A missing Harrison County man was found dead Saturday after dozens of East Texas families, including the man’s family members, spent days searching.
Howard “Howie” Waldon, 34, of Uncertain was found in Jeems Bayou in Louisiana early Saturday morning after friends, family and volunteers spent the past week searching for him, Waldon’s wife Amanda Waldon said Saturday.
“They said a fisherman found his body in the water in Jeems Bayou, off of LA Highway 2,” Waldon said. “It looks like he wrecked and ran off into the Louisiana side of Caddo Lake off of Highway 2. It’s considered FM 49 on the Texas side and then turns into LA Highway 2 once it crosses into the Louisiana side. They reportedly have video footage of him missing his turn. It appears he ran off the road and nobody was around to help him out of the water.”
Waldon was last seen leaving Sammy’s Primetime Restaurant and Tavern in Jefferson about midnight April 13. He notified Amanda shortly after that he was headed home, but his family said he never arrived and then didn’t show up to work Monday.
That kicked off a week long search for Waldon in which dozens from Texas and Louisiana joined in the efforts.
“There were a lot of family and friends searching for him, as well as a lot of local people around here and the Cajun Navy came up to help,” Waldon said. “There were a lot of people volunteering to search for him.”
Waldon said two upcoming memorial services are planned in her husband’s honor, including one at 4 p.m. on Saturday in Henderson and another Sunday in his hometown of Uncertain, with times and locations still to be determined.
Waldon said the first memorial service in Henderson will be there because her husband’s niece Lakin Gamble, who co-organized the searches with her, lives in Henderson.
The Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office is coordinating the investigation into Waldon’s death in partnership with Jefferson Police Department. The Caddo Parish Coroner has sent Waldon’s body for an autopsy to determine an exact cause of death.
Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office officials said Monday they were notified just before 8 a.m. on Saturday that a kayaker had found the body of a man in Jeems Bayou, about a half mile south of the bridge.
Sheriff’s Sgt. Pam Purgerson said there was also evidence that a vehicle had left the roadway on LA Highway 2 and struck the bridge over the bayou and several trees.
The Sheriff’s Office Dive Team was called to recover the body and search for a vehicle. As a result of the search, a Dodge 1500 pickup was located submerged in the water and was recovered by CPSO.
Amanda Waldon said that is the same make and model of Howie Waldon’s truck.
