The death of a missing McComb woman is likely to remain under investigation for some time, Pike County sheriff’s officials said today.
Family members reported Leslie Allen, 18, missing on Sept. 6, two days after sheriff’s deputies responded to a call of Allen running along Irene Road and acting strangely.
Her body was found six days later in the partially drained bed of Lake Tangipahoa at Percy Quin State Park.
Chief Deputy Steve Rushing said this morning that a medical examiner was unable to determine the cause of Allen’s death.
There were no signs of foul play such as gunshot or stab wounds, or blunt force trauma to Allen’s body.
It also remained unclear if she drowned.
Rushing said toxicology reports show alcohol and marijuana in Allen’s blood.
He said it is still unclear how Allen got into the lake, but the last time she was seen she was running in the woods toward Percy Quin.
Rushing also said nothing found by the medical examiner pointed to homicide.
The sheriff’s department will continue to interview anyone connected with the case to find out more details, he said.
Rushing said authorities are unsure if the lake had been fully drained at the time that Allen was seen running toward the park.
Authorities received a call around 10:30 a.m. Sept. 12 from a sightseer at the lake saying he had found a body.
After hours of trudging through deep mud, searchers found Allen’s body face down and badly decomposed.
The discovery came shortly after officials drained the lake to repair an earthen dam damaged by Hurricane Isaac.
