Bunkie PD arrest parents in missing juvenile case

** OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE **
*ARRESTS MADE IN JANUARY MISSING JUVENILE CASE*
In January 2024 Bunkie Police Department issued a press release regarding a missing juvenile who was later found. Bunkie PD investigators gathered evidence and statements that supported that the juvenile had been suffering years of abuse, and did not run away from her parents, she was threatened and physically abused multiple times by the father, Travis Shane Ducote (Age:56) and told to leave, with both parents having knowledge that the juvenile daughter left the Knights Inn Motel with nowhere to go. The mother, Dawn Ducote (Age:56) was present during the incident, then waited approximately 4 days later, after fleeing the state, to report that her daughter is "missing" by telephone to Bunkie PD. Investigators asked Dawn Ducote where officers and investigators could meet with her and the father to gather further information about the juvenile’s disappearance, Dawn Ducote responded that they couldn’t meet at this time. Then when asked when they could come into the Police Department, Dawn Ducote responded to investigators that she and Travis Shane Ducote were in Texas and could not return to Bunkie. After the juvenile was located, Dawn and Travis Shane Ducote contacted Bunkie PD by telephone and asked if the juvenile had been found. Investigators advised Dawn and Travis Shane Ducote that the juvenile had been located and is safe, but they needed to be interviewed regarding the case. Dawn and Travis Shane Ducote refused to give their whereabouts and refused to return to Bunkie. Warrants were then issued for the arrest of both Dawn and Travis Shane Ducote, and they were put into the National Crime Information Center computer as wanted.
On May 12, 2024, after months of being on the run, Bunkie PD received a NCIC confirmation from Randolph County Arkansas that Dawn and Travis Shane Ducote had been apprehended. After approximately four months of being on the run, Dawn and Travis Shane Ducote were extradited back to Avoyelles Parish and were arrested on the following charges:
Dawn Ducote – Principal to 2nd Degree Cruelty to a Juvenile, Principal to Domestic Abuse Battery by Strangulation, Principal to Simple Battery, and Criminal Neglect of Family.
Travis Shane Ducote – Second Degree Cruelty to a Juvenile, Domestic Abuse Battery by Strangulation, Simple Battery, and Criminal Neglect of Family.
Both were booked into the Avoyelles Parish Detention Center #1. Bunkie Police Department would like to extend our thanks to the Randolph County Sheriff’s Department, and also the Avoyelles Parish Sheriff’s Department with assisting us with the extradition of these two fugitives.
*Disclaimer: All suspects are to be presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law.