Authorities working to ID body found in Ruddock
Published 12:54 pm Friday, November 13, 2015
- Authorities are working with family members of a missing LaPlace man in hopes of using DNA to identify a body that was found Thursday north of LaPlace.
RUDDOCK — Authorities are working with family members of a missing LaPlace man in hopes of using DNA to identify a body that was found Thursday north of LaPlace.
Alan Burl
St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff Mike Tregre said, as of press time Friday at noon, authorities had yet to identify the male found Thursday in a wooded, isolated area along U.S. 51 in Ruddock.
He said investigators are working with the family of Alan Burl, who was last seen Oct. 29, to determine if the missing man was killed.
Tregre could not immediately provide many details about the discovered body, other than it was a male, a gunshot was involved and foul play is suspected.
The Sheriff’s Office first received a tip Tuesday evening, which led them to the wooded area Thursday morning, where the body was discovered.
According to authorities, witnesses last saw Burl Oct. 29 dressed in a black T-shirt, black pants and Reebok tennis shoes.
After initially not expressing a belief foul play was involved in his disappearance, police began to suspect criminal activity as the days mounted following Burl’s disappearance.
“As time went on and the family did not hear anything from him, they advised us it was highly unlikely for him not to communicate in some way,” Tregre said. “This was right before Halloween, and they hadn’t heard from him at all. They began to suspect something was wrong.”
Deputies began looking for 27-year-old Alan Burl Nov. 2, when Burl’s sister alerted authorities no one had heard from her brother in days.
Authorities describe Burl as black, approximately six-feet, one-inch tall and weighing 180 pounds. He has black, short wavy hair.
Deputies checked for Burl at an address on Ormond Boulevard, which is his recording studio. Family members said it’s unusual for Burl to go long lengths of time without communicating.
Deputies said Burl was last seen getting in an unknown make and model car at his residence in the 600 block of Gardenia Drive in LaPlace. The occupants of the car are unknown.
Burl was entered into a nationwide database and his photo has been posted on social media.
Anyone with information regarding the case is encouraged to call the Sheriff’s Office TIPS line at 985-359-TIPS or Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111.
— By Raquel Derganz Baker
