FRANKLINTON, La. — A murder mystery hangs near the intersection of Washington and Main Streets in Franklinton, Louisiana.
The sign on the white brick wall with Donna Arceneaux’s picture is only a few months old, but the mystery surrounding her death has hovered over this small town for years.
“It was a bad morning, very bad,” said Arceneaux’s sister Sherry Pigott.
The morning Pigott refers to was Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017. The town just wrapped up celebrating the Washington Parish Free Fair, a time when Arceneaux, 40, was all smiles.
“There’s so many people that say, ‘Oh I seen Donna during the fair and she was so alive and so happy,’” said Pigott.
Two days later, the single mother of three was found dead.
“Got a phone call from our mother that said that she didn’t know what had happened, but that Donna was dead,” said Pigott.
Pigott says that day stays with her.
“Me and my husband got in the car and went to town, to her house, and it was wrapped with tape,” said Pigott. “They (authorities) wouldn’t let us through.”
According to the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office, Arceneaux was found by two friends who went to check on her after being unable to contact her. Pigott says those are the voices who called 911.
“Oh My God. Oh My God,” screams a woman on the recorded line to 911, timestamped at 11:58 p.m. on October 23rd, 2017.
“911 what is your emergency,” said the dispatcher.
“We’ve got a deceased body,” said the woman who called 911. “Please come quick.”
“She was found on the floor, half-naked, and had been shot through her chest,” said Pigott.
A handgun was found on Donna’s bed. Authorities wouldn’t confirm whether it was the one used to fire the shot. Blood evidence was found in areas of the home away from her body.
“If there’s blood in her kitchen and she was found in her bedroom, that to me says that she didn’t do it herself,” said Pigott.
Determining what happened created division among investigators at the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office, which only called it an “unclassified death” at the time.
“There was some that thought it was homicide, there were others that thought it was suicide,” said Sheriff Randy “Country” Seal.
Sheriff Seal wasn’t at the scene that day but says his office did everything it could to find out.
“I knew Donna Arceneaux. She was a wonderful lady. She was a beautiful lady,” said Sheriff Seal.
An autopsy the day after Arceneaux was found dead ruled her death a homicide. That report was turned over to the sheriff’s office, but Pigott says it was never made public. Despite having the autopsy results, four months later, in February of 2018, the sheriff’s office told the local newspaper in Franklinton that Donna’s death was ruled suicide.
“I don’t know how that all got mixed up and messed up,” said Sheriff Seal.
The Washington Parish Coroner’s Office says Arceneaux’s death was never ruled a suicide.
Sherry says the sheriff’s office never told her about the autopsy. All she knew was what she read in the paper, that it was being called a suicide.
“I was like, ‘There’s no way she did that,’ she wouldn’t have left her daughter. She loved her daughter. She loved her children,” said Pigott. “We never believed that. We never thought that from the beginning.”
It was September, almost a year after Donna’s death when Sherry got the death certificate and saw “HOMICIDE” typed out in capital letters next to “manner of death.”
“It was vindication because we already knew,” said Pigott.
Sherry thought the homicide ruling would make the case a priority at the sheriff’s office.
“I thought that they would treat it differently but as time has gone by it wasn’t treated differently,” said Pigott.
When asked whether any suspects were ever brought forward, Pigott said she never heard of any.
“Not that I know of because they ruled it a suicide,” said Pigott.
“If there was any chance for us to make an arrest on this case, we would have done it,” said Sheriff Seal.
Suspicious and unhappy with how the sheriff’s office was handling the case, Arceneaux’s family requested to have state police take over in 2019. Sheriff Seal agreed.
“We did all we could do and we’ve turned it over to them, hoping another set of eyes or sets of eyes would see something that we might have missed,” said Sheriff Seal.
As an open investigation, state police wouldn’t comment on where the case stands. Pigott worries time and evidence have been wasted.
“I don’t have words to explain the regrets, the lost time, just all the questions and wonderings why, wondering why it happened to her and why nobody cared enough to find out what happened,” said Pigott.
Where it happened, the white house on Highway 16, just outside Franklinton’s town limits, isn’t just where Arceneaux lived.
“Ever since I can every remember we done each other’s hair, done each other’s makeup. We weren’t very good at it,” laughed Pigott.
As a hairstylist and cosmetologist, Arceneaux got good at it and opened a spa inside her home.
“This is inside the spa. This is me and her,” said Pigott as she flipped through old photos.
At her sister’s request, Pigott became an aesthetician and started working with Arceneaux.
“We got paid to primp,” said laughed Pigott.
The close bond between Arceneaux and Pigott as adults started as kids.
“This is my favorite one,” said Pigott holding up a photo of herself smiling with Arceneaux.
Pigott was a 10-year-old foster child when she became a big sister to six-year-old Arceneaux.
“It was an instant bond. We were very close,” said Pigott. “My baby brother and I also. They just kind of attached themselves to me.”
Over the years, they would grow into more than just sisters. They were friends.
“She was very different than me. I was always trying to keep her out of trouble. Don’t do this. Don’t do that. She was also like, ‘Oh, loosen up,’” said Pigott.
Pigott was more reserved. Arceneaux was more outgoing. Pigott says her sister loved the outdoors, never met a stranger, and was always up for an adventure.
“This was my 31st birthday. She took me out that night,” said Pigott as she held up another photo of the two dressed up for a night out.
Six years without her sister, it’s memories like these that help Pigott still feel close to Arceneaux. She just doesn’t want her baby sister to be forgotten.
“Do I have hope, yeah,” said Pigott. “I won’t ever not have hope. I’ll always want that.”
It’s a hope she’ll always carry that someone who looks up at Donna’s picture will help a family and community find peace.
Anyone with information in this case is asked to call state police. A documentary investigation called “Who Killed Donna Arceneaux” is set to be released soon. You can find more information here: whokilleddonna.com
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