Stephen Glenn Bovard, 20, went missing from Zachary, Louisiana after being last seen on January 31, 1983, at a friend’s home. He lived with his parents in Baton Rouge and worked as a mechanic. His family reported him missing when he did not return home.

On February 3 his pickup truck was found abandoned and completely burned in the Tunica Hills area, northwest of St. Francisville. A week before he disappeared he had been arrested on drug charges; officers seized cocaine, Quaalude tablets, marijuana, a pistol, and a large sum of cash. Investigators suspected he might have been considering cooperating with authorities, and they came to view his disappearance as connected to that arrest.

Searches of the home where he was last seen turned up bloodstains on a wall and ceiling and a section of carpet cut out. Another man, Morris Ronald Allen, was arrested in March 1983 and said he helped Bobby Joe Ferguson dispose of a body wrapped in carpet and weighted with two tire rims, then dumped into the Atchafalaya River near Krotz Springs. Divers were unable to recover a body despite sonar locating a possible object, and a warrant was issued for Ferguson, who fled before arrest.

Does anyone have information about Stephen’s movements in late January 1983 or about activity near Tunica Hills or Krotz Springs at that time?