Wendi Long
Real Name: Wendi Elizabeth Long
Nicknames: No known nicknames
Location: Red River Parish, Louisiana
Date: April 13, 2001
Bio[]
Occupation: Student
Date of Birth: Februrary 4, 1980
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 145 pounds
Marital Status: Single
Characteristics: Caucasian female with Blonde hair and blue eyes. She has a small scar in the middle of her forehead and a birthmark on her right hip.
Case[]
Details: In spring 2001, twenty-one-year-old Wendi Long decided to take a semester off from college. She planned to continue her studies in the fall. Shortly after 12PM on Good Friday, April 13, 2001, she and two friends drove fifty miles from Coushatta to Shreveport to do some shopping. Her parents expected her to be home by Sunday afternoon. After a couple of hours at the mall, they stopped to pick up "Tommy", a friend of theirs from Northwestern Louisiana University, and they visited a number of friends in the area.
At around 11PM, they went to a party. There was drinking there, so when it came time to take Tommy home, Wendi didn't want to drive. She decided to stay at the party, while Tommy and her two friends left in her car. After dropping Tommy off, her two friends were pulled over by a state trooper and the driver was arrested for drunk driving. When Tommy learned this, he became concerned that Wendi would be stranded at the party, so he drove back there and agreed to take her home. On the way back, he stopped for gas and a quart of oil. When he walked out of the station, he saw her talking to two young men in a black Chevy truck; it appeared to him that she knew them.
Wendi told Tommy that the two men were going to take her home, so he left. She was never seen again. Her disappearance was not discovered until Sunday when one of her friends called her house and asked where she was. Since he was the last person to see her alive, Tommy agreed to take a polygraph test, which he passed. Under hypnosis, he was able to give a detailed description of the two men that she was last seen with along with their truck. A police sketch artist made a drawing of them, but they remain unidentified.
Police then discovered that on the day after Wendi's disappearance, her ex-boyfriend in Shreveport claimed to have received an answering machine message from her. He believed that she was on a cell phone as it was difficult to hear. However, he erased it because he did not know that she was missing at the time. Investigators suspect that her second ex-boyfriend may know more about her disappearance. He was physically abusive towards her; this violence was occurring up to a month before she vanished. Also, even more shocking to police is that he had also been involved with another girl who vanished years earlier and has never been found. However, he has an alibi and can't be placed in Shreveport around the time that Wendi vanished. Her family hopes that they will be able to find her based on the information about the two men that were last seen with her. Her case remains unsolved.
Composites of the two unidentified men
Suspects: "Tommy" says Wendi got in the car with two unidentified men which she apparently knew. They were two Caucasian males who drove a full sized black Chevy truck, possibly a Silverado. Their identities remain unknown, although their names may be "Mike" and "Zandt".
Investigators also believe that her second ex-boyfriend may be involved in her disappearance because another girlfriend of his vanished years earlier and has never been found. He remains a suspect in this case.
Extra Notes: This case first aired on the October 18, 2001 episode.
Robert Stewart
Results: Solved. Eight months after Wendi vanished, "Tommy", whose real name is Robert Clansey "Rocky" Stewart, was arrested for check fraud. While in jail, investigators questioned him about the inconsistencies in his story. During one interview, he claimed that he had received a call and knew the location of her body. He then drew a map and pinpointed it. On November 8, 2001, her body was discovered near Highway 1 between Shreveport and Coushatta. She had been shot twice in the head.
During another interview, he claimed that he, Wendi, and the two unidentified men had sex and then went to a nearby field. He claimed that he accidentally shot her with a .25 caliber pistol. However, during a third and final interview, he claimed that the previous story was a lie. He broke down and confessed to Wendi's murder. He claimed that they had "rough sex" and then got into an argument. He then shot her twice and dragged her body to the location where it was found. Afterwards, he dumped his pistol, which was later recovered and identified as the murder weapon.
Stewart was charged with rape and first-degree murder. Originally, he pleaded not guilty for reason of insanity. However, he eventually agreed to plead guilty. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Links:
- Wendi Long on Unsolved Archive
- Wendi Long at Bonnie's Blog of Crime
- Tip leads to body of missing woman - November 10, 2001
- Grand jury indicts Coushatta man in Wendi Long's death - December 19, 2001
- Red River murder suspect changes plea - April 24, 2003
- Plea agreement gives Coushatta man a life sentence - April 29, 2003
- State v. Stewart (2003)
- Wendi Long Memorial Video on YouTube
- Wendi Long at Find a Grave