I’ve been asked several times recently about how I came up with the idea for BROKEN BAYOU. Thought I’d share a few blurbs from the articles that sparked that very first moment I thought, “This could make an interesting book.”
The original article was in USA Today. Back when the papers I read were actually, um, paper! I remember it caught my eye because the story was in southern Louisiana. It told of a missing school teacher who possibly drove her car into Bayou St. John. But when divers went into the bayou to look for her, they found several cars instead – 25 cars to be exact. They did eventually find the school teacher in the bayou too, still in her car. A horrible accident. But it got me thinking…what if?
What if divers went into a bayou to find a missing school teacher but found something much more sinister than abandoned cars? What if the missing person is only a catalyst for the bigger story?
That’s what got me started. One random newspaper article.
Here are a few of the quotes that grabbed my attention once I started researching the story:
“Waterways are good dumping grounds when somebody wants to get rid of a car for insurance reasons.”
“Old cars in Bayou St. John complicate search for missing teacher’s vehicle ”
Terrilynn Monette’s car found in Bayou St. John
(Gallery by Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com and the Times-Picayune)
On Friday (June 7), 97 days after the disappearance of Terrilynn Monette, Slidell police officer Mark Michaud and state Rep. Austin Badon met at the lawmaker’s home in eastern New Orleans, fired up a computer and tried to identify the various routes the West Bank elementary school teacher might have taken to get home the morning she vanished in the vicinity of City Park.
On the morning of Day 98, Michaud, the leader of the Slidell Police Department’s dive team, went to Bayou St. John on his 17-foot boat during his free time. Scanning the waters with a portable sonar device, he found a submerged car close to a bridge at the corner of Harrison Avenue and Wisner Boulevard.
Cheers until next time!
