13 Year Old Kaitlin Aydell Missing Since 2/1/07 in French Settlement, LA (Mark Sterling Lewis Arrested)(UPDATE: Body Found)
13 year old Kaitlin Aydall has been missing since Thursday, February 1, 2007 after she got off her school bus in the afternoon. Kaitlin Aydall is missing from the French Settlement area of Louisiana near Coyell Bayou.
Description:
- Kaitlin Aydell, white female
- weighs about 100 pounds
- 5’5.” tall
- She was last seen wearing her school uniform with a red Hollister and a brown Aeropostale jacket
Police have arrested Mark Sterling Lewis, Kaitlin’s cousin, for obstruction of justice. Mark Sterling Lewis was found with fresh scratches on his face. Could Kaitin have put up a struggle prior to her disappearance. Most probable that DNA evidence can be discovered of Lewis when Kaitlin Aydell is found.
This is 39-year-old Mark Sterling Lewis. He was arrested for obstruction of justice after sheriff’s detectives discovered he lied about his whereabouts, asked a friend to provide an alibi and could not explain fresh scratches on his face. (WAFB)
Mark Sterling Lewis
UPDATE I: Kaitlin Aydell’s Myspace Account
Posted on Kaitlin Audell’s Myspace account is that she was 16. Obviously that was not the case as she was 13, dates of birth 5/21/93.
“Please help find me.”
Female
16 years old
SoMe WhErE OuT TheRe , Louisiana
United States
Message on MySpace account to help find Kaitlin Aydell
Kaitlin Maria Aydell – Date of Birth 5/21/93 Missing from her home in French Settlement, Louisiana since Thursday, 2/1/2007 between 3:00 and 4:30 pm. Here are several pictures of Kaitlin PLEASE PASS THIS TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE * Everything that we send out & the sooner we send it out may help us find her. Please contact the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s office ask for Ben Ballard the Lead Detective @1-800-443-7681 ext 318. with any information that may lead to bringing her back to us safe and sound
UPDATE II: Mark Sterling Lewis prior arrests
Investigators believe that due to Lewis’ failure to cooperate, valuable time was wasted in locating the missing girl, deputies said.
Lewis previously was arrested by the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office in September 1995 and booked with auto theft, felony theft and aggravated kidnapping, deputies said.
Lewis was charged with those crimes after he allegedly kidnapped a woman in Livingston Parish by placing a screwdriver to her throat and forcing her to drive to an unknown location, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
During the drive, the victim escaped by getting out of the vehicle, leaving Lewis to steal her vehicle along with her purse and other personal items, according to reports at the time.
Lewis was convicted and sentenced to seven years with the Louisiana Department of Corrections with five years suspended, thus serving two years of prison time for the offenses. (The Advocate)
UPDATE III: Body Discovered Near Gonzales
A body has been found near Gonzales. The body is believed to be that of missing 13-year-old Kaitlin Aydell, who has been missing since Thursday afternoon. (WAFB)
The body was found about 12 miles away from the location where Kaitlin Aydell went missing
Body found in Ascension; no ID available yet
A body has been found in a rural location; however, authorities are not discussing whether it Kaitlin or even the gender of the body found.
ST. AMANT – Livingston Parish sheriff’s investigators searching for a 13-year-old French Settlement girl missing since Thursday afternoon arrived at a rural location in Ascension Parish Saturday evening to examine a dead body.
The Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office located the body Saturday afternoon alongside New River Road about 100 yards off La. 936 in St. Amant, authorities said.
The Ascension Sheriff’s Office notified Livingston Parish investigators they had located the body, the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office reported Saturday afternoon. (The Advocate)
Wiley said that two volunteer in the search for Aydell found a disturbed area of leaves and growth near a small bayou off New River Road. Upon closer inspection, they discovered a body lying there. (Ascension Citizen)
UPDATE IV: The body found is now being ID’d as a young white girl.
Is it possible that the suspect they have arrested, Mark Sterling Lewis, gave up the location of Kaitlin as a way of avoiding the “death penalty”.
UPDATE V: Confirmation that the body is that of Kaitlin Aydell
We do have confirmation that the body found by volunteers is that of 13 year old Kaitlin Aydell. We just spoke with Tim Miller of Texas Equusearch and was notified of the sad news.
Tim Miller asked for everyone to please keep the family of Kaitlin Aydell and the community in their prayers. At the very least Kaitlin will be brought home to her family.
Kaitlin, rest in peace and God Bless.
UPDATE VI: French Settlement shocked by the death of 13-year-old
In this sleepy bayou village of 900, the missing-person posters have been ripped from storefront windows; the sounds of four-wheelers and other search vehicles were stilled.
About 10 miles away, quiet also permeated the area near New River Bayou in Ascension Parish where Kaitlin’s body was discovered, partially submerged.
Handpicked flowers, bouquets of roses and a pink teddy bear were tied with yellow police tape to a tree near the bayou. (The Advocate)
UPDATE V: Autopsy: French Settlement teen strangled
The 13-year-old girl found dead last week was strangled, the Livingston Parish Sheriffs Office says.
Jason Ard, chief of operations for the sheriff’s office, would not comment further on the autopsy report on Kaitlin M. Aydell. The parish coroner, Dr. Ron Coe, would say only that he had ruled the death a homicide.