Leon Brier was a 99-year-old World War II veteran and long-time Gentilly Boulevard resident remembered for his independence and cheerful presence — cooking, ironing and dancing on his front porch. On the morning of February 23, 2012, his friend August Lewis found Brier unresponsive in his recliner; paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Although initial assumptions tied the death to natural causes, an autopsy at the family’s request showed Brier had been strangled and suffocated. The New Orleans Police Department opened a homicide investigation and at one point named a 33-year-old woman as a person of interest, then a week later said she was no longer considered one. No arrests have been announced and the case remains unsolved.

Anyone who knew Leon, saw activity near his home on Gentilly Boulevard that morning, or has information about this homicide is urged to come forward.