In the early morning hours of September 18, 1993, Amanda Elise Southern, a 28-year-old mother of three, vanished from Catahoula Parish, Louisiana. She was at the Driftwood Lounge on Highway 28 with her nephew at the time. Between 3:30 and 4:00 a.m., Southern informed her nephew that she was leaving with another person and planned to return home later that morning. She was reportedly last seen leaving the establishment with a man identified as Bill or Billy.
The man was described as being between 25 and 30 years old, with brown, shoulder-length hair and a full, bushy beard. He was said to be wearing a western-style hat and driving a dark blue 1988 or 1989 Ford pickup truck with a chrome front bumper. Amanda was never seen or heard from again.
At the time of her disappearance, Amanda was described as a white female with blonde hair and green eyes, standing at 5'1' to 5'2' tall and weighing around 120 pounds. She had pierced ears and a noticeable scar on her abdomen. On the night she went missing, she was wearing a black or green Girbaud t-shirt, tan or beige shorts, and white sneakers. The investigation into her disappearance took a grim turn in March 1994, about six months after she was last seen. Her purse and shorts, which were stained with blood, were discovered in a wooded area in the neighboring LaSalle Parish.
The years following Amanda's disappearance were marked by heartache and turmoil for her family. She left behind three young children, one of whom was disabled. The children's father, who was out of the country when Amanda vanished, later returned to take custody of them. In a distressing development, he was later charged with child neglect and unlawful selling of human parts after attempting to sell the children to Amanda's parents. Despite the passage of time and the painful discoveries, the case of what happened to Amanda Elise Southern remains unsolved. Though she has been declared legally dead, the search for answers and justice for Amanda and her family continues. The Catahoula Parish Sheriff's Office continues to have an open investigation into her disappearance.Last Seen: Sep 18, 1993
