It was around 8 a.m. on the morning of Thursday, September 15, 1988, when a fisherman spotted a body floating in the Cane River near Pratt’s Bridge, just south of Natchitoches, Louisiana.
“Deputies responded to the scene discovering the fully clothed body of a female floating in the river,” the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Office wrote in a 2021 Facebook post. “The body was later identified as 26-year-old Rosalind Meziere of Natchitoches, the daughter of Natchitoches Police Sgt. Walter Meziere and Allie Wright Meziere.”
Allie and Walter had seven children: Walter Jr., Rodney, Rosalind, Claudine, Judi, Penny, and Jonathan. Walter Jr. died in 2015. Dateline spoke to the remaining five siblings about their sister Rosalind.
“People just gravitated to her,” Judi Lee told Dateline. “So there was nobody that was an enemy. She always made friends.”
The Meziere siblings all describe Rosalind as a boisterous, zealous person. Still, they said she was a soft-spoken woman — and it was her innate magnetism which made her presence so commanding.
“You know those movies that you see a female walk in the room and everybody’s head just turns and watches them?” Claudine Metoyer told Dateline. “That was literally my sister.”
Allie Wright Meziere, Rosalind’s mother, also spoke to Dateline about her eldest daughter. She remembers her the same way Rosalind’s siblings do: vibrantly. “[When she was a child,] I would dress her up more like a little doll or something and she’d walk around the room and she’d say, ‘Daddy, I’m pretty, huh? I’m pretty,’” she remembered, smiling. “And she’d dance in her little dress.”
As Rosalind got older, she took on a caretaking role in the family. “She always helped me take care of [her younger siblings], especially after I went to work,” she said. “She would see that they did their chores around the house, they ate, they did what they were supposed to do.”
Rosalind was affectionate with all her siblings, but they all agree her youngest brother held a special place in her heart. “She was my protector. She was my angel. She was my everything,” Jonathan Meziere told Dateline. “I was her baby before she had babies.”
At the time of her death, 26-year-old Rosalind had two young sons with her boyfriend — a 2-year-old and a 6-year-old. Allie remembers being with her grandsons the last time she saw Rosalind.
It was Sunday, September 11, 1988. Earlier that day, Rosalind had dropped the kids off at Allie’s house while she went to buy groceries. When she returned, Rosalind spent some time with her mother. “She stayed by my house until the kids got a little cranky. They were ready for bed or something,” Allie said. “And then she left and I assumed that she went on home. And that was the last time I saw her.”
In their 2021 Facebook post, the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Office wrote that Rosalind was last seen two days later, at approximately 10:45 on the evening of September 13, 1988. According to the post, Rosalind was leaving for work at Natchitoches Regional Medical Center. The post did not clarify who the last person to see her was.
Her family knew immediately that something had happened to Rosalind. “Her days were routine. She would always call mom at certain parts every day,” Judi said. “When she’d go to work or when she’d leave — she was always in contact with my mom.”
Only three of Rosalind’s siblings were living in their parents’ house when their sister disappeared: Penny, Judi, and Jonathan. Penny Meziere-Clayton told Dateline that she remembers her parents’ anguish at the time.
“Every single night, Mom and Dad would get up in the middle of the night. They didn’t know that we knew, but me, and Judi, and Jonathan knew,” Penny said. “They would get up in the middle of the night and they would drive all night long — drive around town looking for her. All night long, every night until they found her body.”
Jonathan remembers that day. He got called out of school and came home to a slew of vehicles parked outside the family home. It took one short, somber conversation for him to find out what had happened. “Daddy brought me into the kitchen and that’s when he told me that, you know, they found Rosalind and she was dead,” he said. “We embraced. That was it.”
According to their 2021 Facebook post, the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Office “began an intensive investigation assisted by Natchitoches Police Detectives interviewing family members, friends and community members in an effort to build a timeline and any leads in the suspicious case and what lead [sic] up to Meziere’s death” after she was found that morning.
The post says detectives found Rosalind's 1985 blue Buick on Brenda Street near the Bayou Jacko Club in Natchitoches around 4:00 p.m. on the day her body was discovered. According to Rosalind’s sister Penny, that was about 20 miles away from where the body was found.
The sheriff’s office also wrote about Rosalind’s cause and potential manner of death. “An autopsy performed by Bossier City Forensic Pathologist Dr. George McCormick II determined the cause of death as possible drowning, however, there was minor trauma to Meziere’s face suggesting she had been in a recent altercation,” the post said. “It is possible that when she was struck in the face, it rendered her unconscious and she was placed into the river by an unknown assailant or assailants.”
The Meziere family believes Rosalind was murdered. They told Dateline that they believe they know the person responsible for Rosalind’s death. They also allege the sheriff’s office mishandled the investigation.
According to Rosalind’s siblings, when her body was found, the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Office contacted their father, Walter, to break the news. At the time, Walter was a sergeant with the Natchitoches Police Department, but “he was unable to obtain any information other than the information that was presented to him by the investigators,” Rodney Meziere said of this father.
“They said that it was a conflict of interest. And the fact that her body was found outside of the city limits — it was not the police department’s jurisdiction,” sister Penny added. “It was very difficult on Dad to have — to be a police officer and have your daughter murdered and you can’t do anything about it. Nobody will — nobody will let you even look at the case, ask questions.”
Dateline reached out to the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Office multiple times for comment but has not yet heard back.
In 2021, they did post on Facebook that there was “new information” in Rosalind’s case. “The case has remained open for 33-years with few leads until recent new information has come to light according to Chief Deputy Greg Dunn,” they wrote. “Now detectives are reviewing the Meziere case and other cold case files asking the public for any information or help that could assist investigators in solving this case and others. Due to the sensitivity of the case no other information will be released at this time.”
Walter Meziere Sr. died in May of 2020. Penny told Dateline the Mezieres had hoped Rosalind’s case would be solved before her father’s passing. “I just wish my dad was here to give his perspective,” she said.
Ultimately, the siblings just want to see Rosalind’s case solved. The 36 years of waiting have left them exhausted, angry, and disoriented — but never hopeless. “What I would like to see? Accountability and justice,” youngest brother, Jonathan, said. “Bring in whomever, wherever, however — to do whatever the justice system calls for.“
Their mother agrees. That’s why her family keeps fighting. “For answers,” Allie said. “For closure.”
While they continue to wait for answers in Rosalind’s death, the family focuses on their love for her and her love for them. “You always felt loved in her presence,” Rosalind’s cousin Michelle Wright told Dateline. “She always made you laugh.”
And her own laugh came easily. She had “the greatest laugh there is,” sister Penny said. “Rosalind was a very family-oriented person,” sister Judi added. “She always was about family.”
Sister Claudine spoke of a particular night when she and Rosalind sat on the hood of a car watching the stars shine over a clear Louisiana sky. “I just remember us sitting there and spending time together. Nothing special,” she said. “I couldn’t tell you what we talked about, but I remember the quality time of us just sitting there and being sisters.”
That was just Rosalind, her family says. She made unremarkable moments unforgettable.
Anyone with information about the death of Rosalind Meziere is asked to contact the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division at 318-357-7830 or Natchitoches Crime Stoppers at 318-238-2388.
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