TANGIPAHOA PARISH, La. — There is an overwhelming sense of shock and disbelief in Loranger, a small God-fearing community in rural Tangipahoa Parish.
“I’ve been here 45 years, and I don’t know of anything like this happening ever, especially to a child, but even Callie, she didn’t deserve that,” Loranger neighbor Amanda Davis said. “None of them did.”
Callie Burnett was found dead in her home Thursday morning.
Her two young daughters were abducted and found hours later in Mississippi.
Four-year-old Erin was dead and six-year-old Jaile was thankfully still alive.
“It really is just crazy that you grow up with somebody and you haven’t seen them in a while and then all of a sudden, you see them on the news that they got murdered or hurt really bad,” Loranger resident Casey Shelton said. “It’s just sad.”
“We’re sad, another neighbor Raymond Mercante said. “We never thought it would happen in a community like this. We’re a tight-knit community.”
But even in the tightest of communities…sometimes bad things happen.
“For us, having children of my own and knowing Callie and her babies, it’s a lot, it’s hard, it’s hard for everybody right now,” Davis said. “We’re all trying to pull together and be there for them.”
In Loranger, everyone knows just about everyone here.
But no one appears to have known Daniel Callihan, the man accused of killing Callie and Erin Brunett.
“I don’t know anything about the man that was there,” Shelton said. “I’ve never met him before.”
“I’m a Christian person, but I know God’s got his hands on this, but in my heart and flesh wants to just want the worst for this man for what’s he’s done,” Davis said.
Governor Jeff Landry had this reaction to the tragic events in Loranger.
"Sharon and I have been following the news and praying for the family of these victims. We are heartbroken. The evil person responsible for this crime will be held accountable. Justice will be served."
A GoFundMe was created to support 6-year-old Jalie and the Brunett family.
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