Missing St. Clair County woman declared dead

Kelly Louise Howard

Kelley Louise Howard was declared legally deceased Wednesday during an emotional courtroom hearing. Several members of her family, including her husband, her son and her parents, were inside the courtroom when St. Clair County Probate Judge Mike Bowling made the official statement.  Howard was the dental hygienist at Family Dental Care in Riverside who went missing on Tuesday, June 2, 2009, and hasn’t been seen or heard from since.  Jonathan Brogdon, a lawyer with Church, Harmon, Brogdon and Williams, filed the petition on behalf of Howard’s husband, Boyd Howard.  “There is a statute in Alabama concerning people who are missing,” “That statute requires the person to be declared missing for five years before they can be declared legally deceased. Boyd Howard was called to the witness stand first. He talked about the last time he saw and talked to his wife.
Police said they found Kelley Howard’s car keys on June 6, 2009, in some kudzu next to the dental office.