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Landfill search for Ja'Derrius Minnieweather expected to begin Monday

36 minutes 51 seconds ago Sunday, July 12 2026 Jul 12, 2026 July 12, 2026 10:43 PM July 12, 2026 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - It's been more than a month since Ja'Derrius Minnieweather disappeared from the "Ghosttown" area of Baton Rouge. Since then, his family, law enforcement, and the United Cajun Navy have searched through wooded areas and near waterways trying to find him.

"We won't stop until he's found one way or the other. We'll continue our social media blast, and we'll continue communicating with the parents, the family, and the community. We want to find this young man," United Cajun Navy Incident Commander Josh Gill said during a search in early June.

Two weeks after Minneweather was reported missing, Baton Rouge police arrested 51-year-old Maurice Parms, charging him with first-degree murder in connection with Minneweather's death.

Not long after Parms arrest, Mayor Sid Edwards and BRPD announced that the evidence collected led them to believe Minnieweather's body may be located in the north landfill. Police say the evidence shows Parms may have put Minneweather's body in a local dumpster.

"Investigators believe Ja'Derrius was picked up on a collection route and taken to the north landfill, which is where we are now working together on a massive operation to find his remains," Baton Rouge Police Chief TJ Morse said during a press conference June 26.

On Monday, after spending some two weeks planning, police are scheduled to begin a massive search for Minnieweather's body. The Baton Rouge City North Landfill receives 1,600 tons of solid waste each day and sits on over 400 acres.

But police say they have narrowed their search area down to a half acre and have halted any new garbage dumping in that area.

The FBI will join the Baton Rouge Fire Department in assisting the search.

"Think back to when the twin towers collapsed, days after you watched people going through hand by hand, item by item, to try to identify anything. That is the kind of situation these men and women are going to encounter when we start this operation," Baton Rouge Fire Chief Michael Kimble said during the same press conference.

Because of the logistics and the amount of garbage that needs to be moved, officials have said the search could take days or longer.

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