LIVINGSTON — A missing persons investigation ended with a gruesome discovery of a young man’s body in a wooded area of Livingston Parish.
Cameron McCrory went missing in late July. His remains were found on Aug. 11, 2023.
Since the discovery, McCrory’s mother, Dana Duhon, spoke with Unfiltered with Kiran about her ongoing questions and thoughts on the investigation into her son’s disappearance.
Due to the condition in which her son’s remains were discovered, investigators opted for a forensics exam instead of a traditional autopsy to pinpoint the cause of death. The Livingston Parish Coroner’s office handed over the body to the LSU FACES Lab which specializes in forensic anthropology and forensic imaging. Results from the FACES Lab are still pending as of this report.
Timeline
Based on the conversations with Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office and Duhon, UWK compiled the following timeline of events:
- July 19, 2023. Bogalusa Police Department puts out a request to the public for identification of individuals suspected in a criminal investigation. One of the person’s of interest is confirmed as McCrory. Duhon and others in the community believe that McCrory was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
- July 22, 2023. Duhon believes her son is missing because he did not respond to text messages. She knows that her son was staying with three friends, and that McCrory seemed to be scared of the situation.
- July 24, 2023. Duhon reports her son missing with LPSO. LPSO reports that Cole Allen shot a 26-year-old male in the face, who was one of the two individuals McCrory was staying with. LPSO begins the investigation of McCrory’s disappearance.
- July 27, 2023. LPSO confirms that McCrory was dropped off in North Park on July 22 based on video surveillance footage. LPSO detectives said the video shows McCrory walking towards the southeast portion of the park. Initially, LPSO searched in the direction that McCrory was walking in the video.
- August 4, 2023. Duhon reaches out to Louisiana Search and Rescue (LSAR) and LPSO to conduct a search of the area near where McCrory was last seen. LSAR is a non-profit group who helps in search missions but must be invited or permitted by law enforcement to help in cases.
- August 7-8, 2023. LPSO speaks with a representative from Louisiana Search and Rescue, and LPSO said that Louisiana Search and Rescue said they could start searching the next week. However, LPSO already got a team together in the meantime to conduct a canine search of McCrory before needing Louisiana Search and Rescue.
- August 11, 2023. LPSO found McCrory’s remains in a different area of the woods than where they initially searched. LPSO contacted Duhon, and both parties went to the location where McCrory’s remains were found. The Livingston Parish Coroner’s office received McCrory’s remains that same day. McCrory’s body was then transferred to LSU FACES for an examination into the cause of death.
Duhon’s Account
“I struggled through the whole three weeks he was missing. What if the first week he was laying there waiting for his mama to find him,” Dana Duhon questioned.
On July 22, 2023, Duhon became concerned that something was wrong with her son. She knew her son was nervous after the Bogalusa Police Department naming him a person of interest in a robbery. McCrory didn’t want to end up behind bars, and Duhon just wanted her son to come home. In a text exchange between Duhon and McCrory, he detailed that he was with friends but he was nervous about being with these individuals. Then, radio-silence. Duhon began texting McCrory multiple times with no response.
On July 23, 2023, Duhon decided to file a missing person’s report with the Bogalusa Police Department. Between BPD and LPSO, Duhon was given the run around, and was finally able to file a report with LPSO on July 24, 2023, since McCrory was last seen in Denham Springs. Keep in mind that July 24 was the same day that Cole Allen shot an individual in the face, and that Cole Allen was one of the individuals last seen with McCrory.
Once the investigation begins, Duhon stays on top of answering and asking questions with LPSO. A week after McCrory went missing, Duhon and some friends went to North Park to search for McCrory. They searched the woods near where McCrory’s remains were eventually found. Duhon’s search was unsuccessful, and Duhon says that LPSO said the woods are too thick to search through. There were no signs of buzzards or smells coming from that area of the woods that would indicate a body was decaying, said Duhon.
Duhon took an active approach in the search of McCrory by contacting Louisiana Search and Rescue to conduct a canine search. Duhon said that Louisiana Search and Rescue said that LPSO hadn’t contacted them, yet. On August 4, 2023, Duhon told LPSO that she reached out to Louisiana Search and Research.
Days later, on August 11, 2023, McCrory’s remains are found in the woods. Found on McCrory’s body was a wallet with money still inside and a capped syringe. LPSO said that led them to believe he was not robbed since his belongings were still on him.
Duhon says that the property owner where McCrory’s remains were found was only contacted once by LPSO for a search, which was the day investigators made the discovery. This frustrated Duhon because she believed LPSO had been searching the woods several times.
Duhon had to get permission herself from the owner to enter the property and see where her son’s remains were found. Later Duhon found body parts and clumps of her son’s hair that were left behind after LPSO took the body. She is left wondering if all of the evidence should have been confiscated by LPSO for them to figure out what happened to her son.
The area where they were discovered was not a thick-wooded area, according to Duhon. She expressed that she didn’t understand why LPSO described this area as “thick.” Duhon believes it was large enough for multiple people to pass through at once. Finding McCrory’s remains didn’t ease Duhon’s suspicion about what happened.
To Duhon, LPSO has written this off as a drug overdose death, but Duhon still has questions about the individuals McCrory was last seen with. Especially, since Cole Allen was reported to have shot an individual days after Duhon suspected McCrory was missing. His cause of death will be part of the LSU FACES examination report.
LPSO’s Account
LPSO confirms they received the missing person’s report on July 24, 2023, and began investigating the report that day. They confirm on July 27 that McCrory was last seen in North Park before disappearing.
After attempting to work with Louisiana Search and Rescue, LPSO assembled a team to conduct a search for McCrory. LPSO found McCrory’s remains on August 11. Duhon and LPSO went to the area where McCrory’s body pieces were found.
McCrory’s remains were sent to the Livingston coroner’s office on August 11. His remains were then sent to LSU FACES lab for an examination.
As of the date of this report, no reports have been shared from LSU FACES lab, but officials say at this time, no foul play is suspected.
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