Thursday

October 15th, 2026

Diversions

Recent alarming headline

News of the Weird

By News of the Weird

Published Oct. 15, 2026

Recent alarming headline

• Sheila Ortega, 72, hadn't been heard from for about a month before her family requested a welfare check in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Sheriff Tony Mancuso told KPLC-TV that his officers "went to the house. No car in the driveway, no signs of foul play."

Five days later, Ortega's family reported her missing, and that day, Christopher T. Cater, 41, was pulled over as he drove Ortega's SUV. The deputy asked Cater if he knew Ortega's whereabouts, and he said he had dropped her in Arkansas to visit some friends and was due to pick her up in a few days.

On the following day, Ortega's van was seen in the parking lot of Prien Lake Mall, and deputies took a closer look, "finding her body in the car," Mancuso said.

When they confronted Cater, he admitted to killing Cater about a month ago and getting several loans using her information. He said he was unsure what to do with her body.

"We have never seen someone drive around with a dead body in the SUV for 30 days," Mancuso said.

Columnists

Toons