LEESVILLE, La. - What was to be a leisurely fishing trip turned into a frantic recovery mission for a Leesville man.
John Thornton was fishing in Big Lake on Saturday afternoon, when he spotted a life jacket and ice chest with other debris on the shore.
Thornton landed and says that as he started walking north, he found a coffin, then another. He found the five caskets in about 100 yards.
All the caskets were still sealed. Two of the coffins had names on them - a male and a female - and had been dislodged from the Our Lady Star of the Sea cemetery in Cameron Parish. The other coffins had registration numbers on them.
Thornton called 911. He wasn't sure what parish he was in but finally got in touch with the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff's Office, which passed his number to the Cameron Parish Emergency Operations Center. The center then contacted Thornton to find out the caskets' locations.
Between 160 and 170 caskets were displaced by Hurricane Ike. Officials expected to pick up the caskets Thornton found on Tuesday.
It's been raining fairly steady out here for the past week, which is quite uncommon for SoCal. It's supposed to clear up just in time for Christmas though.
Comment