NEW ORLEANS – Search crews returned to Lake Pontchartrain this morning to resume the search for a missing 32-year-old woman.
Sadie Thibodeaux and 43-year-old Michael Farley were sailing in Farley’s 34-foot sailboat on August 5 when they decided to get into the water.
The sailboat was spotted drifting about 100 yards north of the University of New Orleans’ Lakefront Campus the next morning, and Farley was located and rescued from the lake a short time later.
Search crews from the US Coast Guard, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and the NOPD began searching for Thibodeaux as soon as they spotted the drifting boat and rescued Farley.
The search continued this morning after strong storms moved across the lake yesterday afternoon.
The case is being treated as a missing persons investigation, with help from homicide detectives, according to Third District commander Jeff Walls. Foul play is not suspected at this time.
“Our number one concern right now is searching for Sadie,” Walls said. “As with any missing persons investigation, what we’re doing is we’re treating it as a homicide.”
Farley was questioned by NOPD detectives after he was treated at a local hospital, Walls said, but no evidence has been gathered so far to indicate that foul play was involved.
“That’s not to say that this is something that’s involving foul play, but we are investigating it as such,” he said. “What we do is we let the evidence guide us.”
The boat is currently being processed, along with vehicles involved in the case, and GPS data is also under review.
Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Sadie Thibodeaux is asked to contact NOPD Third District detectives at (504) 658-6030.