Police discover body of missing elderly woman inside drain on Youree Drive

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) - The Shreveport Police Department says that they have found the body of Daisy Walker, 75, who was reported missing on Friday, Dec. 3.

Police arrived at the scene around 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 4. They say the body was discovered inside a drain on the Chevyland parking lot in the 7500 block of Youree Drive. Officers that arrived at the scene were directed to a concrete opening where they discovered the body.

The Shreveport Fire Department arrived at the scene with rescue equipment and were able to recover the remains of what appeared to be an elderly female. An autopsy on the body confirmed that it was Walker.

Louisiana State Police issued a Silver Alert for Walker on Friday. She was last seen by family members at her home in the 7800 block of Youree Drive, wearing peach jogger pants and a black bonnet. They say she walked away from her apartment sometime after she was put to bed on Thursday, Dec. 2 at 8:30 p.m.

“This morning a jogger found her in this drainage area in front of Chevyland, she’s been there for quite a while. They went back and checked the video cameras here and they had her early Friday morning on video walking across the parking lot here and the cameras pick her up, until she almost reaches the drainage area,” said Todd Thoma with the Caddo Parish Coroner’s Office.

Walker’s loved ones watched as officials investigated the area. Her family said she has advanced dementia. Police used high-tech tools during the search, but they say the task was a big one.

”The police department has drones, everything trying to locate her, but the fact that she was in a metal container they weren’t able to find her. The drainage ditch had about three or four feet of water in it and that’s where we found her deceased,” said Thoma.

The City of Shreveport’s Sewerage and Water Director William Daniel describes the enclosure Walker was found in.

“That fire line vault is between five and six feet deep. The fire vault is maintained by Chevyland, the meter vaults maintained by the City of Shreveport. We are going to make sure that Chevyland secures that fire vault to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said.

Thoma said he doesn’t know Walker’s exact time of death, but he suspects it was an accident.

“At this time, I don’t find any evidence suspect and evidence of foul play, my working idea is that she stumbled into that area and did not get out. There are no evidence of blunt force trauma, very minor abrasions at all of where she’d fallen into that area,” he said.

The scene is still under investigation, however police also say they do not believe foul play was involved.

This is a developing story. Stay with KSLA for updates.

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