IBERIA PARISH, LA. (KLFY) — A new state-of-the-art crime lab, the Bo Duhe Acadiana Criminalistics Lab, has opened in Iberia Parish, providing advanced DNA technology to assist law enforcement across eight Acadiana parishes.

The 41,000-square-foot facility replaces an older, smaller lab that was prone to flooding, which previously put crucial evidence at risk. This new lab offers investigators access to cutting-edge forensic tools that can expedite testing and help solve cold cases, such as the identification of Willard Daspit Jr. in St. Martin Parish.

“The condition of the building gave me great concerns, particularly hurricane seasons,” said Kevin Ardoin, the lab director. “For example, we had roof leaking. We did flood at one time.”

Ardoin emphasized the lab’s capacity to “expand grow equipment, grow people, grow personnel.”

The crime lab’s upgrades are expected to result in faster turnaround times for DNA comparisons and improved collaboration with the LSU FACES Lab, which handles human remains cases like Daspit’s.

Ardoin explained, “Anything of value that has DNA, if that’s left that behind, the scene, we can actually test that and analyze that and develop potentially a profile that can either implicate or in some cases exonerate if there’s a suspect that it does exonerate.”

He also highlighted the lab’s role in providing investigators with the tools needed to help families find closure through science, noting that some cases predate DNA and technological advances in forensics.

The new Bo Duhe Acadiana Criminalistics Lab is set to enhance forensic capabilities in the region, offering crucial support to law enforcement and aiding in the resolution of cold cases, ultimately bringing families closer to finding answers.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KLFY. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KLFY staff before being published.

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