The case of a missing Louisiana woman is now being worked as a homicide case.

Autopsy reports indicate Tami Higgenbotham, 41, was strangled to death. The case is an ongoing, active investigation. Joshua Latham, 26, is considered to be a “person of interest,” according to Robert Smith, of the Texas Rangers.

Higgenbotham, left her residence on Feb. 8 from Vinton, La. to go to Orange. Her truck was found later at Blue Bird’s Fish Camp on Simmons Drive, but she was no where to be found. During the trip to Orange she had sent a text to her sister, Staci Robinson, saying she was going to sell her phone to Joshua Latham. Higgenbotham wanted to upgrade so she had decided to sell her phone. Around 1 p.m. Higgenbotham sent a text to her sister saying Latham wanted her to help him pick out wedding rings. By 1:30 the texts from Higgenbotham stopped.

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Knowing it was odd for her sister since she was “always connected”, Robinson became worried and tried repeatedly to call her but each call went straight to voice mail.

Robinson later went to the fish camp and showed a picture of her sister to people in the area. They told her they had seen Higgenbotham and she had gotten into a vehicle with Latham. However, when Robinson asked Latham if he had seen her sister, he denied ever meeting up with her. Latham’s girlfriend told Robinson Latham was at work on the day of the disappearance. However, Robinson would later learn he didn’t have a job.

Latham, who was wanted in connection with the disappearance of Higgenbotham, fled the area.

He was arrested a few days later, Feb. 14, in Maryville, Tenn. Orange police contacted local officials in Maryville, and told them Latham had relatives in the area.

Maryville police checked the relative’s residence, and found Latham, along with his girlfriend, and their two-week -old infant. The woman and child were reported to be safe. He was held on charges he violated his felony probation.

Detectives and the Texas Ranger went to Tennessee to interview Latham concerning the disappearance of Higgenbotham. During the interview he reportedly told them where Higgenbotham’s body could be found.

Investigators went in search of the location north of Mauriceville on Feb. 15 where they found Higgenbotham’s body in a heavily wooded, hunting lease in Newton County. Police said there were certain features on the body that matched descriptions of the missing woman. Further testing and autopsy results would reveal it was indeed her.

Latham was returned to Texas to face charges of violating his probation. He was initially charged with the felony burglary of a habitation in 2011. However, because he failed to meet the terms of the probation, it was revoked and he was sentenced in March to 180 days in the Orange County Jail and four years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

As of press time, no murder charges have been filed against Latham.

A missing child allegedly taken from protective custody by his mother has been found safe.

Around 1:50 p.m. Sunday, Omaha Police received information from the public about the possible whereabouts of Dana Smith, the child’s mother, according to the Council Bluffs Police Department. Police stopped the 40-year-old woman, who had son Nicholas Patterson, 4, as a passenger.

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Smith had disguised Patterson by dressing him in girl’s clothing, Council Bluffs Police said.

On Saturday Smith removed Patterson from the Iowa Department of Human Service foster care without authorization after learning that a court order was issued to place the 4-year-old into protective custody.

Officers arrested Smith on warrants issued in relation to the abduction. Smith remains at the Douglas County (Neb.) Corrections Center on charges of third-degree kidnapping and second-degree burglary.

One of the winning-est quarterbacks in college football history was found dead in the woods of northern Michigan Tuesday night, days after disappearing while out fishing near his family’s cottage.

Cullen Finnerty, 30, who led Grand Valley State University to three Division II national titles and more than 50 wins during his 4 years as a starter in Allendale, Mich., last decade, went missing Sunday. His body was found about 8 p.m. in woods within a mile of where he disappeared, said Lake County Undersheriff Dennis Robinson.

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The cause of death wasn’t immediately clear, but Robinson said foul play wasn’t suspected. He said the body was not in the water and was found in a wooded area in Webber Township, near the family’s cottage. An autopsy would be needed to determine how Finnerty died, the undersheriff said.

The search drew scores of police and volunteers, including staff and players from Grand Valley State.

Finnerty last spoke to a family member that night in a phone call in which he said ”he was nervous about something,” Sheriff Robert Hilts said earlier Tuesday. Based on that call, the family suspected ”he might be having some kind of a mental episode – that he was either afraid or something and ran off into the woods,” Hilts said.

The sheriff said authorities had been tracking Finnerty’s cellphone ”until it went dead.” The terrain made the search for the 6-foot-3, 230-pound ex-athlete difficult, Hilts said.

”This is the last river that I’d pick to fish,” he said, citing logjams and dense brush. ”And it’s a very tough river to navigate.”

Searchers from the sheriff’s office, state police and area fire departments fanned out Tuesday across a square-mile area of Webber Township, which is about 65 miles north of Grand Rapids.

In addition, dozens of current and former Grand Valley State players, coaches and staff hopped on a bus and headed north to Lake County to lend a hand in the search effort.

Grand Valley coach Matt Mitchell, who was a defensive assistant when Finnerty led the Lakers to national titles in 2005 and 2006, as well as former Grand Valley coach and current Notre Dame offensive coordinator Chuck Martin were among those helping out.

Finnerty, who starred at Brighton High School, originally accepted an offer to play at the University of Toledo but transferred to Grand Valley after redshirting in 2001.

The dual-threat QB played for Grand Valley teams that won Division II titles in 2003, 2005 and 2006. He briefly was a member of the Baltimore Ravens and later the Denver Broncos.

Mitchell said Finnerty was ”held in very high regard. He was the starting quarterback on national championship teams. But he’s more than that: He’s one of the most loyal teammates we’ve ever had.”

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly was Grand Valley’s coach during the 2003 national championship season.

”It’s very chilling,” Kelly said Tuesday, before Finnerty’s body was found. ”He led me to a national championship as a true freshman. When I left, coach Martin took over and won two more national championships. My heart goes out to the family and to his beautiful wife.”

A man out cutting wood by Long Barn called the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Department when he spotted a body, and it ended up being a missing person out of Stanislaus County.

91-year-old Amos McElvaine was reported missing out of Modesto on Saturday, and he was found dead at 9am Monday. The location was Forest Road 3N01 between Cottonwood Road and the community of Long Barn. Over the weekend, surrounding law enforcement agencies were asked to be on the lookout for the missing man, who was in the early stages of dementia.

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The Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office reports it is not immediately known why McElvaine was in the Long Barn area, and there is no evidence of any criminal activity. An autopsy is pending.