Michele Elaine Oakes Boutilier aka Michele Oakes-Gautreaux
A Facebook message in January helped authorities determine the identity of a person killed while walking I-10 in Breaux Bridge in December 1981. St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office Captain Ginny Higgins said that message led to a potential match thanks to D-N-A technology.
“This is DNA that was extracted from bones that at the time the extraction was done they were several years old. So, it was not an easy task for those who were doing the analyzation,” said Higgins.
Higgins said the victim has been identified as Michele Elaine Oaks Boutilier, aka Michele Oakes-Gautreaux, who was 26 at the time. She said they created a Facebook post about the unidentified female victim in 2017, but it took several years before they got a tip that led to a positive I-D.
“And when we took the initial post-op back in 2017, we were inundated, inundated with people that thought it was this person or that person,” said Higgins.
The driver who hit the victim was not charged and they believe alcohol played a role in her death.
“You know the alcohol limit at that time, was far exceeded what the legal limit was so, it’s presumed that she was intoxicated and walked out into the roadway for whatever reason, obviously, we’ll never know,” said Higgins.
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