A 21-year-old woman took a walk along the Evangeline Thruway on August 8. She never made it back. A passing vehicle struck her on the roadway, leaving first responders with a chaotic scene and a victim they could not immediately name. The crash ended her life on the pavement before anyone could even determine who she was.
For days, Lafayette police kept hitting a dead end. They had a victim but no wallet, no ID, and zero immediate leads to point them in the right direction. The young woman remained a Jane Doe in the morgue while her family back home likely started to panic about her silence. Investigators quickly realized they needed outside help to crack the wall of anonymity.
Detectives zoomed in on a single defining clue. The victim had a prominent, distinct tattoo on her right forearm. The cursive phrase read, “We only part to meet again.” Police pushed this exact detail out to the public, banking on the hope that someone, somewhere, would recognize the quote.
It was the break the department needed. Word of the distinct forearm ink spread through the community and finally caught the attention of the right people. The scattered details of an unnamed highway victim funneled down into a harsh, undeniable reality for a family living just up the road.
Authorities locked in the identification. The young woman was Shaida Dugas, a 21-year-old from nearby Opelousas. The puzzle of the unknown pedestrian vanished, replaced by the grim task of delivering the worst kind of news to unsuspecting relatives.
Officers officially tracked down her family. The visit handed them the closure they had been searching for, but it also delivered an absolute gut punch. They spent the days following the crash hoping for a safe return, only to learn Shaida died on a loud, busy stretch of local blacktop.
The 21-year-old leaves behind a circle of family and friends forced to deal with an abrupt void. She had most of her life still sitting in front of her. The ink on her forearm carries a vastly different meaning today. The phrase stands as a quiet, lasting message to everyone she had to leave behind.
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