Our card this week is Sandra Ann Burris, the 5 of Spades from Louisiana. On a hot summer night in 2005, Sandra Burris and her best friend went clubbing in their small Louisiana town. The night started out like any other, but the friends went separate ways later in the evening, and sometime after that, Sandra vanished—and there’s been no trace of her since. As the 20th anniversary of Sandra’s disappearance approaches, her oldest daughter, Kelly Melancon, is still looking for answers.But it turns out, you get the right reporter dusting things off, asking questions… and you just might uncover new avenues of investigation. If you know anything about the disappearance of Sandra Burris, please contact St. Landry Parish Crime Stoppers by visiting their website, www.stlandrycrimestoppers, or by calling their tip line at 1-337-948-8477.View source material and photos for this episode at: thedeckpodcast.com/sandra-burris Let us deal you in… follow The Deck on social media.Instagram: @thedeckpodcast | @audiochuckTwitter: @thedeckpodcast_ | @audiochuckFacebook: /TheDeckPodcast | /audiochuckllcTo support Season of Justice and learn more, please visit seasonofjustice.org.The Deck is hosted by Ashley Flowers. Instagram: @ashleyflowersTikTok: @ashleyflowerscrimejunkieTwitter: @Ash_FlowersFacebook: /AshleyFlowers.AFText Ashley at 317-733-7485 to talk all things true crime, get behind the scenes updates, and more!
Full Episode
Our card this week is Sandra Burris, the Five of Spades from Louisiana. On a hot summer night in 2005, Sandra and her best friend went clubbing in their small Louisiana town. The night started out like any other, but the friends went separate ways later in the evening, and sometime after that, Sandra vanished. And there has been no trace of her in 20 years.
But it turns out, you get the right reporter dusting things off, asking questions, and you just might surface new avenues of investigation. I'm Ashley Flowers, and this is The Deck. On Tuesday, July 26, 2005, Sandra Burris and her 13-year-old daughter Kelly were parting ways.
Kelly was going on an overnight trip to Gulf Shores with a friend's family, and Sandra was planning a regular night out with friends in nearby Opelousas, Louisiana. The two were each standing in the driveway waiting for their respective rides, and for some reason, Kelly remembers she had a bad feeling when she said goodbye to her mom.
The look on my mom's face... was just like, I don't know, like she was scared. Somehow like she knew something bad was going to happen to her. I don't think I've ever seen her have that expression. And I asked her not to go. I was like, please don't go. You're going to get involved with something that you shouldn't. She was like, I'll be fine.
And I was like, okay, well, I'm going to call you whenever we get to the hotel. I love you.
That didn't ease her worry. Kelly knew her mom had used drugs in the past, cocaine in particular, and she didn't trust the friend picking Sandra up. But at 13, there wasn't much Kelly could do, so she left with her friend, her friend's mom, at the wheel. And the whole drive to Gulf Shores, Alabama, she thought about her mom.
And as soon as I left, I was worried about her the whole way there. I got to the hotel room finally and I called her and no answer. And I knew something was wrong because she had just gotten a cell phone and she would always answer. And I called her every day after that and she never picked up.
Kelly wasn't the only one trying to reach Sandra. Her parents had been too, as well as Justine, Sandra's grandmother, who Sandra lived with. It wasn't uncommon for Sandra to spend a few nights away from home, but it was uncommon for her to be out of touch when she did so. The days stretched into nearly two weeks with no word.
And finally, on August 8th, Sandra's father reported his daughter missing. Sandra lived outside of Opelousa's city limits in an area of St. Landry Parish called Port Berry. Parish is the Louisiana equivalent of a county, which means that it's the sheriff's jurisdiction. But they knew they needed help on this one. So they tapped the Opelousa's police department to help with the investigation.
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