Group raises reward funds with carwash
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, July 3, 2013
By Kimberly Hopson
L’Observateur
LAPLACE – Life Changers, a new community organization, gathered with the family of missing teen Mikivon Anderson on Saturday to raise money to reward any information regarding his whereabouts.
The group washed cars at Advance Auto Parts in LaPlace for a $10 donation. Despite the threat of a storm, the group raised $824 in just one successful day of washing. The boy’s aunt, Patricia Eugene, and Nikki Parquet, the organizer of Life Changers, said they would hold another car wash this Saturday in the same location.
The group is appreciative of the community support.
“It was a start, to try and see if we can get money for a reward. We’re trying to get at least $5,000 or something like that. That’s the only way they’ll probably talk, is if you offer some money,” said Eugene.
Anderson, 17, was reported missing on March 26, more than three months ago. Both his family members and detectives at the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Department believe the teen may have been a victim of foul play. Eugene speculates that Anderson’s friends may have played a major part in his disappearance. According to her, Anderson regularly hung around a younger boy. Anderson was last seen with the boy in question at the end of Little Hope Street in Garyville, waiting for a ride to Mt. Airy on the evening that he went missing.
Detectives at the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Department have pursued many tips in the search for the teen but to no avail. Louisiana State Police even conducted an aerial search of the wooded areas near Garyville and Mount Airy in April.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to call the St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s Office tip line at 985-359-TIPS, or Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111.