I told you so

In July of last year, Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard told reporters on a national television network that his office had new information on the 2008 disappearance of Barbara Blount.

“Right now, we have gotten some information that I feel is going to be very good information. Of course, we have to work through it to make sure it’s credible and what we need. But I have a really good feeling that this is going to put another piece in the puzzle and help us find Barbara Blount and [find out] what actually happened to her,” the sheriff said. “I’m really proud about this, but I don’t want to get too excited because, again, in these cases, you have to take your time, be patient, and make sure the information is credible,” he said.

That month, I encouraged readers not to get excited. I reminded folks that the sheriff was running for re-election and that he had made a similar statement the last time he ran for office.

Preparing a run for re-election in 2018, Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard called a press conference. With the family of Barbara Blount on stage next to him, he declared plans to solve the then 10-year missing person case.

But that never happened.

The following year, Louisiana State Police charged Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Deputy Dennis Perkins with 60 counts of production of pornography involving a juvenile under the age of 13, two counts of first-degree rape, three counts of possession of pornography involving a child under the age of 13, two counts of video voyeurism, and two counts of obscenity.

Sheriff Ard’s reputation tanked when journalists reported Perkins got his job with the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office in 2002 when Ard vouched for him after another law enforcement agency fired him.

Soon after, Sheriff Ard called another news conference. Former deputies Woody Overton and Jim Rathmann, he said, were given Barbara Blount’s case files. They would review collected data with fresh eyes and interview Blount family members on their web-based podcast.

Unfortunately, nothing came of it. When Dennis Perkins pleaded guilty, receiving a century-long prison sentence, the case faded from the headlines, as did Woody Overton’s attention to Barbara Blount.

During his 2023 campaign, Sheriff Jason Ard again announced developments in the Barbara Blount case. I wanted to believe him, but I had seen him break the hearts of Mrs. Barbara’s family before.

In 2018, the year Sheriff Ard paraded Mrs. Barbara’s family on stage, I sent public records requests to every law enforcement agency in the 21st Judicial District, from the smallest to the largest, asking for a list of unsolved murders within their jurisdiction in the previous 20 years.

Every agency complied without charging so much as a copying fee—every agency except the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office.

When I asked the LPSO public information officer for an explanation, she told me Sheriff Ard would “consider my request” after I paid a 300 dollar research fee.

When I explained Louisiana law required them to comply with public records requests, she suggested I file a lawsuit, saying the sheriff initially wanted to charge me a thousand dollars before she explained to him that my work might help them close a case or two.

At the Barbara Blount press conference the year he denied my request, Sheriff Ard insisted the Blount disappearance was the only unsolved case on their books. This column has repeatedly proven that statement untrue, even without the requested records.

Regarding Mrs. Barbara’s case, a retired deputy told me an LPSO detective solved the case years ago. However, the sheriff felt they lacked the evidence to convince a jury. That happens often and may be true in this case, but building the Blount family’s hopes with false pretenses for political gain is inexcusable.

On a Friday afternoon, May 2, 2008, Barbara Blount, a Sunday school teacher at Magnolia Baptist Church in Holden, left her country home, drove a quarter mile down the street, and disappeared. Neighbors last saw her next to Louisiana Highway 1036, where the sheriff’s office found her car abandoned. The witnesses saw her talking to a man in a silver late 90s model Ford F-100. Admittedly, the sheriff’s office never questioned or even located the man.

Sixteen months have passed since the last time Sheriff Jason Ard said a break in the Barbara Blount case is imminent, but fear not; we will get the same good news next election year.