GALLIANO - Deputies arrested a pair of women after they were allegedly caught looting a hotel that's been closed since Hurricane Ida ripped through southeast Louisiana over nine months ago.

The Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office said the business's owner spotted the women June 3 inside the Galliano hotel, which had been damaged by the storm in late August 2021. The women left before law enforcement arrived, but a Golden Meadow police officer caught up with the pair and held them until deputies arrived.

When questioned, the women—identified as 58-year-old Dana Chouest and 46-year-old Dena Leboeuf—reportedly admitted they went into the shuttered hotel looking for things to steal. 

Both were booked into the Lafourche Parish jail, each on a charge of looting.