LAQUIZA GHOLAR - 16 yo(2009) - Hattiesburg MS

Forrest County investigators say the burned body found Sunday near
Eatonville was that of a black female between the ages of 14 and 18.Investigators
have not been able to determine the victim's identity. Initially, she
was thought to be between the ages of 16 and 26.Forrest
County Sheriff's investigator Trey Rudder said a description of the
girl has been sent to law agencies across the state. Rudder said
investigators also have notified schools to determine if any missing
students' reports match the victim's description.According to a preliminary autopsy, the victim was 5 feet tall and weighed about 120 pounds.Forrest
County Deputy Coroner Jonathan Nobles said the preliminary autopsy also
determined that the victim's body was set on fire after she died.
However a cause of death has not been determined. Nobles said he is
awaiting toxicology reports.The body was found around 10 a.m. Sunday by a passer-by on the side of French Haralson Road in north Forrest County."We've searched the area as good as we can. We've got lots of tips coming in. We're checking everything," Rudder said.Sheriff
Billy McGee said investigators were hoping to compare the victim's
dental records to those of a reported missing Ridgeland girl. However,
the Ridgeland teen was located, McGee said.Authorities hope dental records will help the case."You
got to find some dental records to match to compare to," Nobles said.
"Somebody has to file a missing persons report before we can determine
who (the victim) is."Authorities urge anyone with information about the case to contact Metro Crime Stoppers at 582-7867.

Dental records helped authorities identify the remains of a teenage girl found Sunday by a passer-by in north Forrest County.
Forrest County Deputy Coroner Jonathan Nobles said Wednesday the victim was 16-year-old Laquiza Gholar of Hattiesburg. Her burned body was found around 10 a.m. Sunday by a passer-by on the
shoulder of French Haralson Road in a wooded area near the Eatonville
community.A
preliminary autopsy determined her body was set on fire after she died.
Nobles said it appeared the victim had been burned where her body was
found.Sheriff
Billy McGee has ruled the case as a homicide. The investigation is
continuing. Nobles said a cause of death still hasn't been determined,
and he is awaiting toxicology reports.Anyone with information is urged to call the Metro Crime Stoppers at 582-7867.

Hattiesburg police arrested a man
Thursday who is believed to be connected to the slaying of a teen whose
body was found Sunday in north Forrest County.

Adariqus Campbell, 30, of Hattiesburg, was arrested by police on a fugitive
warrant from another jurisdiction, but Forrest County officials believe
he is the key suspect in the death of Laquiza Gholar, 16."Hattiesburg (police) just happened to spot him and they made the arrest," Forrest County Capt. Robert Gray said.Gray
said investigators identified Campbell as a key suspect after
questioning people who knew Gholar, also of Hattiesburg. He said a
murder charge against Campbell is pending after further questioning.Gray said he did not know which other jurisdiction Campbell was wanted in.News of his arrest came hours after investigators said they had identified Campbell as a key suspect in the case.Capt. Mike Riels said investigators were informed of Campbell by Gholar's family members and from community leads.One of Gholar's relatives filed a missing persons report with the Hattiesburg Police Department Tuesday afternoon, Riels said."I believe the last accounts we have of her (were) on Wednesday of last week," he said.Forrest
County Sheriff Billy McGee said family members said the teen had
dropped out of school and had been living with someone else before she
was reported missing.Her body was found severely burned by a passer-by on the shoulder of French Haralson Road near the Eatonville community.Forrest
County Deputy Coroner Jonathan Nobles said he is awaiting a final
autopsy and toxicology reports to determine an official cause of death.
A preliminary autopsy report determined that Gholar's body was set on
fire after she died.McGee said the victim's burns led investigators to rule the case a homicide.

A Hattiesburg man who is a suspect in the murder of a teenaged girl
made his first appearance in court today on un-related charges.
30-year-old Adarrious Campbell appeared before Justice Court Judge Pat
Causey, who set bond at $20,000 for felony uttering, or passing a bad
check. Authorities say Campbell is also a suspect in the murder
of 16-year-old Laquiza Gholar. She was found dead on a roadside in the
Glendale Community last Sunday. Authorities say Gholar was reportedly Campbell's girlfriend. Campbell was arrested in Hattiesburg Thursday. Authorities say he's also on probation for a drug conviction.

Family, friends and classmates remembered Laquiza Gholar, the
16-year-old girl found slain Aug. 16 in north Forrest County, as an
outgoing teen with a personality and smile that could light up a room.Mount
Carmel Baptist Church was crowded for the funeral for the former N. R.
Burger Middle School student who would've been a freshman at
Hattiesburg High School this fall."Wonderful
personality, very sociable," said Denise Veals, Gholar's former
eighth-grade history teacher. "It's very difficult for me. It's very
distressful."Forrest
County Sheriff's deputies found Gholar's burned body near a wooded area
near Eatonville. Adariqus Campbell, 30, of Hattiesburg, who was
arrested Aug. 21 on a fugitive warrant, is a key suspect in her death,
authorities say.Forrest County Sheriff Billy McGee said the investigation is continuing.Gholar's
funeral was the second mourning for Veals and other Hattiesburg
teachers and classmates. They gathered at the same church in May for
the funeral of Gholar's best friend, Hassie Sims, 13, who died May 2
after she fell from the hood of a moving car.The Rev. Kenneth Fairley encouraged the crowd to celebrate Gholar's life despite the controversy surrounding her death."We
come at this time to share words of comfort," Fairley said as images of
Gholar flashed on a theater screen. "Many of us have mixed emotions. We
don't understand why. I want to set the atmosphere straight. God is
still on the throne. God is in charge in spite of what we feel."LaToya D. Gholar remembered her sister with a poem."I'm
angered about the way you were taken from me," LaToya read, as she was
accompanied by sisters, LaToya Roberts and Angela Gholar. "You'll
forever be missed."Gholar's cousin Wayne Felts described Laquiza as an energetic and outgoing teen who wanted to succeed."She didn't meet no strangers," said Felts."Devastating. I feel like this is non-real. A part of me didn't believe it," said Hattiesburg High freshman Donavan Croom, 15.Woodley
Elementary teacher Massandra Griffin, who taught Gholar and Sims, tried
to hold back tears as she described the agony of losing two former
students."I want
people to know that even though she had some trials and tribulations,
she was a good steward over what she was given. It's been real
difficult to know that someone would take someone so young and just
dehumanize them the way that this person did."

It's been more than a month since authorities found Cindy Gholar's
slain teenage daughter in a wooded area in north Forrest County.


The killing still haunts the
mother who often looks for her 16-year-old daughter, Laquiza Gholar, at
night when she is suddenly awakened by dreams."I
still think about it, mainly when I'm by myself," said Cindy Gholar,
51, during an interview at her Hattiesburg home. "It's hard. We all
miss her."The only one thing I want to know is why?"That's the question Gholar said she asks herself daily as she waits for investigators to find out who killed her youngest child.Forrest
County sheriff's investigators believe Adarrious Campbell, 30, is the
key suspect in the killing of Laquiza, whose body was found covered in
burns by a passer-by on Aug. 16.Hattiesburg
police arrested Campbell on Aug. 21 on a fugitive warrant and probation
violation. The arrest stemmed from forgery uttering and drug possession
charges.Campbell,
whom Cindy Gholar said had a relationship with her daughter, is being
held in the Forrest County jail on a $70,000 bond while investigators
work to see if he's linked to the slaying.But Cindy Gholar said she is skeptical that they will be able to link Campbell, whom she too considers to be a key suspect.Forrest
County Sheriff Billy McGee said investigators are awaiting forensic
evidence results from the Crime Lab in Jackson to determine if Campbell
is linked to the slaying.McGee
and his investigators said they did not know when the results will be
final - leaving Laquiza's family members wondering if her murder will
ever be solved."I'm
not going to give them some false hope," McGee said. "It depends on
what we're able to prove through the evidence we gather. I have no way
of knowing when they may finish their (forensic) tests."Forrest
County Coroner Butch Benedict said an examination of forensic evidence
in the case is taking longer than usual because of the condition of
Gholar's body when it was found.Benedict
said autopsy reports revealed that the teen died of blunt force trauma.
Preliminary autopsy reports indicated that Laquiza's body was burned
after she was killed.(2 of 2)
District
Attorney Jon Mark Weathers said investigators from his office also are
assisting in the investigation. Like McGee, Weathers said he did not
know when the investigation will be complete. "(It) may take a little longer than what we'd hoped. It's real hard to say
when we're going to be complete," he said. "The case is being actively
pursued, and I think everybody is going to do everything they can to
find out who's responsible and bring them to justice."Cindy Gholar and Laquiza's other relatives said they believe the search for justice came too late.Gholar said she never approved of the relationship between Laquiza and Campbell."I
said, 'Why don't you leave my daughter alone because she is too young
for you?'" she added of her verbal confrontation with Campbell. "He
paid that no mind."Gholar said her daughter maintained a relationship with Campbell by sneaking out late at night.Weeks before her daughter's death, Gholar said the relationship turned violent."A
police officer brought her home to me about 4 a.m. (and) I saw where he
had been hitting her," she said. "He threatened her and said he was
going to kill her - that's her exact words to me."Gholar
said the abuse led her and Laquiza to file an incident report with
Hattiesburg police, alleging domestic abuse and statutory rape, against
Campbell."The police did not arrest him; they didn't do anything to arrest this guy," she added.Hattiesburg Police Capt. Michael Shappley said detectives did investigate a reported incident made by Laquiza and her mother.He declined to say what crimes were alleged in the report and said the case was dropped due to lack of evidence."It was determined that the criteria did not support the reported crimes," Shappley added.Cindy
Gholar said she believes police could have done more to prevent her
daughter's slaying. And there are even times when Gholar also thinks
she could've done more to save her daughter."I just wish I was there to help her," she said solemnly.Family members said Laquiza's death has brought them closer as they await justice."It's
hard," said Laquiza's 26-year-old sister, Angela Gholar. "She would
call me all the time and say, 'What's up, baby?' I got used to that,
her calling me every day. This is just unreal."Laquiza's 30-year-old sister, Latoya Gholar, said she feels the same pain."The
thing that really saddens us is the way her life was taken. I think
about it more when I'm alone," she said. "We don't have a choice but to
be there for each other and hope that things will work out."

The burned body of 16-year-old Laquiza Gholar was found on the side
of a road near Eatonville in August.



Forrest County Sheriff's Office was in charge of the
investigation, and deputies believed Adarrious Campbell, 30, was a key
suspect in Gholar's murder.Campbell was arrested on a fugitive warrant and a
probation violation.Campbell
was held in the Forrest County Regional Jail on a $70,000 bond while
investigators worked to see if he was linked to Gholar's death.Whatever happened?Forrest County
Investigator Trey Rudder said the investigation is still ongoing."We sent off for a lot
of DNA evidence and Adarrious Campbell is no longer a person of interest
at this time," Rudder said.Rudder said Campbell was originally a person of
interest because he was an ex-boyfriend, but he was never charged in
connection to Gholar's death.What's next?Rudder said investigators continue to conduct
interviews with Gholar's friends and contacts for possible clues."Any leads from the
public would be appreciated because somebody saw something somewhere,"
Rudder said. "They may not realize what they saw, but it could help the
case."Rudder said
anyone with possible information should call Metro Crime Stoppers at
582-7867."We
would love for somebody to call," Rudder said.

Can't find a single update. Looks like the investigators have hit the wall.

kiwimom wrote:Can't find a single update. Looks like the investigators have hit the wall.

Still unable to find anything.

No update found.

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