Ep. 111-The Unsolved Murder of James "Jimmy" Wood

A stretch of River Road in Ponchatoula doesn’t look like the setting for a homicide investigation, but that’s where the disappearance of James “Jimmy” Wood leads. One moment he’s on camera near Highway 22 and Lee’s Landing. Then he’s gone, with his keys and belongings still at home and no clear trail to follow.

We talk through what’s been released publicly and why we’re careful about what we don’t share while this remains an active investigation. You’ll hear the timeline that matters, what search efforts can and can’t do in dense South Louisiana woods, and why drones and thermal imaging aren’t magic when the trees are thick and the heat won’t let up. Months later, remains are found near his address, identified through forensic DNA work, and investigators say there’s evidence of gunshots.

From there, the questions get sharper: what does “closure” really mean when there’s no arrest, and why do families feel like the hardest part begins after identification? If you’ve ever hesitated to speak up because your detail felt small, we’re asking you to reconsider. Listen, share this with someone in Tangipahoa Parish, and if you know anything, use the tip lines. Subscribe, leave a review, and send this to one person who cares about justice.

Transcript

Cold Open And Where We’re Going

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Today, we're traveling to Ponchatula, Louisiana, where a missing person's case has now turned into a homicide investigation. This is Hold My Sweet Tea. Welcome to Monday. Ew.

SPEAKER_02 0:58

The only good thing that comes out of Monday is a sweet tea episode.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

That's right. That's right. Like this is this is the silver lining of a Monday. Is another episode. Well, I guess, and I'm alive to see the Monday. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:17

There's always that.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

There is that.

SPEAKER_02 1:21

Especially in the world we live in. Mm-hmm. I tell you, I I had to have a good uh a good scream in my car the other day.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:33

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 1:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:34

Sometimes those are warranted. It it was just warranted, and you know, uh it's a culmination of a lot of things going on. And I I know a lot of people end up doing that. Either a scream or a cry, or a scream and a cry. I was gonna say, I'm probably the scream and a cry every once in a while. I'm just a scream. It's kind of like um what was that? Oh, uncharmed when they had the the hollow inside of them. And like Cole would like release it from the source, and it was like come out of his mouth. That's that's my sounded like like that's that's me releasing like the the evil that builds up inside of me. And then once I have a good scream, like five seconds later, I'm like okay, reset. I'm good. Yeah, like got out all the bad stuff. But I suggest it. If you're driving right now, rage scream, just do it. Pull over, yeah. Pull over and rage scream. Yep, you'll feel better.

SPEAKER_01 2:37

I I feel like some screams, it's necessary to close your eyes. So that would not be good while driving.

SPEAKER_02 2:43

Yeah, that's true. Me, I'm like eyes wide open. I'm just like, let it all out. Right. If it comes out of my eyes, so be it. Like daggers.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

I just don't feel like it's as forceful or as loud if I don't like squinch my eyes closed. I guess so.

SPEAKER_02 3:08

Yeah. I have I have squinched my eyes and screamed. Yeah. I mean, like, I'm not wasting it. Like we're going full throttle. I mean, I feel I feel that that's what the little grippy things on the back of the steering wheel's for, because you just hold on and you're just like rage scream. And then you're like, and then you kind of look around, see if anybody heard you, and then you're like, all right, I'm good. Right. And if they did, guess what? Go rage scream. Right. Then you just smile and wave. Right. If you don't understand why somebody's like screaming in their car, then you absolutely do not get it. Especially women.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

I'm like, I want to know what life you're living that leads to you not having to do that ever.

SPEAKER_02 3:54

Right. Right. It must be like nice not to have to rage scream in your car at least once or twice a week.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

Or or maybe they have like a soundproof booth. Maybe. I think every workplace needs one of those. There should be. I think so too. Like new like labor law. You have to have a scream booth.

SPEAKER_02 4:19

Maybe that's what Monsters Inc. should have had. Instead of like making children scream, they should have just had a scream booth. They could have just gone in there and like, ah. Perhaps. Perhaps. I mean, it powered the whole town. You know? Do you think your scream could power the town? I think so. I think mine would have like busted some light bulbs. We're like pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. Oh, goodness. It was in the Walgreens parking lot, too.

unknown 4:47

So, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:48

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 4:48

I mean, better.

SPEAKER_02 4:50

It's very well trafficked. But I'm better now. Shake it off.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

There you go. Shaken, not stirred.

SPEAKER_02 5:02

So we're going to Petula, huh?

SPEAKER_01 5:04

Yeah. Um, so we're staying in Louisiana.

SPEAKER_02 5:07

Cool.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

This one's gonna be a little bit different because I wrote nothing. This is pretty much a very unscripted episode. Yeah, but you but you know about this one. So Yeah. So a little backstory so that everyone understands why I know what I know about this one. And there's there's stuff I know I'm not sharing for obvious reasons. This is an ongoing investigation. And I've had conversations with people that I and I promised I would keep everything said between us very private. Yes. Um, because it's obviously not a bunch of public knowledge.

SPEAKER_00 5:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:52

And so I will not be talking about any of that. Um what I will be talking about is the stuff that's been released by police and my own personal stuff.

SPEAKER_02 6:02

And you've you've told me a few things, so I will zip it over here and just react to what you say.

Jimmy Wood’s Timeline And Last Sighting

SPEAKER_01 6:08

Yes. I'm not gonna stay away from it. She's not allowed to ask questions for you. So um it's been like a while since this one happened. Um, we're talking about James Wood, and he's he's actually referred to as Jimmy by his family, and so that's what we'll use.

SPEAKER_02 6:34

And not to be confused with the act actor James Wood. Yeah, no, yeah, okay. Just let's put that out there. Yes.

Drone Search Limits On River Road

SPEAKER_01 6:43

He's um 43 years old, and he actually went missing in June of 2025. When he went missing, there was, I mean, obviously the Tanji Sheriff's Office, Tanjipoa Parish, which we'll just call them TPSO, um did all their stuff. You know, they flew drones and all of that. Well, anybody who knows me and knows Rob knows that Rob also flies drones, which is how we ended up um even knowing the stuff we know about what has happened on River Road in Pontchatula. Um, we had a family member reach out and ask if Rob would be willing to fly his drone over there by the property because you know, they're gonna want as much help as possible, naturally. Anybody does like help us find our missing person. Yeah. Um and sometimes the sheriff's office does reach out to Rob for help, um, because he does have like a thermal drone and stuff like that, and and he has relationships there, so he he has been asked to help search for like escaped prisoners and things like that several times. So he was even somebody's pet that he had to do. Yes, he looks for missing dogs, he does he does all that. Um, so we were contacted via like messenger on Facebook about uh going to fly the drone in this area, and um Jimmy had actually been last seen on June 19th on camera on the corner of Highway 22 and Lee's Landing in Ponchatoula. Um, he had gone to a gas station that's right there, and so there's um surveillance video that shows him walking into the store. Obviously, he used an electronic form of payment, so that of course shows up from that. And then his family that's local had like reported that they last spoke to him on June 21st, and then they officially report him missing on June 25th. Upon TPSO initially going out to the house where where Jimmy was living, um, they see that his car keys and all his belongings are found at the at the house. Just not him. As I said before, a relative reaches out, we talk to them about this and whether or not the drone would be completely useful because the lay of the land in the area. When you pull onto River Road, the house, it's actually Jimmy's mom's house, and he was living there alone and remodeling it.

SPEAKER_02 9:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

When you pull onto River Road, their house is on the left-hand side. And but there's like woods before it, his house, the there's another house after it that is empty or was, and we'll talk about that shortly. Um and then there's like a driveway, a gravel driveway with more woods on both sides of it that leads back to a house that's off the road. And there's like just a lot of woods right there. Yeah. Um there's another house, then there's like a huge field with woods way back, set back in it. Like it's rural-ish.

SPEAKER_02 10:47

Yeah, it's the best way to kind of on the edge of like town, but not way, way, way back in the woods. But yeah, it is heavily wooded in that area. There's a lot of woods.

Remains Found And A House Fire

SPEAKER_01 10:58

And then across the street from their house is also like a little wooded area where there was like an abandoned house that's like overgrown. Some abandoned cars are over there in those trees, and there's like an 18-wheeler trailer, like a pod that's back there as well. And that's all kind of just in that little wooded spot across the street from the house. So we let the relative know that we're gonna just drive over there to see if it's even flyable, because what what are we gonna be able to see? And that's the biggest thing is like the dense trees make it very difficult. Like we sure you can see some stuff, but you really can't see the ground inside of these areas. Yeah, it's so like thick in there, right? And it's been so long that like any heat signatures picked up by thermal. I mean, and it's hot, everything's hot, right? It's it's South Louisiana, right? Everything has a high temperature on it. Really, really hot. And so flying the area, like obviously, you're just like everything's warm. We could do it in the evening when it's a little bit cooler in hopes that you're gonna see something, but it it's very difficult. So, um, so we went and checked out that whole area. I did not drive all the way down the road, we kind of just drove up there in the front. And I will say that I I came back here and I told you. Yeah, you did. I said, it doesn't feel good there. Like something's off. Yes. It's giving me like a really weird feeling. So we let we let them know, like flying the drone, really the only area we can even see is like where the house is. You can't really see anything in the woods. So, like, this is one of those areas where it probably would be better to have like somebody searching on foot. Yeah. Because you really just can't see anything from the sky. And I know TPSO had helicopters, drones, all that stuff. And, you know, they searched by foot across the street and things like that, and checked inside all those abandoned cars and all of that, because you know, that that would be my first place to go to, because there was just a lot of stuff over there. Nobody was finding anything, really. No idea where to go from here. Like he there was just not a lot as far as leads to where he could be or or anything like that. Lots lots of speculation, just not anything like to go on, yeah, honestly. So months and months and months and months and months pass. And on September 12th, so about three months later, um, there is the discovery of human remains in a wooded area near his address until like last week. Those remains were under analysis at the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab, and it's called Faces. So they had them there for identification purposes. Yes, it's a very specialized lab. So, you know, they were trying to make sure they had the best people doing this DNA testing, yes, and trying to figure out because these were very decomposed remains, like it was bones, basically.

SPEAKER_02 15:06

And in the Louisiana heat.

SPEAKER_01 15:09

Yes, it doesn't quickly. Yeah, that's the thing, is like it doesn't seem like oh, that was long enough for somebody to be completely gone, yes, like that, but it was hot, hot, seriously wet, like it rained a bunch.

SPEAKER_02 15:23

Yeah, I can only imagine.

SPEAKER_01 15:25

Yeah. But during this, during this time that these remains were at the lab, like I had already gone back to the street because I only rode in the front, and I was like that weird feeling I had. Let me drive all the way down the road. Just make me like I'm wondering if the road was just giving me the heaves, right? Or if there was just something specific to a certain area. And every single time, like I drove up and down it a couple times to verify the way I felt. I was like, every single time I got near that gravel driveway that was after the abandoned house that sat next door to his house, every time I was like, it feels gross right here. Like everywhere else was okay. It felt gross right there. Well, I want to say it was a couple days after the last time I had drove down there just to make sure that I was feeling what I was feeling. Right. Because I'm I'm still conversing with the family member that had reached out, you know, just trying to dig around and see what I could help find for them as well. But um not a lot was happening, of course. Like, like I said, there really wasn't anything to go on. No, like we think this, we think that, whatever. Well, uh the house, the abandoned house next door to Jimmy's mother's house where he was living, is set on fire. It burns completely to the ground. This I I feel so bad for the family of the, you know, that house belonged to a one of the Panchatula police officers' parents. Oh. So I'm not sure if they had still a lot of family stuff inside there or what, but I mean, whatever was there is was gone at that point. Like everything was just like it was totally burned down, and of course, that brings up more speculation. Like, yeah, is this somehow related? Because this happens after remains are found.

SPEAKER_02 17:43

Yes, in very close proximity of where they were. Correct.

SPEAKER_01 17:49

Like all of this is happening right there at that front little left-hand side beginning of the street. Yes. So, I mean, is it coincidence? Is it related? We don't know. Still don't know. But the DNA testing did confirm that the remains were Jimmy's. At that point, Sheriff Gerald Sticker puts out his sentiment and saying, you know, their hearts go out to the family. It is devastating news. Very devastating news.

SPEAKER_02 18:28

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 18:29

When when you don't know, you still have hope.

SPEAKER_02 18:31

Yeah, you still have hope that maybe they're out there somewhere.

Homicide Evidence And Unanswered Questions

SPEAKER_01 18:34

And it was an excruciating weight, which is putting it mildly, because it was so long, and all you can do is feel completely terrible for everyone involved, like his family, his friends, his children. It's like, you know, I don't know, like I couldn't even imagine. So now they have one answer. But now they need the rest. Yeah, of course. His remains being identified as his, they have now transitioned this into a homicide investigation. Because as per the release from the TPSO, there were uh there was evidence of gunshots with the remains. Now, of course, the question is who knows what?

SPEAKER_02 19:39

Right. Somebody knows something that has not come forward.

SPEAKER_01 19:43

Yeah. There's there's got to be someone with some sort of information somewhere.

SPEAKER_00 19:50

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 19:52

Cause there's no way. I I'm like, well, I guess there is a way. I mean, they have silencers and many other things. Right, right. But do I feel like this was a premeditated situation? Probably not.

SPEAKER_02 20:03

No.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

Like it doesn't, it doesn't seem that way. I mean, his remains were found not very far from his own home.

SPEAKER_02 20:09

I don't think it was in the a moment type of thing, and something happened with someone and they got mad or something like that. I don't know. This is speculation, but I think I don't think it was like an accident. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

Like it was a heat of the moment, I guess, type of situation. I don't know. But the mother of his children expressed how tough the last nine months had been.

SPEAKER_02 20:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:42

And she told WBRZ, Channel 2, that it was really sad and stressful not knowing where he was or what happened. We pretty much assumed something really bad had happened right out of the gate. Just waves of emotion every day.

SPEAKER_00 20:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:01

She feels like it should have been treated like a homicide from the very beginning. She said, I don't understand why it's just now they're saying it's a homicide because when they found the remains, they knew there were gunshot wounds. So obviously, at this point, no arrests have been made. They're looking for suspects, saying that they have they do have people calling into the tip lines. They are following up on every tip they get. And Sheriff Sticker had actually told channel two, we're looking for suspects and those. I don't understand this quote. He said, We're looking for suspects and those suspects. And those suspects. Or should that be stated, that's someone that had a problem with James. Yeah. Since he's the victim here. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 22:03

Um, I don't think he went to look for trouble. I think trouble came to look for him.

SPEAKER_01 22:09

Yeah. And of course, his family is pleading for anyone with information to come forward. Because while everybody goes, Oh, because if you read the post from the TPSO on their Facebook page, you see a bunch of people going, well, at least now the family has closure. No, they don't.

SPEAKER_02 22:29

No, they don't.

SPEAKER_01 22:30

There's there's still so many unanswered questions, like what the heck happened?

SPEAKER_02 22:35

Yeah. That that's a very okay, they they found the remains, they identified them, and now it's a homicide. That's just the beginning.

SPEAKER_01 22:43

So again, as quoted by WBRZ, his the mother of his children said, I would like to know why. Put yourself in our place.

SPEAKER_02 22:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:55

If it was your own family, or even if it wasn't your own family, someone out there murdered him. And that person is still out there. Everybody is literally at risk. No one should be walking around free after killing somebody.

SPEAKER_02 23:07

No, absolutely not. And totally agree. I mean, they can have like a memorial service and all that, but that does not it doesn't warrant.

SPEAKER_01 23:17

Right, exactly. Because there's still so much that's remains unanswered. I mean, I understand like when the police they knew that he was shot, they have to go through certain protocol, but again, they I mean sure they could call it a homicide investigation from finding the remains with with the evidence of right being shot. Um but they don't know who who it was. Right. So how do they I mean, sure, there's a homicide investigation into who?

SPEAKER_02 23:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:54

Into what?

SPEAKER_02 23:55

And you know, at that point, they're like, oh, we know, but we have to like be 100% sure.

SPEAKER_01 24:02

Yeah. And I mean, he's not the only missing person in Panchatola. There's been a lot. There's many. And the fact that it was bones that they basically are picking up, like they had to find out for sure. Because they could think maybe it was his, but then they can also be thinking like everyone else, like, geez, that was really fast. Maybe it's the other maybe it's five or ten people from us. Because there's been a lot here. Because they've been missing a really long, like a lot longer than him. And so with the decomposition, they could be thinking this could literally be any of them. Right.

SPEAKER_02 24:38

So that's well, hopefully, some more answers will come through and somebody will call into this tip line and give the tip that needs to be given.

SPEAKER_01 24:51

And that is the reason I decided that we were putting something out. Like I'm like, I'm not sure. Yeah, you've been holding on to this a while. Like I've been living with it.

Tip Lines And How To Help

SPEAKER_02 25:02

Well, and we were just just like what two weeks ago before right before the talking about how there still hadn't been anything. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:11

Yeah. And that's why I said I've been just like kind of holding on to it because really there wasn't a lot in order to like make an episode, but also I was like, I don't want to just get on for five seconds and say he's missing, right? Please call this number. Like it was tough because I did want to do that at the same time, you know, which, but that's why I'm here now, is because I'm like, at this point, even though there's still not a lot to go on, there's still not a lot of information, there's not a lot that I can give as far as info in this episode. But I can give you the number to call. If you or anyone you know has any information about this case, you're asked to contact the investigations division of TPSO at 985-902-2088. If you'd prefer to share the information anonymously, you can always go through Crime Stoppers of Tangy. The tip line is 1-800-554-5245, or you can visit www.tangicrimestoppers.com and click on the P3 tips icon or the submit a tip button.

SPEAKER_02 26:33

So you do not have to tell them who you are. Yeah, you can be anonymous and just let them know. If you know something, like get it off your conscience.

SPEAKER_01 26:42

Yeah. I just feel like somebody on that road has to know something. It is not a quiet road. Like every time I've been down there, there's like lots of cars going up and down the street.

SPEAKER_02 26:54

And I mean, if he's lived there for that long, a lot of people knew him. So or his mom. Or his mom. And there's connections and people know people in those, you know, smaller rural communities. So somebody speak out. Yeah. Please. Please, please come forward and help this family.

SPEAKER_01 27:21

Now that I'm sad.

SPEAKER_02 27:22

I know. I'm I'm hoping that, you know, maybe it'll be sooner than later. Right.

SPEAKER_01 27:29

And I mean, my emotions are strictly just because I've gotten to know someone during this whole entire time. And not not necessarily him, but someone in his family.

SPEAKER_02 27:40

So So you feel, you know, for them and what they're having to go through. Yeah. For sure. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 27:48

So obviously, if there's any update to this case, we'll bring it. Um, and hopefully, hopefully there will be. I I sincerely hope that that this doesn't go cold and it actually gets solved. Yes. For sure.

Listener Submissions And Final Reminders

SPEAKER_02 28:07

I agree with that. So we hope we didn't make your Monday worse. But you know, these type of stories have to be told. For sure.

SPEAKER_01 28:20

And they're sad. I know we've been keeping it a little more lighter on the lighter side of the true crime realm recently.

SPEAKER_02 28:28

But every once in a while we gotta get one of those in there because life happens and things happen to people, and it's sad. It is very there's a lot of ugly going on in the world right now.

SPEAKER_01 28:42

Yeah, there is. Tons of ugly everywhere.

SPEAKER_02 28:46

For sure. And I don't like it. No, me either. Me, for sure. Do you know who's not ugly? Patty Salzetta.

SPEAKER_01 28:57

So cute. And she's always posting like positive affirmations. Oh, always. All the time. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 29:05

She's like just a really good human. She's not a negative Nancy. She's a positive patty.

SPEAKER_01 29:11

That's right. Y'all be positive patties. Be positive patties. We need more positive patties in the world. Yep. And not all of you have to create earthy music. Right. Because she did a great job and we don't need any more. Such a great job. But definitely be a positive patty. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 29:31

Thank you, Patty Salzetta. Thank you. Pretty patty. Pretty positive patty.

SPEAKER_02 29:39

There we go.

SPEAKER_00 29:40

Pee-pee pee. Pee-pee pee!

SPEAKER_02 29:45

My goodness. Yes. But if you have any stories you want to tell or information you want to share, you like share it with us. We'll share it with Tanji. Yeah. Yeah. We'll we'll connect it.

SPEAKER_01 30:03

You can send us any of those things. And your sweet tea after dark. Yes, and we're I got a story. Yay! I'm so excited. So all of those things can be sent to Hold MySweet Tea Podcast at gmail.com.

SPEAKER_02 30:24

And as always, Hold My Sweet Tea is a drunken bee production. And just remember to stay safe out there. Call your family. Keep up with them. Yes. Because you never know when it's the last time. Make sure everybody always knows you're okay. Yeah. And just because we're dipping doesn't mean you can't keep sipping.

SPEAKER_01 30:47

Bye.