Remember the segment about the 1956 disappearance of Audrey Moate, who vanished after her lover Thomas Hotard was killed at a Louisiana swamp? Well, there is a new article that mentions the discovery of some remains. Audrey's daughter, Dekki Moate, gave DNA to police to determine if they are Audrey's remains.

Dekki, who currently resides in Montana, has cancer and, therefore, may not have much time left. :( So, as you can see, she hopes to have her mother's case resolved before she passes away.

http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/26703870/detail.html

Remember the segment about the 1956 disappearance of Audrey Moate, who vanished after her lover Thomas Hotard was killed at a Louisiana swamp? Well, there is a new article that mentions the discovery of some remains. Audrey's daughter, Dekki Moate, gave DNA to police to determine if they are Audrey's remains.

Dekki, who currently resides in Montana, has cancer and, therefore, may not have much time left. :( So, as you can see, she hopes to have her mother's case resolved before she passes away.

http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/26703870/detail.html

Good find. Didnt they suspect she had been tied to a cannon or buried in an area that is now underwater??

Thanks for the link, Kane.

Didnt they suspect she had been tied to a cannon or buried in an area that is now underwater??

That's what was claimed by Ernest Acosta, who lived right near the Hotard murder site. I'm curious where and when these remains were found, since there are now a few houses, and a restaurant near the general area where this occurred. An illegal dump site used to be around there as well.

As far as I know, the actual site is still part of Lake Ponchartrain.

Audrey's daughter also posted on this thread:

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60103

gosh, that article is a fountain of misinformation.

the segment did not air in 1987, it was later than that.

and there have been reported sightings and such from her.

plus, it's been 55 years, not 50 years as the article states.

gosh, that article is a fountain of misinformation.

the segment did not air in 1987, it was later than that.

and there have been reported sightings and such from her.

plus, it's been 55 years, not 50 years as the article states.

I suspect that some of the pieces of misinformation were unfortunate typos, especially the part where the article said the UM segment aired in 1987. And you are right about the segment airing later than 1987; it originally aired in March of 1989. I remember that because it aired the first night I watched UM.

It's true that Audrey's disappearance occurred nearly 55 years ago. But if they had to generalize the number of years, then they should have said "over 50 years," "more than 50 years," or something similar. Otherwise, readers could misinterpret it as exactly 50 years.

I suspect that some of the pieces of misinformation were unfortunate typos, especially the part where the article said the UM segment aired in 1987. And you are right about the segment airing later than 1987; it originally aired in March of 1989. I remember that because it aired the first night I watched UM.

It's true that Audrey's disappearance occurred nearly 55 years ago. But if they had to generalize the number of years, then they should have said "over 50 years," "more than 50 years," or something similar. Otherwise, readers could misinterpret it as exactly 50 years.

Always intrigued me! I bet they were both killed that night or shortly afterwards, she was :(

I'm dying to know what happened with this....if she is found...that will be SO many "unsolved" mysteries solved just this year! Who would have thought all these years later there would finally be some answers!

Has this been resolved, one way or the other? I haven't seen anything on the results of the DNA test. Everything I've been seeing says they will take "several months" to come back, as of three years ago.

Seems like in a lot of these cases, we get an update saying they are testing some remains or something like that, and then we never hear anything more.

Has this been resolved, one way or the other? I haven't seen anything on the results of the DNA test. Everything I've been seeing says they will take "several months" to come back, as of three years ago.

I just did a quick search and the only results I get are either articles from the time the DNA was submitted (such as the article in the first post here) or earlier articles like anniversary pieces.

I didn't find any follow up articles even though they said they were going to test Audrey's daughter's DNA against several sets of remains they had. You'd think the results on at least one of them would be known by now.

Is the daughter still with us? :(

Is the daughter still with us? :(

She has a facebook page and posted there just yesterday, so I would presume that yes, the daughter is still with us.

From experience, I can tell you the crime lab in Montana is backed up, but not for over three years.

That tells me the DNA samples didn't match. Bummer.

Didn't it say in the segment that dive teams were going to search the lake in the suspected area? I know the lake is good sized and all, but if they have a suspected dump site, seems like there would be a good chance they would find the cannon at least. Assuming that's true of course.

Another thing about this case: why separate the bodies anyway? For what purpose? Why not just shoot them both right there and be done with it?

If they were shot right there, leave them. If they were shot elsewhere and the event staged, why put them in different areas?

Personally, I think the sittings of Audrey afterwards are mistaken or pranks. So this business of the bodies being separated just doesn't add up to me.

Didn't it say in the segment that dive teams were going to search the lake in the suspected area? I know the lake is good sized and all, but if they have a suspected dump site, seems like there would be a good chance they would find the cannon at least. Assuming that's true of course.

Another thing about this case: why separate the bodies anyway? For what purpose? Why not just shoot them both right there and be done with it?

If they were shot right there, leave them. If they were shot elsewhere and the event staged, why put them in different areas?

Personally, I think the sittings of Audrey afterwards are mistaken or pranks. So this business of the bodies being separated just doesn't add up to me.

I've always felt like Audrey Moate was taken to another area to be sexually assaulted. I think it's even possible she was held captive for a time, after which point she was murdered. Given the location of the car scene, I think the killer was probably local, but Moate's body may not have been placed in the immediate vicinity.

I've always felt like Audrey Moate was taken to another area to be sexually assaulted. I think it's even possible she was held captive for a time, after which point she was murdered. Given the location of the car scene, I think the killer was probably local, but Moate's body may not have been placed in the immediate vicinity.

That sounds like the most likely scenario in my mind. I know her poor daughter said that she hoped whatever happened to Audrey was very quick and that she didn't suffer but I feel she suffered BIG time before eventually being killed.

If her fate was intended to be quick, she would have been killed at the car with Thomas Hotard.

Another thing about this case: why separate the bodies anyway? For what purpose? Why not just shoot them both right there and be done with it?

If they were shot right there, leave them. If they were shot elsewhere and the event staged, why put them in different areas?

I do agree with the theory that Ernest Acosta likely raped Audrey before he killed her, but from the sound of things, he was a bit afraid of his own wife, Caroline, who was a pretty scary woman herself. I know Ernest claimed that Caroline committed the murders, but the investigator interviewed in the segment believed that Ernest was the real killer and that the entire crime was sexually motivated.

It's debatable whether Caroline had any involvement in the murders, but I have a feeling Ernest did not want his wife finding out that he sexually assaulted another woman, which is why he went to the trouble of disposing of Audrey's body while leaving Thomas' body out in the open.

I remember reading on the Charley Project that small bare footprints lead away from the scene and in the direction of the highway but I can't find any mention of scary lumbering rapey redneck tracks.

I do agree with the theory that Ernest Acosta likely raped Audrey before he killed her, but from the sound of things, he was a bit afraid of his own wife, Caroline, who was a pretty scary woman herself. I know Ernest claimed that Caroline committed the murders, but the investigator interviewed in the segment believed that Ernest was the real killer and that the entire crime was sexually motivated.

It's debatable whether Caroline had any involvement in the murders, but I have a feeling Ernest did not want his wife finding out that he sexually assaulted another woman, which is why he went to the trouble of disposing of Audrey's body while leaving Thomas' body out in the open.

Yes, Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned :) . There are plenty of guys in prison right now because of spurned or scorned wives and girlfriends :lol: .I dont think he was physically afraid of his wife it was merely a bit of self preservation, he probably would have had his wife give him an alibi if questions were asked.....she might have been furious & less inclined to do so if she knew he done something nefarious with another woman.

Another thing, without Audreys body investigators would have quite rightly wondered if she had anything to do with her lovers murder , we see this time and again in cases like Mike Riemer and his g/f , this would be good for the killer since the ensuing investigation would have centered on were was Audrey or her body instead of looking into possible suspects...

Possible location of the old Acosta home near Frenier Road. This whole area near Lake Ponchartrain is densely wooded swampland, so I think it would be safe to assume by now that her body will probably never be found, if in fact this is where she was dumped. I wonder if Acosta was ever interrogated by the police in 1956? Could they have done some kind of forensic ballistic testing at that time to match Acosta's weapon to Hotard's gunshot wound?

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj301/igotfins/ScreenShot2014-09-07at83058PM_zpsd4b4134a.png (http://s275.photobucket.com/user/igotfins/media/ScreenShot2014-09-07at83058PM_zpsd4b4134a.png.html)

I remember reading on the Charley Project that small bare footprints lead away from the scene and in the direction of the highway but I can't find any mention of scary lumbering rapey redneck tracks.

the segment stated men's boot tracks were also located in that area, although I could totally see Caroline wearing men's boots.

wow, this article has a ton more info. You might have to answer a few survey questions to read it, but I assure you, it's well worth your while:

http://www.lobservateur.com/news/swamp-mystery-still-fascinates/article_fe3fdb47-9781-533d-b7eb-56bc376b0cb8.html

Some of the more newsy items:

-Audrey lived with Hotard and his wife for a time, and even had a baby by him. Hotard's wife Blanche stated that Moate hated all other women. Blanche stated she hated Moate. If Blanche found out about the affair, she certainly would have motive, although it appears she may not have found out until after her husband's death.

-Apparently, UM admitted its segment on the case was one of it's "failures", as they got no info on the case (that the case was over 30 years old by that point probably didn't help matters any.)

-The day after Hotard's murder (but before he was found), Audrey's mother placed a call to the Hotard residence and spoke with someone there for 2 minutes. It is unknown who she talked to or what the conversation was about.

-Okay, I was wondering about this. In the UM segment, one of the people interviewed said everyone had their own theory about what happened, but the only angle UM presented was her being killed by Ernest Acosta and/or Caroline Slusher. The article gives forth another theory, that Moate was killed for her knowledge of illegal goings-on at her employer, and she was caught up in industrial espionage.