Three arrested after death of Colfax resident James Morrow Ingram, 68

COLFAX — Three people are facing charges after the burned body of a Colfax man was found in the Kisatchie National Forest on April 2.

James Morrow Ingram, 68, was reported missing April 1 by his employer, who told authorities it was "very unusual" that he didn't show up, Grant Parish Sheriff Steven McCain said.

As investigators began a search, the Grant Parish Sheriff's Office issued an appeal on social media for help finding Ingram and his 2020 silver Honda Accord.

On April 6, the sheriff's office announced Ingram's body had been found and that arrests had been made, but no details were released until a Wednesday news conference.

McCain said they learned Ingram had put gasoline in his Accord at a Colfax station about 10 p.m. on Easter. He then drove to Alexandria "and, at some point in Rapides Parish, he met up with Michael Shane Taylor and Jessica Bledsoe," McCain said.

McCain said Taylor and Bledsoe "injected drugs into James Ingram" in an Alexandria parking lot, and Ingram became unconscious. At some point after that, Ingram was injected again, McCain said.

"At that point, he stopped breathing, and they realized that he passed away," he said.

The pair drove around Alexandria in Ingram's car, with his body still inside, then went to an area of Kisatchie in Grant Parish. It was there that they dumped Ingram's body, McCain said.

The next day, on April 2, Bledsoe returned to the spot with Levy Edmond Bordelon, an Alexandria resident. The pair set Ingram's body on fire, McCain said.

That night, someone who had seen the social media post about Ingram and his car contacted the sheriff's office. The "very, very observant people" sent a photo of Ingram's car, which was parked in the Texas Roadhouse parking lot on MacArthur Drive in Alexandria, the sheriff said.

The Alexandria Police Department responded, as did Grant detectives, to what became a crime scene. McCain said they didn't know at that point what had happened to Ingram, but investigators identified Taylor and Bledsoe the next day when they used Ingram's credit card.

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"Michael Shane Taylor went on a shopping spree for about a day and a half," he said.

The three eventually were arrested and booked into the Grant Parish Detention Center. Alexandria Police Chief Chad Gremillion said Taylor and Bledsoe will be booked into the Rapides Parish Detention Center #1 on second-degree murder warrants soon.

Taylor, a 38-year-old resident of Pineville, and Bledsoe, a 29-year-old Dry Prong resident, both face charges in Grant Parish of obstruction of justice and unlawful disposal of remains. Bledsoe also faces a charge of being a principal to arson.

Bordelon, 46, of Alexandria, was arrested in Grant Parish on charges of arson and obstruction of justice.

McCain said officials still are waiting on autopsy results when he was asked what drugs were injected into Ingram. He credited the cooperation between law enforcement agencies working together as a team with solving the case.

Gremillion said the Grant Sheriff's Office broke the case open, allowing his department to get warrants for Taylor and Bledsoe.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Grant, Rapides residents charged after Colfax man's burned body found