangled and kicked in the groin, Champagne said. Likewise, hewas also known to have been heavily into drugs, the sheriff added.

Two other unclassified deaths of recent years were not homicides, Champagne also asserted.

Eddius Sampson, 31, of Destrehan, whose body was found Sept. 14, 1997 ina wooded area in Montz, apparently died of natural causes, Champagne said. The mystery remaining, however, involves how Sampson got to wherehe was found from where he was last seen in Kenner.

“He was obviously dumped,” Champagne said. “Again, there was no sign oftrauma.”Sampson suffered from a heart-valve defect and he was on medication. Hedied, the sheriff said, of cardiac arrest.

In yet another case, David L. Mitchell Jr., 20, of Luling, whose body wasfound July 14, 1997 in a ditch along a shell road off Louisiana Highway 3160 near Hahnville, was apparently an accidental drowning, Champagne said.

The location was remote, well off the main roadway, a fact which leads Mitchell’s parents to contend otherwise. His father, David Sr., said hecouldn’t understand why his son would be back there.

Mitchell was located in chest-deep water, his pants around his ankles.

Forensic evidence showed Mitchell’s lungs filled with the same water found in the ditch.

“He was a very good swimmer, Mitchell’s father said. “I taught him how toswim in the ocean, and we had a pool in the backyard for 15 years.”Mitchell was hitchhiking from a wedding reception in Killona. Mitchell’sfather said his son was nearly in a fight at the reception and, the parents believe, someone likely followed their son to the dark main road, abducted him and took him to the remote site, where he was forcibly drowned.

There were no bruises on the body and no alcohol or drugs in Mitchell’s system.

“It’s been a hardship, especially for my wife,” the victim’s father said.

“She still can’t accept it.””I think he was murdered,” he added. “I seriously think so.”The books are also still open on the murder of Vanessa Jones, whose body was found Sept. 25, 1998, in a dumpster delivered to Union Carbide inTaft. The dumpster was traced to a Kenner location, and evidence thereindicated she was murdered in the immediate area.

Jones was allegedly a prostitute working the Airline Highway area in Kenner. The strip has since undergone an undercover vice crackdown,which has chased the prostitutes from the area.

The St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office, in cooperation with the KennerPolice Department, is still investigating that case.

Anyone with information on any of these cases is urged to immediately call the sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Division at 443-0334.

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