Louis Boggs Sr.

• Missing Since 01/29/1979
• Missing From Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Date of Birth 08/11/1911 (112)
• Age 67 years old
• Height and Weight 6'0, 180 pounds
• Associated Vehicle(s) Green and yellow 1975 Ford LTD with the license plate number 203A255 (accounted for)
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Gray hair, brown eyes. Boggs wears eyeglasses as well as upper and lower dentures. His blood type is B.

Details of Disappearance

Boggs was last seen at his lounge, Louis's Lounge in the 17300 block of Florida Boulevard, on January 29, 1979. He received a telephone call, talked for awhile, then hung up and left the premises to run an errand.

He was driving his green and yellow 1975 Ford LTD with the license plate number 203A255. He left his gun, a .357 magnum, behind at the lounge, as well as a bank bag of the night's receipts. He has never been heard from again.

After his disappearance, bloodstains were found at his home in the 5700 block of Glen Oaks. Two weeks later, his stepson, Clifford Earl Lewin, was found sleeping in Boggs's LTD in a wooded area in Chipley, Florida. He and his sister lived with Boggs at the time of his disappearance. Lewin said Boggs had lent him the car, but Boggs's son stated he would have never lent his vehicle to anyone.

A dirt-caked shovel and a knife, clothing and paper stained with human blood were in the trunk of the vehicle, and the trunk liner was bloodstained also. DNA testing wasn't available in 1979, but investigators determined the blood on the items in the trunk and the blood in Boggs's house was type B, his type. The soil on the shovel was found to be of the type found near the Mississippi River.

Prior to his disappearance, Lewin allegedly told others he planned to kill his stepfather by poisoning his food. Boggs had had him committed to a psychiatric hospital in 1978, and Lewin was angry about it and said if he ever tried to do it again, his body would be found in the river. When a police officer questioned him and urged him to tell where Bogg's body was, Lewin allegedly replied, "You don't have to worry, [the body]'s not in your county."

Lewin was charged with first-degree murder in Boggs's case. He initially pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but on the eve of his trial he changed his plea to a simple not guilty. He was acquitted at his 1981 non-jury trial. He was later sentenced to 50 years in prison for planting a pipe bomb that crippled a Florida police officer when it exploded.

Boggs is a retired construction worker. Foul play is suspected in his case due to the circumstances involved.