Nelda Louise Hardwick, 34, disappeared from her home on 18th Street in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in the late evening of October 14, 1993. She left a note for her live-in boyfriend saying she was going to a nearby store and would be back shortly; when she did not return, he reported her missing the next day. Family members say Nelda was a devoted mother of four and would not have willingly abandoned them.

At the time she vanished Nelda was described as 5 feet 3 inches tall, about 110 pounds, with dark brown hair, hazel eyes and a pronounced limp caused by a shorter left leg. Authorities have classified her disappearance as a homicide and suspect foul play. In 1998 an unidentified woman struck and killed on Interstate 10 in Hancock County, Mississippi, drew interest years later when Nelda’s relatives and the Hancock County coroner saw similarities and believed there was a high probability the Jane Doe could be Nelda.

A judge ordered exhumation of the Jane Doe grave for DNA comparison, but when the coffin was opened it contained the remains of a man and the actual location of the Jane Doe’s remains could not be determined, stalling that line of inquiry. Nelda’s family continues to seek answers. If anyone knew Nelda, her movements in October 1993, or has information about the unidentified woman from the I-10 crash, please come forward.