My son is now a Marine serving in Iraq and wanting some BBQ Chee Wees. Are there any to be found?

Tammy Blair Thorp,
Wisc.

Elmer's Fine Foods is back in business after closing for a time to recover from Hurricane Katrina, and is again making local favorites including Chee Wees.

Dear Tammy,

You will be thrilled to know that Elmer's Fine Foods, the maker of yummy snacks since 1946, is back in business. The company took a hard hit from Katrina, but it is happily making Chee Wees and many more of your favorite snacks once again.

Hey Blake,

Do you have any contact information for Elmer's Fine Foods?

Joan White
Friday Harbor, Wash.

Dear Joan,

Yes, indeed, I do. You will find Elmer's at 2404 Port St., New Orleans, LA 70117. But since you live rather far away, you also can call the company toll free at (800) 486-2433.

Everyone knows "what it means to miss New Orleans" and one of the city's favorite snack-food makers.

Hey Blake,

I have a question about a news story from the late 1980s. There was a postal worker whose daughter was kidnapped. He came on the news crying and begging for her return. Her body was found at Cleary Playground, and he was charged and convicted. No one I talked to seems to remember this story. Could you please tell me his name and some information about this case?

Juan Muniz

Dear Juan,

Gerald Estrade, a postal worker, told police that when he went to pick up his daughter Melissa at the day camp at Metairie Playground -- not Cleary Playground -- on Aug. 3, 1988, she was not there. He claimed he had taken his 10-year-old daughter there seven hours earlier, however Melissa never arrived at camp.

The Sheriff's Office began an intense investigation and search, and Estrade used the news media to bring attention to the case. Parents and children were frightened as hundreds of deputies searched for Melissa, who presumably had been kidnapped.

Three and a half months after Melissa disappeared, rabbit hunters in a wooded area near Pass Christian, Miss., discovered the remains of a child. Dental records determined that it was Melissa.

On Dec. 6, 1988, Estrade claimed to be grateful to have the case solved, but 10 days later he was booked with first-degree murder. Jurors were chosen from Lafayette for the trial, which was held in Gretna.

For a year and a half, Estrade professed his innocence, but three days into the trial, he admitted to the crime. And on Feb. 4, 1990, he repeated his confession in court.

Estrade claimed he was driving Melissa to camp when they began to argue about where Melissa would live. Estrade and Melissa's mother had been divorced since 1981. Estrade claimed that as the argument got worse he shook Melissa, and the next thing he knew she was dead. Estrade then drove his pickup truck east on Interstate 10 to Mississippi, stopped in Pass Christian, and left Melissa's body in the woods.

Estrade pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter, and then-Judge Jacob Karno sentenced him to 21 years in prison. Since he already had served some time, Estrade would be eligible for parole in less than 11 years. He was released from Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola on Oct. 11, 1999.

The case, as you remember, was very controversial. A court-sponsored opinion poll showed that in Jefferson Parish, 76 percent of those surveyed believed that Estrade deserved the death penalty. But when he made a deal with the district attorney's office and pleaded guilty to manslaughter, Estrade was given the maximum sentence allowed at the time.

Partly due to this case, and partly due to the public's discontent with early releases, the law was changed to increase the maximum sentence for manslaughter to 40 years. The Louisiana Legislature also changed the good-time system in 1995. The changes called for anyone convicted of a violent crime to serve at least 85 percent of the sentence.

The laws, however, were not in place when Estrade killed Melissa in 1988, so he was released after 11 years. However, he is required to remain under supervised parole until December 2009.