Family and friends of Carrie Yoder pleaded Friday for justice for her killer just two days after they pleaded for their loved one to be returned to them.
“My plea is for any and all resources that can be made available should be used now to stop what happened to Carrie and others like her,” said Lee Stanton, Yoder’s boyfriend. “She should be the very last victim today and forever.”
Police found Yoder’s body Thursday in Whiskey Bay. After completing an autopsy, East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner Louis Cataldie determined Yoder died of asphyxia, a loss of oxygen induced by strangulation, choking, drowning, electric shock, injury or the inhalation of toxic gases.
Yoder is the 26-year-old biological sciences graduate student who had been missing since March 5. Authorities could account for Yoder last being home between 5 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. after she returned from shopping at Winn-Dixie on Burbank Drive.
Stanton said Yoder was considerate of others, enjoyed life and loved the wetlands of Louisiana.
“I feel cheated today and forever because our last conversation was about groceries,” Stanton said. “It was not a goodbye.”
Family members said Yoder was very smart and aware of the dangers of living alone.
“She marched to her own drummer,” said Steve Yoder, Carrie’s cousin. “She was very much in control of herself. She was a doctoral student and very smart; she wasn’t going to put herself in danger.”
David Yoder, Carrie’s father, said his family was aware of the recent crime in Baton Rouge and was concerned about her safety.
“We were concerned and she was concerned, but we felt the task force had the resources and was doing all that could be done,” he said.
Carrie did a lot of traveling, her mother Lynda Yoder said. She started traveling in the eighth grade and visited Russia, Paris, Germany. She planned to travel to New Zealand in December to see friends.
“She knew from her travels how to keep herself safe,” Lynda Yoder said.
After Carrie graduated from the University of Florida, Lynda Yoder said she traveled to the jungles of Panama to study light filtration through the tree-top canopy. While in Panama, Carrie’s goal was to see every color of frog, her favorite animal.
Steve Yoder said the family never gave up hope. He also said the family’s hopes were raised after Utah teenager Elizabeth Smart was found after being missing for nine months.
Bill Platt, Carrie’s major professor, said in a March 6 interview that Carrie was interested in the effects of multiple natural disturbances on coastal plant communities. She was conducting research on a new topic that had not been researched before. She was asked to present her ideas in a symposium on “Ecological Forces and Land Management Challenges for the Southeastern Landscape,” in Savannah, Ga.
Platt said it is rare for a graduate student to be awarded such an honor.
Carrie was in her second year of a three-year National Estuarine Research Reserve Graduate Fellowship. She was on schedule to complete her fieldwork at Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Alabama, finish her dissertation within three years and receive a Ph.D. in biological sciences in the area of ecology.
Platt said because of the past occurrences women no longer can live their lives as independent individuals.
“Everyone in the LSU community needs to change their lives,” Platt said. “You can’t live your personal life until this is solved; women have to take it more seriously.”
Steve Yoder said the family is confident all the authorities in Baton Rouge, including the Multi-Agency Homicide Task Force are doing everything possible to keep Baton Rouge safe today and tomorrow.
He also said despite law enforcement efforts, “in all likelihood” their involvement came too late to prevent the outcome.
Steve Yoder asked the people of Baton Rouge to demand the violence stop because “enough is enough.”
To Carrie, Steve Yoder said the family will not rest until they find her killer.
“Rest peaceful knowing we won’t rest until the person or persons responsible for taking you from us are brought to justice,” Steve Yoder said.
Yoder’s death has not been linked to the four victims of the south Louisiana serial killer. The task force is working with the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office until forensic evidence leads them elsewhere.
Brent Allain, Iberville Parish sheriff, said the evidence left at the scene still is being processed. The case is being investigated by the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office as a homicide.
Police found Yoder’s body in the same vicinity where investigators found serial killer victim Pam Kinamore’s body July 16.
Baton Rouge Police Chief Pat Englade said police searched the Whiskey Bay area the night of Yoder’s disappearance.
“Without specific information, we did as much of a search as we could,” Englade said.
Englade said the crime lab made a commitment to process the evidence quickly so a link could be determined.
Anyone with information about Yoder’s death or anyone who saw suspicious activity on Interstate 10 or Whiskey Bay between March 3 and 13 can call the tipline at 1-866-389-3310.