Account
Dec 22, 2009
Jul 19, 2022
Mari Ann
Fowler
87
65
68 inches
132 lbs
White / Caucasian
Female
Mari Ann Fowler, a 65-year-old retired educator, vanished on Christmas Eve of 2002 from a strip mall in Port Allen, Louisiana. She had stopped at a Subway sandwich shop around 5:30 p.m. while on her way to visit her husband, Jerry Fowler, who was incarcerated in a federal prison in Texas. Evidence at the scene strongly suggested a violent abduction. Her purse, keys, and the food she had just purchased were found scattered in the parking lot next to her car. Several of her acrylic fingernails were also discovered on the pavement, indicating a struggle with her attacker. Robbery did not appear to be the motive, as her belongings were left behind and wrapped Christmas presents remained in her vehicle. Surveillance footage from a nearby liquor store captured a grainy image of a General Motors pickup truck speeding away from the area around the time of her disappearance. The video also showed a brief struggle between two individuals, but the quality was too poor to identify the suspect. Investigators found tire tracks in the parking lot that were possibly from the abductor's truck. In the days that followed, law enforcement conducted an extensive search for Fowler, covering a vast area, but found no trace of her. Her husband, a former Louisiana Elections Commissioner, was denied a furlough from prison to assist in the search. Investigators have stated they do not believe his criminal activities were connected to his wife's disappearance. The investigation into Mari Ann Fowler's disappearance led authorities to consider a possible link to the then-unidentified Baton Rouge serial killer, later identified as Derrick Todd Lee. Lee was active in the area during the time of Fowler's abduction, and there was some circumstantial evidence potentially connecting him to the case. He owned a truck similar to the one seen in the surveillance video, and his cell phone records placed him in the vicinity of Port Allen on the evening she vanished. However, a definitive link could not be established as no DNA evidence was recovered from the scene or from Lee's truck after it was located. Despite the strong suspicions of law enforcement, no one has ever been charged in connection with Mari Ann Fowler's disappearance. Seventeen months after she was last seen, she was declared legally dead in May 2004. The case remains an unsolved and deeply felt tragedy, leaving her family and community with unanswered questions.
Dec 24, 2002
Port Allen
Louisiana
West Baton Rouge Parish
3392
West Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office
Port Allen
Louisiana
West Baton Rouge Parish
70767
850 8th Street, Louisiana
2253439234
County
Law Enforcement
02-1200390
West Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office
Red/Auburn
Brown
Brown
06/01/2026
