Jogger Sought in Case of Missing New Orleans Teacher
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Images Courtesy of Amy Hoyle(NEW ORLEANS) — New Orleans police believe that a jogger seen on surveillance video may have information about the disappearance of elementary school teacher Terrilynn Monette.
“If anyone knows who that jogger was, or if you were jogging in City Park that morning, please come forward. Maybe that person saw something that can help the investigation,” Lt. Christopher Kalka told ABC affiliate WGNO News.
Police have also released a sequence of events on the night the second grade teacher disappeared.
Police say that on the night of March 1, Monette, 26, originally of Long Beach, Calif., joined a friend for dinner in a New Orleans area restaurant. The two then joined several other pals at Parlay’s bar about midnight.
“She did not consume any excessive number of alcoholic beverages while she was there,” the police statement said. Police say they interviewed several people who were at the bar including the two bartenders on duty that night, bouncers and other patrons at the bar.
According to the police statement, Monette’s phone ran out of battery life and stopped working just before 1 a.m.
Around 3:30 a.m., she went to her car for 45 minutes with a man who has since been interviewed and ruled out as a suspect, the police said.
“He said, at the time, that she was passed out in the driver’s seat and appeared intoxicated. He thought it was best for her to ‘sleep it off,'” the statement said.
The young teacher left the parking lot around 5:15 a.m. on Saturday morning, March 2.
Police say several unreleased surveillance cameras reveal that no cars followed Monette after leaving the bar, but a jogger was spotted at one of the intersections 10 minutes after her car was last seen on the surveillance tape.
Police also checked a traffic camera near her apartment but there is no sign of her returning home, police said.
Detectives are interviewing “aggressive sex offenders within a 2 mile radius” of the area, Kalka said.
Earlier this week, Monette’s mother urged authorities to expand their search beyond the New Orleans area.
“It should be nationwide now,” Toni Enclade told ABC News. “As a mother, my instincts were leading me to know that she is not in any of the areas where they’ve been searching. I feel and believe that someone has Terrilynn.”
Anyone with information is asked to call New Orleans Police at 504-658-4000.
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