IBERIA PARISH, La. — “She told me, ‘Imma see you, and I love you,’ and that’s the last time I saw my daughter,” said Michael Turner.
“Sheryl…I can’t even—I don’t even know how to describe how she was growing up," said Sherry Turner.
Younger by two minutes, she says her older sister Sheryl was always the outgoing one of the family.
“Sheryl was just outspoken," she continued. "Once she had enough, she gonna say how she feel.”
According to the family, Sheryl and her mother had gotten into an argument on December 31, 2023.
“She put the key in the mailbox, packed up all her clothes and…left,” explained Sherry, who also added that 'outbursts' such as this were not uncommon for Sheryl to have.
It wasn't until the family lost contact with Sheryl, that they say they had reached out to New Iberia Police (NIPD).
“It wasn’t like her for all those days to not even message us, nothing.”
According to the Turner family, they filed a missing persons report with the NIPD on January 3; but after that, they received 'radio silence' from the department.
“Everything died down," said Michael, "it got quiet.”
On January 24, Sherry says she was contacted by a detective from Catahoula Parish.
“He told me he was like, ‘I don’t wanna [alarm] you, I don’t want you to be worried but…we found a body,” said Sherry.
It was on that day that a fisherman had reportedly seen a body floating in the water of the Ouachita River. After further investigation from Parish Forensics in Broussard, the remains found were a human torso with the extremities and head removed.
“I’m just reading the description of how they found it," said Sherry, "then when I read 'light-skinned female' and then the body weight I was like, ‘Wow, that sounds so much like Sheryl.' Friday came, I got up and…the whole day… everybody felt off, the whole day.”
Sherry and her parents were later asked to submit DNA testing to local detectives, in order to cross-reference with the victim's.
On Friday, Feb. 23, the family says a detective from Catahoula visited them at their New Iberia home.
“My mom was like 'So what’s the results?' And the minute he put his head down, he said ‘I’m sorry, but it was a 100% match, and confirmation that it’s your sister.”
On that day, Sheryl Turner was identified as the victim found in the Ouachita River.
“Throughout the world," said Michael, "people don’t know what their kids are doing, they don’t pay attention; but they need to start paying attention.”
This is an open and ongoing investigation. We will update you as things unfold
To donate to the Turner family's GoFundMe, click here.
