Roxanne's Family and the Ozone

Summary

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Who Killed Roxanne? – Episode 6: Roxanne's Family and the Ozone

Host: Charles Dowdy
Date: April 2, 2025

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Overview

In this deeply emotional and reflective episode, Charles Dowdy connects with Michelle, the niece of murder victim Roxanne Sharp, to explore the lasting devastation on her family and the barriers to breaking the silence decades after the crime. The episode delves into Roxanne’s life, the “Ozone” neighborhood’s shadowy past, and the family’s persistent search for justice. It also features insights from mental health educator Gladys Campbell, investigator Stephen Montgomery, and retired law enforcement officer Donald Sharp, focusing on community silence and the unique complexities of cold cases.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Roxanne’s Family: A Legacy of Grief and Love

• Roxanne’s Role in the Family
  • Michelle describes Roxanne as her mother Stacy’s protector and someone deeply loved by her siblings. Their close bond made Roxanne’s loss particularly devastating.
    • Quote:

      "Aunt Roxanne was like her protector... She would talk about how she would stand up for her and that she looked up to her, you know, because that was her older sister."
      — Michelle, [02:14]

  • Roxanne grew up in poverty, shaping her toughness and need to care for others.

    "They, you know, were poor... And I think Aunt Roxanne just kind of adapted to the situation they were in... you kind of had to be tough."
    — Michelle, [03:11]

The Ozone Neighborhood and Life in 1980s Covington

• Frequent Moves & Hardship
  • Michelle recalls family stories of frequent moves, changing schools, and struggling in a poverty-stricken and rough environment.

    "They moved a lot... I think that was also really hard."
    — Michelle, [04:28]

The Aftermath: How Roxanne’s Death Haunted Her Family

• Enduring Sorrow, Broken Bonds
  • Michelle recounts how the murder became an unhealing wound in the family, affecting everyone across generations, especially Roxanne’s son Tommy, who later died young from an overdose.

    "It was like a cloud that hung over everybody. I think it really kind of destroyed our family... it just changed everybody."
    — Michelle, [05:29]

  • The murder’s impact was deeply felt:

    "There was life before Aunt Roxanne was murdered, and there was life after, and I think it was just devastating."
    — Michelle, [05:29]

  • Tommy grew up without parents, was “kind of lost,” and died in his early 30s.

    "He never could really kind of settle... It was really hard on him."
    — Michelle, [09:27]

A Plea to the Community

• Why People Must Come Forward
  • Michelle appeals directly to anyone—especially from the Ozone—who might have information to break their silence:

    "Just please tell somebody what happened... let her be at rest and let my family be at rest. Because I feel like this is an open wound that will never be closed."
    — Michelle, [10:35]

• Family’s Need for Closure:

  "We're just wanting closure, you know, that's—all. I mean, just to know what happened to her. For everybody."
  — Michelle, [11:41]

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Barriers to the Truth: Secrets, Silence, and Fear

Insight from a Mental Health Educator

• How Secrets Endure
  Gladys Campbell of NAMI Southeast Louisiana explains the psychology behind collective silence, bystander effect, and fear:

  "People get a little bit nervous... It's always a trusted individual. Most people can't really keep a secret to themselves."
  — Gladys Campbell, [22:12]

  • On group silence:

    "It could be somebody is protecting someone, you know, not to disrupt the comfort of the neighbors...There's definitely a lot of fear in that."
    — Gladys Campbell, [23:56]

  • Fear as a powerful motivator:

    "Especially if they know who did it... Are they going to come after me and do what they did to her? Fear of life or death is there."
    — Gladys Campbell, [25:07]

Law Enforcement Perspective

• Investigator Stephen Montgomery:

  • Reiterates that coming forward is about what you know now, not what you did or didn’t do then:

    "What's important is that we're here today having this discussion and we're talking about what you remember and what you know."
    — Stephen Montgomery, [22:39]

  • Encourages anyone with seemingly small pieces of information to share them—old secrets matter now.

• Donald Sharp (Retired Deputy):

  • Expresses optimism from new information and community engagement, hoping for an eventual indictment.

    "I have a good feeling about the Roxanne case at this point after the podcast because of all the information that has been received, although we could use a little more. I think it's going to help this case move along."
    — Donald Sharp, [26:03]

  • Reflects on the agony of unsolved murders and the regret when witnesses stay silent:

    "Imagine you're the person opening that door, and I tell you that your child has been murdered. And the person who's responsible... will never be held accountable because the people that know what happened don't want to get involved."
    — Donald Sharp, [29:37]

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Cold Case Realities & The Search for Closure

Host’s Reflections

• Dowdy shares how his own expectations changed—from just airing the story to now demanding accountability and real justice:

  "Roxanne deserves better. She deserves more... My expectations are a lot higher now than they were when we started. And it's your fault. That's right. I'm blaming you because lots of listeners... have cared. You've listened and shared and commented and given this dead story some life."
  — Charles Dowdy, [12:32]

  • Listeners’ engagement has already helped generate new leads.

Obstacles to Resolution

• Damaged Evidence & Disappointments:

  • Michelle shares that evidence was damaged in Hurricane Katrina, and each investigative wave has led only to heartache, making the family feel that Roxanne’s imperfect life affected police attention.

    "I know some evidence was damaged during Katrina. It was just like everything bad that could happen happened."
    — Michelle, [17:09]

• The Unclaimed Items:

  • Investigator Montgomery stresses the importance of locating Roxanne’s engraved lighter and purse, believing someone out there has them:

    "I want to know what happened to her lighter with her name engraved on it... and her purse. I don't think these items are just missing. I think someone has them."
    — Stephen Montgomery, [27:11]

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• The wound of unsolved murder:

  "I feel like this is an open wound that will never be closed, so it can heal until we know what happened to her."
  — Michelle, [10:35]

• Lonely hope for justice:

  "Most of our core family has died and has died with no one. What happened to her?"
  — Michelle, [05:29]

• The box every investigator carries:

  "Every investigator across their career ends up with a box. And that box is filled with unanswered questions or an unsolved case that they just refuse to let go. And this is my box."
  — Stephen Montgomery, [32:58]

• Chasing the ever-elusive truth:

  "Everybody will tell me, man, you need to... Well, who is telling the story?"
  — Stephen Montgomery & Michelle, [33:48–33:54]

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• [02:14] – Michelle describes Roxanne's character and tough upbringing
• [05:29] – Michelle reflects on the devastation to the family and her cousin Tommy
• [10:35] – Michelle’s plea to the community to break the silence
• [17:09] – Frustration over failed investigations and lost evidence
• [22:12] – Gladys Campbell explains why people keep secrets
• [25:07] – The role of fear in community silence
• [26:03] – Donald Sharp’s optimism and reflection on Henry Lee Lucas’s confessions’ impact
• [27:11] – Investigator’s plea for information on missing personal items
• [32:58] – The “case box”: Montgomery on what this case means to him
• [33:48] – The search for “the real story” and who can tell it

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Conclusion: Where Does the Case Stand?

• Ongoing Hope:
  All guests express hope that, with the podcast’s increased attention and more people speaking up, new information might finally bring justice for Roxanne.
• Call to Action:
  The episode—and this apparent season—closes with the continuing invitation for anyone with information, no matter how small, to come forward.

  "At some point, I am confident that someone somewhere is going to say the right thing."
  — Charles Dowdy, [31:34]

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If you have information on Roxanne Sharp’s murder:
Contact Louisiana State Police at 985-635-3167 or email northshore coldcase.gov

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Transcript

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[Narrator/Producer]

the following is a production of North Shore Media Group.

[Michelle (Niece of Roxanne)]

Hello?

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

Hey, is this Michelle?

[Michelle (Niece of Roxanne)]

Yeah.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

Hey, Michelle. My name's Charles Doughty. I'm working on a podcast about your. I think it's your aunt Roxanne.

[Michelle (Niece of Roxanne)]

Yes. Yes, sir.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

All right. I was wondering if you had a few minutes to talk. Yes, so. And is that correct? You're. She was your aunt?

[Michelle (Niece of Roxanne)]

Yes, her sister Stacy was my mom.

[Narrator/Producer]

Any individuals mentioned in this podcast are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. This case remains an active, ongoing investigation and all discussions are based on publicly available information, investigative updates, and legal proceedings where applicable. The goal is to seek justice, provide awareness, and encourage the public to come forward with any relevant information. This podcast does not make any allegations of guilt against the individuals discussed and is intended for informational purposes only.

[Michelle (Niece of Roxanne)]

My mom was the youngest of four, and so Roxanne was, you know, next above her. She was older than her and she did talk about her a lot. You know, Aunt Roxanne was like her protector. You know, she would talk about how she would stand up for her and that she looked up to her, you know, because that was her older sister. And so they didn't, you know, they had a close relationship. They fought just like, I mean, they were only a few years Apart in age. But, you know, she still looked up to her a lot, and it was really, you know, devastating what happened to her.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

And I want to talk about Roxanne's impact, her death, the impact on the family in a second. But you're not the first one, when you talk about her to kind of talk about the fact that she was tough and, you know, that she took care of her own kind of. Do you. Do you know why that was, why she was like that?

[Michelle (Niece of Roxanne)]

Well, my mom told me that, you know, they had a rough life. They, you know, were poor. And so I know she talked about how it was hard. She just talked about, you know, them struggling financially. And so it was a hard life. And. And I think Aunt Roxanne just kind of adapted to the situation they were in. The area they lived in at that time, I think, was kind of rough. And so I think she just, you know, she felt she needed to be tough. And I think having, you know, my mom as a younger sister, I think she just felt she, you know, she had to protect the people that she cared about. And I think to kind of fit into, you know, the neighborhood and the situation they were in, you know, you kind of had to be tough. So I think it was just something she did because she had to, and because of, like I said, the life that they lived being poor and just having a hard time back then, you know, they didn't have it. They didn't have it easy. I think it was a way to cope with, you know, life being so difficult.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

The neighborhood that figures prominently in the podcast is called the Ozone. Did your mom ever talk about the ozone?

[Michelle (Niece of Roxanne)]

I didn't hear a lot about it. I mean, she told me, you know, it was later in my life that I found out what it. What had happened. But she. She did tell me, you know, about certain people that live there and people they knew. I don't remember it now, but it was definitely, you know, I know where it is, you know, because I grew up in St Timothy parish, so I knew where it was. But she said, you know, they. It was rough. You know, they. They did not. They, you know, that area is. Or did at that time had, you know, poverty. And so, you know, that was a big thing in a lot of places. They moved, and they moved a lot. That's. That's what my mom told me. She. She went to a bunch of different schools. I can't remember them all now, but my mom said they move quite frequently. And so she told me all the schools that she had went to as a kid. And so that. I think that was also really hard.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

Roxanne's death, the impact on not only your mom, but the family. Will you talk a little bit about that?

[Michelle (Niece of Roxanne)]

Yeah. When I got older, you know, my mom had told me, you know, that she had passed when I was younger, but when I got to be a teen, she actually talked to me about it. And she had. She had two scrapbooks. She had a blue one and a red one. And I remember seeing them growing up, and I always wanted to look at them. And she told me I could look at them when I got older. And one of those scrapbooks was about Aunt Roxanne. And she carried that when we, you know, when. I don't remember when she made it, but when we moved later in our lives, it was always there. She always had it. She never lost it. She never misplaced it. But she made a scrapbook about Aunt Roxanne and what had happened to her. And so it. I know it stayed. You know, that was her sister. I mean, I know that stayed with her. It was. It was really hard for her to talk about what had happened to her, but she. It. I mean, it just showed that she made that scrapbook because it stayed with her, and it bothered her, know what happened and that they hadn't. Didn't know what had truly happened to her and why. And I would say that it was like a cloud that hung over everybody. I think it really kind of destroyed our family. You know, a lot of my family has passed, and they all passed very young, and Aunt Roxanne was very young. And I feel like if she was still here, I mean, I would say that I believe strongly that a lot of them would still be here. You know, it just changed everybody. It was like there was life before Aunt Roxanne was murdered, and there was life after, and I think it was just devastating. And, you know, my cousin, which was Roxanne's son, Tommy, I mean, he grew up without a mom. I heard that his dad had a lot of difficulty coping with what happened to her. So he was not in his life a lot. And I mean, so he grew up without a mom and a dad. And, I mean, he struggled a lot in his life. I mean, I can't imagine growing up without, you know, without. Without your mother and then not having your dad in your life. And my grandma was the one that raised him, and he struggled his whole life. And I feel like if she hadn't been killed, he maybe would still be here. So I think it just Affected everybody. And I don't think anybody, you know, back then knew how to cope with it. You know, everybody just dealt with it the best way they could. But most of our core family has. Has died and has died with no one. What happened to her? You know, when my grandma would talk about it, she didn't like to talk about it, but every once in a while she would talk about it. And my cousin, you know, as he got older, my cousin Tommy, he would get angry about it. You know, as he got older, it. You know, it was hard for him to deal with. He was so young when she. When she died. But as he got older, you know, just. He was angry that he didn't have. And hurt that he didn't have his mom. And so it just was just not a topic that everybody talked about. But when they did, everybody was. Was broken by it. I definitely believe that.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

Tommy, do you remember when he died?

[Michelle (Niece of Roxanne)]

Yes. He was in his 30s, his early 30s. He'd actually moved out of state, and he died of an overdose. You know, he died really young. And just, you know, me and him have been close growing up, and he was just kind of lost. He kind of just. He was kind of like Aunt Roxanne. He kind of just was lost. You know, he kind of wandered. He just kind of was here and there. And when he got old enough to move out, he just kind of was all over the place. He never could really kind of settle. I don't know if that was because of, you know, not having his parents, that he just never could just be in one place and just, you know, stay out of trouble. It was really hard on him.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

Michelle, if you could, let's say that there are folks in that neighborhood in the ozone that may know what happened. What would you say to someone that is sitting on that information and not sharing it?

[Michelle (Niece of Roxanne)]

I would say, please come forward. She wasn't perfect, but she was loved. And it's, you know, I've seen since this podcast has come out that people did care about her. And our, you know, most of our family is gone. But the reason why I'm here today doing this is for my mom because. And, you know, all of my family, you know, that has passed because they can't be here to speak up for her today. And, you know, even though they've passed, I mean, I think it would still mean a lot for our family to have closure, to know what happened to her and to have somebody held accountable for that. And so I would just ask them to please come forward and let somebody Know what? You know, no matter how small it is. And I know there was a lot of fear. You know, I know there was a lot of fear back then that something could happen, but it's been so many years. I mean, just. Just please tell somebody what happened and let, you know, let her be at rest and let my family be at rest. Because I feel like this is an open wound that will never be closed, so it can heal until we know what happened to her. You know, I just would like to see at least someone in our family be there to have closure for everybody, to be able to feel that, you know, justice was done and everybody can rest now. So I just would ask them to please come forward. You know, we're just wanting closure, you know, that's. That's all. I mean, just to know what happened to her. For everybody.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

My name is Charles Dowdy with North Shore Media Group, and this is the sixth episode of who Killed Roxanne? And barring something dramatic in the near future, this will be the last episode for a little while. Remember what I said about my intentions with this podcast way back in the first episode? I said advocating on Roxanne's behalf. Now a 40 plus year old cold case might be a lost cause. But I said I was going to tell you her story, and I have. And I said, I know how it starts. I know some of the middle. No one knows how it will end. Well, hopefully this is not the end. It is my hope that this is only a pause before the end. Remember the stats I quoted to you about cold cases and how many of them there are? And we talked about the challenges of solving one. Witnesses die, evidence is degraded or goes missing. People's lives go on. The stats tell us it would be a tall order to find and convict whoever killed Roxanne Sharp in that first episode. I said maybe it was too tall of an order for the stated purpose of this podcast. So what if the bar was lower? I said, what if all I was trying to accomplish was to get information from people who. Who so far had been unwilling to provide it? That's what I said back in episode one. And that was good enough for you to keep listening then? And it was good enough for me to keep working on this project week in and week out. Except I'm not sure it's good enough now. Roxanne deserves better. She deserves more. Look, to be honest, I think I quoted those stats and lowered those expectations and to protect myself from the fear of failure. What if I did all this work and no one cared. What if we made this big effort and no one came forward with information? Well, my expectations are a lot higher now than they were when we started. And it's your fault. That's right. I'm blaming you because lots of listeners of this podcast have cared. You've listened and shared and commented and given this dead story some life. And even though I don't know everything that your tips have contained, I do know that valuable information has been brought forward in the last few weeks. Maybe not enough for an indictment now, but I sincerely hope that is where we are headed. I pray that someone is charged with this hideous crime and convicted. Now, if I sound a little more confident than I should, it's because I know something you don't. Right now more people are listening to this podcast than at any time since it started. And right now we have as many people downloading the very first episode as any other episode. Which means people are just now finding the podcast. So we have to continue inviting people to hear this story. It might take a little more time to find the person we are looking for. It might take a little more time for someone to feel comfortable enough to come forward and tell the authorities what they know. But know this, some people have already come forward. We just need more. Now, I said we were going to talk about DNA with the St. Tammany Coroner's Office in this episode. We're not. And it's not because they weren't willing. They were. In fact, I was looking forward to seeing the cutting edge technology St. Tammany is lucky enough to have. But I knew this is now considered an active case and there would be limited things they would be willing to tell me. Plus, I felt like Mary White from Southeastern gave us the basics on DNA. She gave us a pretty good picture of the difficulty they could be facing when attempting a DNA match with evidence that is so old. Besides, someone else came forward, a niece from Arkansas. I felt like Michelle did a great job humanizing her Aunt Roxanne and making it clear what a devastating impact her death had on the extended family. It wasn't just that they lost a sister, a daughter, an aunt, a friend. It was also the start and stop of each investigation. The interest that came like waves roaring in with energy and good intentions and then slowly receding away with frustration and disappointment

[Michelle (Niece of Roxanne)]

whenever somebody new would take over the case, or whenever somebody new would open it. Anytime somebody would reach out to him, they would talk to him because they wanted to see, you know, the person who killed Aunt Roxanne brought to justice and they did express frustration because, you know, somebody would reach out and they would get their hopes up that something was going to happen, and then it would just hit a dead end, and it was just constant disappointment. I know in the early years, you know, they said that it was hard because the family was not. It was really hard on them because it almost like opened up their business to everybody. And so they, you know, Aunt Roxanne did get in trouble. She wasn't perfect. And so it was upsetting to them, too, that it didn't get solved. And they sometimes felt like it was because she was not innocent. And so they had to endure a lot of people, I think, saying not great things about Aunt Roxanne being killed. And that was really hard. And so I think sometimes they felt that because she wasn't perfect and she sometimes got in trouble and did bad things, that that was maybe another reason why it never could get solved. But I know through the years, I know there was different things that happened. I know some evidence was damaged during Katrina. It was just like everything bad that could happen happened. And that was from the beginning, you know, of, you know, the investigation that anything bad that could happen kind of derailed it getting solved. And that was really hard and frustrating, you know, and after a while, I think they, you know, my grandma just kind of gave up, and, you know, my mom kind of gave up. And I think they still hoped that it would be solved, but I think they had been disappointed so many times that they just couldn't. They couldn't keep hope anymore that it would. It would be solved.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

Like I said a minute ago, when we started this podcast, I didn't know if this was going to work. But after speaking with Michelle and after all of this, I wanted to. Now more than ever, I just wanted

[Michelle (Niece of Roxanne)]

to express gratitude to you and Mr. Montgomery for doing this. You know, I've had friends reach out. I've had people say they saw a billboard about it. I've had so many people share about it, and I've had. I've read a lot of great things about Aunt Roxanne, about people that cared about her. And so that was really good to see that. And to hear that on the podcast is that people cared about her. And to hear that part of it, I think my family. I wish they would have, you know, been here to hear that stuff, because, like I said, I think this is such a hard thing to go through. And I think at the time, it was, you know, I don't know if they heard that enough. How wonderful she was and how people were impacted and how much they cared about her and, and what they, you know, the, the good things that they remembered about her. You know, I, and my cousin, I mean, he didn't get to know his mom. He was only. He was less than 2 years old. And I wish he was, you know, I wish they were all still here. But it was nice to read that stuff, to know that people still think of her and care about her and remember her and that it impacted a lot of people, you know, because it kind of felt like it was overshadowed by other things and that she kind of was forgotten. But she wasn't. She wasn't forgotten.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

The last episode ended with state police investigator Stephan Montgomery talking about a neighborhood in Covington called the Ozone. I want to make this clear. The ozone of today is not like it was in 1982. I've ridden through there numerous times and tried to imagine seeing it like it was back then. You have to use your imagination. There's families, there's new construction. I'd be willing to bet the roads are a lot nicer too. When I talk about the ozone in the podcast, I'm talking about a place in the early 80s and that really doesn't exist anymore. I'm not knocking a neighborhood where people are investing their hard earned money today. I still wanted to get a little more information on the mindset of the people who were in that neighborhood back in 1982. If we're right, then why have they banded together in a conspiracy of silence? Who are the people who know something that might help but still haven't come forward? Give me your full name and title, what you do.

[Gladys Campbell (Director of Education at NAMI Southeast Louisiana)]

Gladys Campbell, Director of Education at NAMI Southeast Louisiana.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

I want you to explain how people react when they have a secret.

[Gladys Campbell (Director of Education at NAMI Southeast Louisiana)]

When they have a secret, oftentimes people get a little bit nervous. They look around, they're trying to find who that person they can tell that secret to. Because it's always a trusted individuals. Most people can't really keep a secret to themselves. They act a little nervous. They kind of stand to the background.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

To me, I feel like Stephan Montgomery has said this again and again. It's not when you knew at this point you. It's simply what you know that could help.

[Stephen Montgomery (Investigator)]

I've interviewed a lot of people during this investigation and everyone has this same apprehension that because they didn't come forward then or because information they had didn't seem important back then, now, now it is, that they are in some way liable or responsible. And I'm here to tell you that is simply not true. What's important is that we're here today having this discussion and we're talking about what you remember and what you know.

[Michelle (Niece of Roxanne)]

Now.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

All right, now back to Gladys and secrets. Would it be rare for a secret to exist for 42 years?

[Gladys Campbell (Director of Education at NAMI Southeast Louisiana)]

Depending on a secret, Depending on you.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

And I talked a little bit before this, but there is a neighborhood that is at the center of this podcast, and it is believed by some, including myself, that there may be information within that neighborhood that could help solve a crime. This crime in particular, the crime involving Roxanne Sharp. Can you explain what that is like? Why is there a group of people in this neighborhood that will not talk?

[Gladys Campbell (Director of Education at NAMI Southeast Louisiana)]

Well, one thing, it could be somebody is protecting someone, you know, not to disrupt the comfort of the neighbors being able to put someone that they care about into jail, having that fear of actually speaking out. They probably all know about it together. Just talking about the different things that they're going through, what they've seen, what they've heard, who did what, who said what. So definitely a lot of fear in that.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

Is it easier to be the first one to speak out or harder?

[Gladys Campbell (Director of Education at NAMI Southeast Louisiana)]

Oh, it's hard because, you know, it's with the bystander effect. I'm sure you guys all know once you got 5, 10, 15, 20, when you had that courage at five people, then 20 more people showed up. You know what, I'm going to stand to the back where I'm not going to say anything. You get that pressure of feeling like you're the one that's going to save the day. And then you have more people coming after you, asking you who, what, when, where, why? Why didn't you say something sooner? What? Why didn't you stop the act if. Especially if you've seen it? So it's definitely people that get a little bit nervous when it comes to that.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

The, the crime was particularly brutal. Does fear play a role in people's unwillingness to come forward?

[Gladys Campbell (Director of Education at NAMI Southeast Louisiana)]

Well, absolutely, especially if they know who did it, because they're probably thinking this can affect me, my family, my friends, this particular neighborhood. Are they going to come after me and did what they did to her? You know, fear of life or death is there.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

I wanted to touch base with Donald Sharp, the retired Saint Tammany Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy who filled in so many of the details about Robert Willie. Donald?

[Donald Sharp (Retired Saint Tammany Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy)]

Yeah.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

Hey, you there?

[Donald Sharp (Retired Saint Tammany Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy)]

Uh huh. Yeah.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

I was hoping you weren't off on your Harley in Wyoming or somewhere.

[Donald Sharp (Retired Saint Tammany Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy)]

I just got back home last night.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

I was kidding. So as you reflect on your role in this podcast and you think about what you know, as a former law enforcement officer, how do you feel about things right now when it comes to Roxanne's case?

[Donald Sharp (Retired Saint Tammany Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy)]

I have a good feeling about the Roxanne case at this point after the podcast because of all the information that has been received, although we could use a little more. I think it's going to help this case move along, and I think we'll get an indictment and we'll go from there.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

When you look at Robert Willie's involvement, when you look at Lucas's kind of being on the periphery of this thing and confessing to the crime, that could not really happen today, could it?

[Donald Sharp (Retired Saint Tammany Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy)]

Well, no, I don't think so. And if you're getting, I don't think that could happen. But Henry Lee Lucas messed up a lot of cases for a lot of law enforcement agencies that will go unsolved because of him. And two, but this is one right here that the state police, Stephanie Montgomery picked up is making a good run on it.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

So even as we pause for a moment in our storytelling and wait to see what's going to happen with this case, there are some basic unanswered questions that are still at the top of our minds. Once again, here's Stephen Montgomery.

[Stephen Montgomery (Investigator)]

The purpose for doing this podcast was one, to tell Roxanne's story and let her know that her life mattered. And I think we've done a pretty good job of that. We, we told the unvarnished truth, and I think that's how Roxanne would have wanted it. But secondly, we want people from that area and the help from the public in answering some of these questions that still remain so that we can bring justice to this case and hold someone accountable for her death. So if anybody knows anything about this group of hippies that used to hang out in and around the fairgrounds, you know who they are, where they went. We'd like to know the relevance of that. We want to know where she was in the days leading up to her body being found, who she was with. And I want to know what happened to her lighter with her name engraved on it, that Zippo lighter we talked about, and her purse. I don't think these items are just missing. I think someone has them. I think they picked them up. Whether they're involved or not, I think someone knows where these items are. And I would like for you to come forward. And if there's anything else out there that we don't know or that you feel is important, or if you think it's not important but you know about, please call us and come forward.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

I've gotten to know Stephan Montgomery a little bit in this short space of time. He's been easy to work with, professional, dedicated, determined, and busier. Our phone calls are getting interrupted now. That wasn't necessarily happening at the beginning of our working together. We started recording recently, and he cut me off and disappeared. He came back a few minutes later.

[Donald Sharp (Retired Saint Tammany Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy)]

Sorry about that.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

So that wasn't the tip that broke the case open?

[Donald Sharp (Retired Saint Tammany Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy)]

No, definitely not.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

As we wrap this thing up and you think about the podcast itself, as you think about the next few months, where do you feel like we are, and what do you hope happens?

[Donald Sharp (Retired Saint Tammany Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy)]

So one of the worst things that I've ever had to do as a law enforcement officer is knock on a stranger's door, tell them that their loved one is never coming home again. But imagine you're the person opening that door, and I tell you that your child has been murdered. And the person who's responsible for this will never be held accountable because the people that know what happened don't want to get involved.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

At 17 years of age, I could barely get out of my own way, and a few times I didn't. But I had support and more importantly, resources that Roxanne did not have. And as this episode makes clear, it's not just about her life, but the lives of the people around her, the lives of people who loved her. Roxanne could have easily gotten clear of her start. Many people do. A thought not lost on her niece.

[Michelle (Niece of Roxanne)]

I just think that so many people got cheated out of knowing her. And especially for my mom, having. I think she needed a sister. I think she, you know, she needed her sister in her life because my mom went through a lot of things, and she passed very early from breast cancer. And I think having her sister, you know, through her life would have helped a lot. My mom was sad a lot. I mean, she just. You could tell she had a hard life, and she tried really hard to be happy, and she tried really hard to do good things, and she tried to enjoy her life, but she just had a sadness about her. And I think a lot of that had to do with Aunt Roxanne not being there, not having her sister to be there for her and be there with her during things that they could have shared together.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

This whole podcast is full of people speaking out on behalf of a young girl they did not know who cannot speak out for herself. She was left in the dark, left nude in the woods. Left in the rain, left in the cold. Literally tortured and killed. So now I will pause. Roxanne's story does not. It has life. People are learning about Roxanne and what happened to her. People are talking. At some point, I am confident that someone somewhere is going to say the right thing. So where do you think this investigation is going from here?

[Stephen Montgomery (Investigator)]

I'm very optimistic about this case. If you remember when we first sat down and talked, I told you that I felt like I had interviewed all the people from the original investigation that were still alive, but I felt like there had to be someone else out there that knew something. And through this podcast, what we found out was there's a lot of people out there that remember this. They just didn't know that we cared and that we were still working this investigation and that the information that they had was important.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

We know the impact this crime had on the people who loved Roxanne. How does it affect you?

[Stephen Montgomery (Investigator)]

Look, every investigator across their career ends up with a box. And that box is filled with unanswered questions or an unsolved case that they just refuse to let go. And this is my box. And every brick wall or dead end or roadblock I've hit in this case has just made me dig my heels in and work harder. Because my goal is to walk away with an empty box.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

Stephen Montgomery's investigators instincts are already telling him where the answers are. Heck, people are repeatedly telling him where the answers are.

[Stephen Montgomery (Investigator)]

You know, that's my question, is everybody

[Michelle (Niece of Roxanne)]

will tell me, man, you need to.

[Charles Doughty (Podcast Host/Interviewer)]

This is the story I heard.

[Stephen Montgomery (Investigator)]

Well, who is telling the story?

[Michelle (Niece of Roxanne)]

That's the question.

[Stephen Montgomery (Investigator)]

Who do I talk to for the story?

[Michelle (Niece of Roxanne)]

I mean, you gotta go to ozone, find that out.

[Narrator/Producer]

Who Killed Roxanne is a North Shore Media Group production. Original music by Cressley Calora Connect with the podcast [e-mail] if you have a tip or information for Louisiana State Police, call 985-635-3167 or email northshore coldcase.gov.

[Musical Interlude/Artist]

Every good thing I do. Gives me something to lose. Every year that goes by I lose what catches your eye what if I'm not who I say I am? What if it doesn't work out? What if I started the drought? What if I'm out of the things that make you want me? What if I'm not who I say I am And I'm scared to admit.

[Michelle (Niece of Roxanne)]

That?

[Musical Interlude/Artist]

What if this is as good as it gets? What if this is as good as it gets? I'm feeling like you don't need me maybe you don't see me Am I talking just to talk? What if I'm not who I say I am? Cause I'm scared to admit. That maybe this is as good as it gets maybe this is as good as it gets.