Questions unanswered in carbon monoxide deaths

Early one Sunday morning, May 11, 1969, according to the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office, two hunters noticed taillights near the Tangipahoa River before discovering the bodies of a Greensburg couple, the parents of seven children, deceased in their car at the bottom of a ravine.

Millard Anthony Jr., 35, and his wife Loraine, 32, Sheriff Frank M. Edwards Jr. told reporters, died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

According to the sheriff’s office, two outdoorsmen found the vehicle around 3:50 that morning in a ditch beside Highway 16 east of Amite. Arriving 20 minutes later, sheriff’s deputies scaled the 10-foot-deep ditch near the Tangipahoa River to get to the car at the bottom of the ravine.

Sheriff Edwards Jr. told reporters they found no signs that Millard or Loraine attempted to back the car out of the ditch. “Apparently,” he said, “the car had been rolled gently down the inclined shoulder.” He also noted that the car was not damaged in any way.

When I discovered the report in newspaper archives, the sheriff’s words “the car had been rolled gently” caught my eye. I wondered why he had not said “the car rolled gently.” It sounded as if someone had pushed the car down the embankment, but in a traffic accident, I would have expected the car to have been driven down the embankment. The sheriff’s words suggested he knew more than he could share with the press in 1969.

Curious, I reached out to a descendant of Millard and Loraine Anthony. Their daughter told me she and her six siblings all believed someone murdered their parents and that someone covered it up. She said they begged local news agencies to dig deeper at the time, but no one would help.

Without ordering autopsies, Tangipahoa Parish Coroner, Dr. Charles Genovese, pronounced the couple dead at the scene and had the bodies taken to Brown Funeral Home. The following afternoon, Reverend R. W. Watkins conducted religious services as the funeral home buried the couple in the Lawrence Missionary Baptist Church near Loranger.

Astute readers of this column pointed out other oddities in the sheriff’s report. Since the incident occurred in May, what were these men hunting? And since there were no autopsies, how did the coroner know the couple died from carbon monoxide poisoning?

One week later after the funeral service, Sheriff Edwards told a WWL-TV camera, “We do not know why the couple was out that late or that early, but they were not known to be drinkers. We do not know why they did not attempt to exit the car or move it. However, we still have no reason to believe foul play was involved.”

Millard, a native of Loranger and resident of Greensburg, was employed by the Louisiana Reforestation Unit. Loraine, also a resident of Greensburg, came from Tylertown, Mississippi.

According to their daughter, everyone in the family grew up believing someone murdered her parents, but no one offered a reason why.

Their family included three sons, Jerry, Billy, and Mark Anthony, residents of Greensburg; four daughters, Catherine, Brenda, Doris, and Marie Anthony, also in Greensburg; Millard’s father, Millard Anthony Sr., lived in Pine Grove and died later that year. He had three sisters, Nettles Carruth of Pine Grove, Jessie and Maw McKay, both of Loranger. He also had twelve brothers. Charlie, Jimmy, and Arzo Anthony lived in Tickfaw. L. G., Elzie, Hezzie, and Newton Anthony lived near Millard in Loranger. Ben, Dudd, and Dale Anthony lived in New Orleans. M. C. Anthony lived in Albany, and Harvey Anthony lived near his dad in Pine Grove.

On Loraine’s side, her father, Toy Dykes, lived in Hammond. She had four sisters, Minnie Nickens, Barbara Adams, and Rosana Hill, living in Hammond, and Flora Dykes, who lived in New Orleans. Loraine also had three brothers, Toye Dykes Jr. of New Orleans, Jerry Dykes of Hammond, and Tommy Dykes of Covington.

Unfortunately, that is all we know of this mystery. Why was the couple out that early in the morning? Where were they going? What caused the carbon monoxide to leak into the car? Why did they not attempt to escape the car? Did the leak begin before and cause the couple to fall asleep and drive off the highway?

If you know forgotten details of this event, please reach out. The family has not forgotten Millard and Loraine Anthony, and they remain hopeful that someone reading this will have answers.