Skeleton Revives Gretna Mystery
Times Picayune December 7, 1991 


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It was Dec. 15, 1973, when Allen P. Robicheaux, 73, disappeared
without a trace from his Franklin Street home in Gretna.

A week later, police found his car abandoned a few blocks away, but
there was never again any sign of the slight, balding man who was
last seen wearing a green army jacket. 

Now, the 18-year-old mystery may give way to a new one as police
consider the likelihood that Robicheaux never made it farther than
his own front porch. 

On Thursday, an exterminator looking for termites underneath the
house at 1321 Franklin St. instead found a human skull. 

When Gretna Police showed up to investigate, they found an entire
human skeleton inside a hollow concrete porch of the two-family
dwelling where Robicheaux once lived. 

Although they have no proof that the skeleton belongs to
Robicheaux, police confirmed that they are looking into that
possibility. At this early stage, police have not even classified
the death and stressed that the skeletal remains could very well
not be those of the missingman . 

Police jackhammered an opening through the wall of the concrete
porch to gain access to the bones. The only other entrance appeared
to be a hole barely large enough for an adult to crawl through. 

The skeleton was intact and lying face up. The only clothes it
appeared to be wearing were a pair of dark-colored socks. Its head
was resting near a large, green duffle bag. At its feet was a
colored ceramic statuette. 

Anthropologists from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge were
called in to try to identify the skeleton, determine its age, race
and sex and find out how long it has been there. 

After emerging Friday from the 2-foot-high crawl space, LSU
forensic anthropologist Mary Manhein could say only that the
skeleton appeared to be male. She said it had been there at least a
year but could have been there as many as 20 years. 

Jefferson Parish coroner's investigator Bill Donovan said the
remains probably had been there at least five years. 

The skeleton was transported in a body bag Friday afternoon to
Baton Rouge, where tests will be conducted over the next several
weeks. 

Hugh Bodin, 72, who has lived in the Franklin Street area for 40
years, remembers the day Robicheaux disappeared. 

"They missed him, and then they found his car," Bodin said. "They
just assumed he had taken off." 

Bodin said Robicheaux had one distinguishing figure that might help
investigators determine if the skeleton is his. "If that's him they
will be able to find out soon enough," Bodin said. "He had a gold
tooth." 

Investigators would not say Friday whether the skeleton had a gold
tooth. 

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Skeleton of manmissing since '73 found 
The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.) - January 16, 1992 
Author: AP

GRETNA _ When Allen P. Robichaux, 73, mysteriously disappeared from
his Gretna home on Dec. 15, 1973 , neighbors at first assumed he
had gone to Thibodaux to visit relatives as he had often done. 

Then, when his car turned up abandoned a few days later, there was
speculation of foul play. 

Now, authorities theorize that Robichaux carefully planned his
suicide in a crypt _ replete with personal mementos and a sliding
door _ that he built underneath his porch where a human skull was
spotted Dec. 5 by an insect exterminator. 

Police had to use jackhammers to cut their way under the concrete
porch, where they found a skeleton. 

"We want to eliminate every possibility, and we are still pursuing
some leads," said Anthony Christiana, Gretna 's chief of
detectives. "But from what we've found so far, it looks like it's
him and this is what happened." 

Robichaux's wife, Lucy Mae, was still living in the house when her
husband disappeared, but she could provide little information on
his disappearance, police said. 

Forensic tests confirmed that the skeletal remains were those of an
elderly man who had been shot in the head. A .38-caliber pistol
also was found under the porch. 

Investigators also found under the porch a concrete wall leading to
the compartment where the skeleton was found. A metal plate in a
compartment may have worked like a sliding door, police said. 

Inside the compartment police found personal effects, including
Robichaux's wallet and driver's license. 

"We don't know for sure whether this is a place he built to commit
suicide or even if it was a place he went to sometimes, but it's
possible," said Bill Donovan, a Jefferson Parish coroner's
investigator. 

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ALLEN ROBICHAUX  
26 Mar 1900 
Dec 1973 
70053 (Gretna, Jefferson, LA) 
433-07-1867