Lake Charles missing man identified, homicide arrest made at stolen-vehicle report

Lake Charles police said a missing-person case turned into a homicide investigation after the body of Jermaric Andrus, 27, was identified and a suspect was arrested while filing a stolen-vehicle report. News15 identified the suspect as Colby Parker, 28, of Lake Charles, and said he was booked on murder and other charges.

Detectives found Andrus’s body in a field near Luke Powers Road in north Lake Charles on Sunday night, then connected the remains to the disappearance they had been pursuing since Andrus was reported missing on July 7. Police said Andrus was last seen just after 11 p.m. on July 6, putting the focus on a short window between his last sighting and the start of the missing-person investigation.

By July 14, police had tied the death to a criminal case and were describing the charges as murder and unlawful disposal of remains. The arrest while Parker was making a stolen-vehicle report added an unusual procedural twist to the case, suggesting investigators were able to move on him in person rather than waiting for a separate arrest attempt. The identification of Andrus gave detectives a name for the victim and a homicide framework for the evidence they had already collected.

The case quickly became a public mourning point as well as a police file. On July 16, dozens of family members and friends gathered near the site where Andrus was found to honor his memory in north Lake Charles.

The stolen-vehicle report now sits at the center of the arrest’s odd timing, but the key facts are already in place: Andrus was reported missing, his body was found in a field off Luke Powers Road, and Parker was taken into custody on murder-related charges. The next filings in court should show what evidence linked Parker to Andrus and what investigators say happened between the last sighting and the body recovery.