Keith Madison still missing in Greensburg
Two years ago this month, the daughter of a missing St. Helena Parish man called me, asking Bayou Justice to shine some light on the disappearance of her father, who vanished one year ago from the Hall and Lindsey Road area, a short thoroughfare northwest of Greensburg, between Louisiana Highways 10 and 43.
Greensburg is the county seat of St. Helena Parish. Although St. Helena Parish borders Tangipahoa and Livingston Parishes, it is one of the more rural counties in South Louisiana. At the 2010 United States Census, the parish’s population was 11,203. Before the 2020 census, the population dropped to 10,920.
To search the rural landscape for the missing resident, the St. Helena Parish Sheriff’s Office borrowed one of two helicopters from nearby Livingston Parish. While some investigators searched from the sky, others led rescue dogs to walk and search the rural, secluded neighborhood.
Unfortunately, the search proved fruitless.
Almost a year later, 46-year-old Keith Madison remains missing.
On January 9, another resident disappeared from the Hall and Lindsey Road area, prompting authorities to consider whether the two cases could be related. As before, the St. Helena Parish Sheriff’s Office led an exhaustive search by land and air, only this time, they found a body.
Searchers found 65-year-old Steven Virgil Callison at 10:54 Friday morning, January 21, 2022, just eleven days after he went missing.
“We remained hopeful. This is not the outcome we were praying for,” read a news release from the sheriff’s office that day. It concluded, “Sheriff [Nathaniel] Williams would like to offer condolences to the family of Mr. Callison.”
Callison had a medical condition, but he left home without his medical equipment. He also wore a prosthetic leg. An autopsy is underway, but investigators believe he died of natural causes.
With this case resolved and seemingly unrelated to the other neighborhood disappearance, investigators are back at square one with Keith Madison’s disappearance. The case remains open and unsolved even with a $4,000 reward from Crime Stoppers.
Family members told investigators they last saw Keith Madison on Saturday, February 20, 2021. That day, he wore a black zip-up hoodie and light-colored blue jeans. A white male, he has hazel eyes and gray hair. He is 5-foot-7 and weighs 179 pounds. Family members reported last seeing him near his home.
Keith Madison’s daughter, Krista, said that night still haunts her. “My stepmom, Anita, called after midnight,” Krista told me. “She was panicked, saying my dad was gone. She said he left his dip and took his gun, and she didn’t know where he went.”
Krista last saw her dad on Valentine’s Day, 2021.
“He wasn’t himself,” she said. “He was quiet and left fast. That wasn’t normal for him. He looked stressed.” Krista said her father told her he was not getting along with his stepdaughter’s boyfriend, although the couple lived in the home with Keith Madison and his wife.
“He told us he was tired of the couple’s constant arguing and wanted [the boyfriend] to leave, but he said [Krista’s stepsister] would leave with him, and my stepmom wouldn’t like that at all,” Krista said.
Keith Madison lived with his wife, their son, and Krista’s stepsister and boyfriend when her father disappeared, she said.
“No one lives in the house now,” Krista added. “My stepmother and stepsister moved after my stepsister and her boyfriend broke up. My half-brother is in South Carolina. Boot camp. He joined the Marines after our father died.”
“The only way we will find out what happened to my dad,” Krista said, “Is if someone comes forward. Please help me get the word out if you can.”