BATON ROUGE — A Baton Rouge man at the center of a missing persons investigation is finally back in Baton Rouge, charged with the murder of his stepdad. Ian Seghers remained in the St. Tammany Parish Jail awaiting extradition to Baton Rouge for several months.
Now that he is in Baton Rouge, Seghers is facing charges of first-degree murder of his stepfather, Walter “Keith” Rowland, and unauthorized use of a vehicle after he was allegedly seen driving Rowland’s white Ford van in both Pearl River, Louisiana, and Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, after the man was reported missing. He was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on Feb. 3 and remains without bond at this time.
Ian Seghers was arrested in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, on March 22, 2025, as a fugitive from Baton Rouge. The warrant followed the March 9, 2025 disappearance of his stepfather, who was reported missing by family members.
Seghers was extradited to St. Tammany Parish to face their charge first for contempt of court. He was then supposed to be extradited to Baton Rouge, where he would be charged with murder. However, according to jail records, Seghers was booked into the St. Tammany Parish Jail on March 26, 2025, and remained there until today.
Splatter on ceiling & walls: “Large amount of blood”
UWK is now learning new details into the murder investigation.
Baton Rouge Police began investigating the disappearance of 66-year-old Rowland after his sister reported on March 9 that she hadn’t heard from him, something she said was highly unusual. The two typically met weekly, and Rowland had missed their March 7 visit.
BRPD went to check on Rowland at his home. His van was not in the driveway, and no one answered the door. Since there were no signs of forced entry or distress, police entered Rowland into the National Crime Information Center as a missing person.
BRPD detectives later learned that Rowland’s stepson, Seghers, had been living in a camper on Rowland’s property. According to Rowland’s sister, the relationship between the two had been “strained.”
Rowland’s van was reportedly seen in Mississippi around March 10, based on license plate reader data. It has not been recorded since.
Detectives also learned from the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Dept. that a mutual friend of Rowland and Seghers had recently seen Seghers driving the missing man’s van in Pearl River. The friend claimed that Seghers had asked to borrow a shovel to bury a dog before walking into a wooded area. Rowland was not seen.
According to the arrest warrant, phone data indicates that Rowland and Seghers may have been together on March 1 around 4:40 p.m. However, phone data shows that Rowland’s cell phone went inactive on March 1 around 5:40 p.m., when Seghers’ phone was still nearby.
“Seghers’ cell phone stays on and then leaves the area sometime later,” the warrant states. “The victim’s phone never comes back on.”
After March 1, Rowland’s white van is spotted multiple times on license plate reader cameras, and was seen at the residence with Seghers. Rowland was never seen with the van.
Detectives say they were able to obtain video evidence of Seghers operating the van.
Officials searched Rowland’s home with cadaver dogs. In separate instances, both dogs indicated that there had been “human remains on site,” according to the warrant.
Detectives believe the bedroom in Rowland’s home was the crime scene. The search of the home indicated blood splatter on the ceiling and walls of the room, including near a chair that Rowland may have been sitting on.
“The chair cushions had been cut with a sharp object and other material had been removed,” officials wrote. “Cleaning liquid had been poured all over the chair, causing discoloration of the material that was left.”
Altogether, the bedroom appeared to have a “large amount of blood,” the warrant stated.
Detectives were able to confirm blood leading from the bedroom and through the living room to the front porch.
According to the warrant, neighbors told police that they had seen the van parked with the back of the van butted up to the porch.
Officials say that Seghers left a family friend multiple voicemail messages asking for help in cleaning up a mess at the home on Rowland’s property. Seghers mentions “stuff” being sprayed on the walls of the home and needing to rip out carpet because of the mess, per the warrant.
Court records also say that Seghers mentions in these messages that his stepfather left him everything.
In a jail call between Seghers and his girlfriend, Seghers allegedly told her that he was never coming to Baton Rouge again. Seghers was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on Feb. 3, 2026.
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