On October 21, 1998, eighty-year-old Louise Randall was found dead inside her Columbus, Mississippi, home. A retired small grocery store owner who used a wheelchair ramp, Randall was discovered hog-tied and gagged, with a sock shoved down her throat; gas in the house had been turned on. There were no signs of forced entry, prompting investigators to consider that she may have known her attacker or let them in.

Randall’s death was one of five homicides of elderly people in the area between 1996 and 1998, a pattern that initially suggested a serial offender. Later investigative work and arrests in two of the other cases led authorities to conclude the series may not all be the same perpetrator, and investigators later suggested Randall’s killing was likely linked to the death of Betty Everett. No one has been charged in Louise Randall’s murder, and the case remains unsolved.

If anyone knew Louise, her routines, visitors, or anything unusual in Columbus around October 1998, please come forward with information.