anyone up for a swim?

A few of my readers may be familiar with the bridge(s) over the Atchafalaya River in Louisiana. You know, that boring eighteen mile stretch of side-by-side concrete that spans the stagnant swamp that lies beneath a perpetually humid, gray, cloudy sky? I always desperately tried to be asleep for that part of the drive between Texas and Tennessee as a kid.

Aaaaanyway, as my parents crossed this bridge on the way home from their Christmas trip to Nashville, they noticed emergency vehicles filtering through both directions of traffic. Then they noticed a car screech to a stop in the inside lane on the opposite side. (Each direction has its own bridge.) Dad, trying to drive but trying to figure out what was happening, glanced at his lane then back over to the scene... just in time to see the guy who had jumped from the edge as he dropped between the bridges to the swamp below.

Turns out, he had kidnapped his estranged wife and her two children. They were in the car, apparently unharmed. I guess he weighed his impending capture against death by fall, drowning, aligator, or submerged tree stump and decided to take his chances with the jump. That was Thursday and he still hasn't been seen. Although, suspiciously, his truck is now missing. (No one thought to go secure his vehicle after he disappeared?)

Apparently another criminal jumped to his (temporary) freedom along the bridge fairly recently too. He was found hiding in a hollowed-out cypress tree after swimming two miles to get there.

Gross. I mean, I hope they catch him and all. But, have you SEEN this water?

*the pics were copied from the acadiana paper and some louisiana roadways website that i don't remember.