By LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / June 9, 1999

CONVENT – Investigators hope they are close to solving the murder mystery of Hardee Moseley Schmidt, who disappeared while jogging in her Baton Rouge neighborhood May 30 and was found dead June 1 in St. JamesParish.

St. James Parish Sheriff Willy Martin Jr. reported that several witnessessaw a mid-1970s silver or gray van with Colorado license plates cruising the Pollard Estates area on the morning of Schmidt’s disappearance.

The suspect van was found June 6 at the Ten Flags Inn Motel, 7682 Airline Highway, Baton Rouge, Martin said, and the white male van driver is being questioned while the van itself is being examined by crime-scene investigators.

“We’re hoping to find something that will help us,” Martin said. Both theSt. James Sheriff’s Office and Baton Rouge police are cooperating in theinvestigation.

Schmidt was last seen by neighbors at 6:25 a.m. May 30 on her regularmorning jog. Her husband, Baton Rouge attorney Bob Schmidt, was asleepat home.

Martin’s office received a call June 1 at 11 a.m. by a bicyclist who spottedthe body of a woman floating face down in a drainage canal which passes under Airline Highway, two miles north of St. James Boat Club.Martin refused to comment specifically on how Schmidt died.

The body was recovered and soon identified through dental records.

Anyone with information to contribute to the investigation is urged to phone either the St. James Sheriff’s Office at 1-225-562-2200 or theBaton Rouge Police homicide division at 1-225-389-4869.

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