Curtis Cochise Smith was 29 when he disappeared from Plaquemine, Louisiana, on the evening of February 21, 1991. He left his mother’s home to buy diapers for his infant son and was last seen in the rain outside a local store holding a striped umbrella. At the time he vanished he wore a blue jacket, a white pullover shirt, and gray sweatpants.

Early investigation attention centered on Smith’s employer, local businessman Tommy Francise. Francise initially reportedly confessed to killing Smith, then retracted, saying deputies had tricked him. He led investigators to a Bayou Pigeon site where he claimed the body had been disposed of in a holed barrel, but searches produced no remains and no charges followed. The disappearance was classified as a suspected homicide.

Years later a former girlfriend, Diet Himel, told investigators Francise had confessed to her and agreed to wear a wire, recording Francise describing shooting Smith and disposing of the body in the water. A grand jury indicted Francise in 2016 on two counts of second-degree murder, including Smith’s case, but Francise died in custody in 2018 before a trial.

Did anyone in Plaquemine remember seeing Curtis that night or know more about his movements before he left home?