Assumed Deceased:Theresa Parker -- GA -- 03/21/2007

[Linda]

Authorities conduct ground search for missing woman

03/27/07
Eric Beavers

Local law enforcement agencies are banding together to expand the search for a missing 911 dispatcher.
Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson established a command post at Corinth Baptist Church in LaFayette near the residence where missing Theresa Parker lived with her husband, Sam, a 20-year veteran of the LaFayette Police Department.

“We’ve been doing some grid searches in the vicinity of Coffman Springs and Cordell roads (south of LaFayette) in close proximity to Theresa Parker’s home (where she lives with her husband),” Wilson said. “We got a tip last night that we felt like we had to follow up on. It doesn’t mean it will pan out to be a substantial lead, but it means we are following up on leads that we feel are important.”

Despite upgrading the search and bringing in more than 50 people from nearly 10 local and state agencies, authorities have found little more evidence. They are, however, playing their cards close to their vest.

“Certainly that would be an investigative technique, an avenue that we would not discuss at this time,” Wilson said.

Walker County Messenger

[Linda]

Georgia Police Hunt for Missing 911 Dispatcher

Last Edited: Tuesday, 27 Mar 2007, 6:13 PM CDT
Created: Tuesday, 27 Mar 2007, 12:13 PM CDT

By Liza Porteus
03/27/2007 --

Authorities conducted a ground search Tuesday near the home of a northwest Georgia 911 dispatcher missing since last week.

Relatives of Theresa Parker contacted the Walker County sheriff's office on Saturday after growing concerned because they hadn't heard from Parker in several days.

Parker, 41, was last heard from about 10 p.m. Wednesday when she talked on the phone with her sister, said Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson. It was Parker's habit to talk to her mother or other relatives at least once a day.

"Obviously this is totally uncharacteristic for her. ... She's always been a very punctual type person who is very dedicated to her job, her family," Wilson told FOXNews.com on Tuesday.

Police received a tip Monday night that caused Wilson to deploy searchers around 11 a.m. to the area around Parker's home. They are focusing on two to three parcels of property, he said.

"We don't know that this will turn out to be a good lead or not until we run it out," Wilson told FOXNews.com, adding that search and rescue personnel, volunteer firemen and other officials are involved in the so-called "grid search" common with missing persons cases.

A command post is operating at Corinth Baptist Church in Lafayette.

No one at the 911 dispatch center noticed her absence, Wilson said, because she was scheduled to be off work. But she failed to show up Monday for her 7 p.m. shift.

"We knew then, we're just very, very concerned at this point because this is just not typical for her," Wilson said.
MyFox Kansas City | Georgia Police Hunt for Missing 911 Dispatcher

[Linda]

Still No Sign of Missing 911 Operator

Submitted by John Mercer on March 27, 2007 - 11:53pm. News

Search crews called off their search tonight for Theresa Parker.

Walker County had brought in its cave and rescue team along with cadaver dogs to begin an official search.

The Sheriff's department, fire department, and nearby agencies joined forces to help volunteers in the hunt.

A team of 47 people scoured a 5 mile area around her home, but came up empty.

Walker County Fire Chief Randy Camp says it's a tough ordeal....because Parker is one of their own.

"A lot of personal emotions, because again, she was a personal friend to a lot of them. Theresa had been a supervisor in dispatch for quite a few years."

41-year old Theresa Parker has been missing since March 21st.
Still No Sign of Missing 911 Operator | WDEF News 12 | News, Weather and Sports for Chattanooga and the Tennessee Valley

[Linda]

Search Continues For Walker Co. Woman

Submitted by Chris Nettleton on March 28, 2007 - 6:17pm. News

The Walker County Sheriff's Department, state officers and volunteers continue to comb the southern portion of the county looking for missing 911 dispatcher, Theresa Parker.

Sheriff Steve Wilson, says they continue to work on the ground, but have started using the State Patrol helicopter to cover more ground and get an aerial view.

Still there isn't much new to report, "We have not received any earth-shattering lead or substantial lead today. I wish we could say that we had received those type of leads but unfortunately, no. We've just been working on general investigative techniques that we would normally be doing."
Search Continues For Walker Co. Woman | WDEF News 12 | News, Weather and Sports for Chattanooga and the Tennessee Valley

[Linda]

Family, friends and co-workers hold hope for missing dispatcher

03/28/07
Tim Carlfeldt

The people of the rescue service community in Walker County are a tight-knit group, and since one of their own went missing last week, they’ve been hoping for good news.

Emergency dispatch supervisor Theresa Parker was last seen the evening of Wednesday, March 21. She has been employed at the Walker County 911 center since its inception more than 15 years ago.

“She’s an excellent employee. She’s never missed work without communicating in advance,” said her boss David Ashburn, Walker County coordinator.

It’s that dedication that has given rise to concerns over not hearing from Theresa in nearly a week.

“It’s very emotional for the rescuers because she is a colleague, and many of them are close friends of hers,” said Randy Camp, chief of Walker County Emergency Service.

Camp, whose daughter works as a 911 dispatcher under Parker, said she has earned a lot of respect through hard work and excellence in her job. “There are strong ties here — my daughter is pretty upset.”

According to to friends and family members, Theresa was in the final steps of a difficult divorce from her second husband Sam, a LaFayette police officer, and was in the process of moving out of their house on Cordell Road northeast of LaFayette.

“We hope that she’ll show up, that maybe she was too scared to say anything,” Camp said, adding that there’s a certainty among her friends that she may well have wanted to get away from her personal troubles for a few days.

But when days passed without her contacting her sister or mother, concern became more serious. “It’s one of those things where it doesn’t look good, but you keep hoping and praying for the best,” Camp said.

Theresa’s family is doing just that, having been told by Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson that the efforts to find her are still being considered a search as opposed to a recovery.

“The sheriff, his deputies, the GBI — they’ve all been so good to us,” said her mother Claire Caruthers, who lives just up the road from where Theresa and Sam lived.

The couple bought and put a double-wide trailer on about an acre given to Theresa by Caruthers, who said that with the pending divorce Theresa had agreed to sell Sam her interest in the land and the trailer home.

“They were supposed to close the deal at the bank on Friday (March 23) but of course she wasn’t around,” Caruthers said.

According to her cousin Nancy Robinson, another situation that adds to the list of important things Theresa was scheduled to attend to last week was the delivery of a new washer and dryer at the apartment she was moving to in Fort Oglethorpe.

Family members have been cooperating with the sheriff and GBI search efforts, several going on horseback through area woodlands.

“She’s got to be somewhere,” said her cousin Eddie Cordell, who was preparing for another trip by horse on Wednesday afternoon.

Caruthers noted that Sam and Theresa both had told her that despite the divorce they were looking to remain friends.

But Sam has earned her suspicion because he hasn’t contributed to the search efforts. “He came by here Saturday evening before his work shift,” the mother said. “He came in crying and saying, ‘What happened? We were going to part as friends.’”

Caruthers said she asked Sam why he hadn’t reported Theresa missing after 24 hours, to which he responded that he didn’t think much of it because Theresa often liked to take off on little trips every once in a while.

“I said he should’ve thought it strange because she was in the middle of packing and moving,” she said. “Now he hasn’t called anyone in her family to ask how they’re doing or if they need anything.”
Walker County Messenger

[Linda]

Authorities continue search for missing 911 dispatcher
 
03/28/07
Eric Beavers

Authorities are scaling back their full-blown search for a missing LaFayette woman and doing more work “behind the scenes,” Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said Wednesday.

Theresa Parker, a Walker County 911 dispatcher, was reported missing on Saturday, Wilson said. The last known contact with her was with her sister on Wednesday evening.

Search teams are still roaming the mountainous region around Taylor’s Ridge. A helicopter is also flying over the region.

Theresa Parker and her husband, Sam, a 20-year veteran of the LaFayette Police Department, lived on Cordell Road.

LaFayette Public Safety Director Tommy Freeman said his officer has not been placed on leave and is still working his regular shifts.

“We’ve got a couple of four-wheelers that are riding along the top of Taylor’s Ridge for no reason than the fact that that might be a good place to discard a body,” he said. “We don’t have any leads or tips or anything like that.”

Wilson dispelled rumors that blood was found on the Parkers’ carport.

Local law enforcement agencies banded together Tuesday in the search for the missing 911 dispatcher.

Sheriff Wilson established a command post Tuesday at Corinth Baptist Church in LaFayette near their residence, but the temporary meeting place was dismantled Tuesday night.

“We’ve been doing some grid searches in the vicinity of Coffman Springs and Cordell roads (south of LaFayette) in close proximity to Theresa Parker’s home (where she lives with her husband),” Wilson said. “We got a tip last night that we felt like we had to follow up on. It doesn’t mean it will pan out to be a substantial lead, but it means we are following up on leads that we feel are important.”

Despite upgrading the search and bringing in more than 50 people from nearly 10 local and state agencies, authorities have found little more evidence. They are; however, playing their cards close to their vest.

When asked if Sam Parker was under surveillance, Wilson said, “Certainly that would be an investigative technique, an avenue that we would not discuss at this time.”

Wilson could not say when or if the investigation would morph from a search for a missing person to a possible homicide investigation.

“I don’t know that there is actually a timeline in the textbook,” he said. “You have to take all the factors into consideration as to when you change it from a missing person to a possible more serious case, maybe a criminal case of some sort.

“Obviously, there are rules of evidence we have to follow,” Wilson said. “If that evidence follows takes us down a certain path, we’re going to follow that path as long as we can.”

Any collected evidence could be used to go before the magistrate judge, a Superior Court judge or to Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Herbert “Buzz” Franklin for presentment to a grand jury, he said.  
Rome News - Tribune

[Linda]

Catoosa County News

Investigators finding more details about dispatcher's disappearance





Authorities are now searching for missing 911 dispatcher Theresa Parker behind closed doors, Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said Thursday morning.

Parker was reported missing by her mother on Saturday. The last publicly-acknowledged contact with her family was with her sister on the night of Wednesday, March 21.

Investigators said they used a global positioning satellite to locate Parker’s cell phone and know the last number dialed, but have not released that information.



-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is leading the investigation. Lead investigators in the case are special agent James Harris with the GBI and detective David Gilleland with the Walker County Sheriff’s Department. Anyone with information is asked to call (706) 624-1424, (706) 638-1913 or (706) 375-7810.
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The investigation was launched after Parker’s mother called last Saturday and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called in to assist.

A full-scale grid search on Tuesday of about five square miles around her LaFayette residence on Cordell Road turned up nothing, authorities said. She lived at the residence with her husband, Sam, a sergeant with the LaFayette Police Department.

Parker and her husband were going through a divorce and had what authorities have referred to as a “rocky relationship.” County deputies have responded to their residence at least three times, including twice on the same day, since 2002 for domestic disputes.

On Wednesday, searchers on four-wheelers rode the secluded areas around Taylor’s Ridge while a helicopter buzzed overhead checking the many small ponds and lakes in the region for any sign of Parker.

Officers on Thursday are continuing the work of piecing together the series of events surrounding her disappearance and interviewing people close to Parker.

[Linda]

Walker County Messenger

Group to hold prayer service for Theresa Parker

03/29/07

A group of Christian emergency workers has invited the community to pray Thursday (March 29) for missing 911 dispatcher Theresa Parker.

Dallas Patrick and Kevin Amick, who both work on ambulances in the region, launched the Christian group in February, Patrick said. The goal is to change the public perception of the rough and rowdy emergency workers.

The group is meeting at the covered picnic area behind the Walker County Civic Center at 7 p.m. Patrick suggested people bring a sack dinner along with them for fellowship and prayer for the missing woman.

“We’re going to ask for a miracle,” Patrick said. “God’s still in the miracle business and we’re hoping that by some miracle she’s OK and that she’s going to turn up.

“We’re going to support all her friends and family,” he said. “We’re ready for some closure either way, if she’s OK or if she’s not. We’re going to come together and just use this as a form of ministry to lift her up and help her friends and family.”

Patrick said many in the public have told him they perceive many officers, firefighters, dispatchers and emergency medical personnel — the four groups included in On The Call — as people who cuss, maybe drink a lot and just live a rough live. The goal of his group is to reverse that public image.

“It’s a support and accountability association promoting the Christian way we ought to live,” Patrick said. “It’s real hard in public safety to live life like we need to.”

So far the group has about 50 members, Patrick said.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is leading the investigation. Lead investigators in the case are special agent James Harris with the GBI and detective David Gilleland with the Walker County Sheriff’s Department. Anyone with information is asked to call (706) 624-1424, (706) 638-1913 or (706) 375-7810.

[Linda]

Theresa Parker: Missing, One Week and Counting - The Crime library

Theresa Parker: Missing, One Week and Counting

March 29, 2007

LaFAYETTE, Ga. (Crime Library) —  Sheriff's officials announced Wednesday they were scaling back the search for a Walker County 911 dispatcher now missing for more than a week.

Theresa Parker, 41, was last seen the night of Wednesday, March 21 as she left her sister's house. At 10:00 that night she called her sister from her cell phone.

After not hearing from Theresa for a few days, her family reported her missing Saturday.

Sheriff's deputies found her car parked at her home on Cordell Road, but they found no sign of Theresa. She was scheduled to report to work at the Walker County 911 Center at 7:00 p.m. Monday but didn't show up.

Since Saturday, law enforcement officers have conducted what they call a grid search, using ground teams, ATVs, dogs, and helicopters to comb through a five mile area around Theresa's home.

Although they insist they are still treating Theresa's disappearance as a missing person case, law enforcement officials acknowledge they have begun searching for likely places in the area where someone might dump a body.

Theresa, who has been a county 911 dispatcher since 1992, is married to LaFayette police Sergeant Sam Parker, a 20-year veteran of the department.

The couple recently separated and is in the process of getting a divorce. They have been married for 14 years.

[Linda]

Ground Search Organized and Car Impounded in Missing Woman Case

Amy Hitt
March 30,2007

 Investigators in Walker County, Georgia, continue to work on leads hoping to crack the case of what happened to a 9-1-1 dispatcher. Theresa Parker has been missing for nearly nine days now.

Thursday the GBI impounded her husband's patrol car. The two were in the process of getting a divorce. Sam Parker is a Sergeant with the LaFayette Police Department and reportedly on vacation. Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson says they're searching the car hoping to find something that could lead them to her.

The couple did have three domestic violence reports filed over the last five years. So far officials have not named in any suspects in the case.

According to the Walker County Sheriff's Office:

Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson announced Friday that a ground search for missing Walker County 911 dispatcher Theresa Parker will be conducted on Saturday March 31, 2007. Volunteers familiar with south Walker County are welcome and are asked to assemble no later than 9:00 AM at Walker County Fire Station #15 located at 18 Old Lee School Road at the intersection with US Highway 27.
NewsChannel 9 : Ground Search Organized and Car Impounded in Missing Woman Case

[Linda]

Husband's Car Impounded in Missing Dispatcher Case
 
It's been eight nights since Theresa Parker slept in her own bed. Eight nights since anyone has seen her.

Now there are new developments in the case of the missing Walker County 9-1-1 dispatcher.

They involve her estranged husband, Sam Parker, who is a police officer on the LaFayette force.

On Thursday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation seized Sam Parker's patrol car. It sits in a LaFayette, Georgia impound lot.

We are told the Parkers were going through a nasty divorce when Theresa suddenly disappeared eight days ago.

While Sam Parker has not been named as an official suspect, investigators are starting with those closest to Theresa.
WRCB TV - Channel 3 - Chattanooga, Tennessee

[Linda]

Sheriff seeking volunteers to search for missing 911 dispatcher  
 
03/30/07

Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said a ground search for missing Walker County 911 dispatcher Theresa Parker will be conducted Saturday.

Volunteers familiar with south Walker County are welcome and are asked to assemble no later than 9 a.m. at Walker County Fire Station No. 15, 18 Old Lee School Road at the intersection with U.S. 27.

The search teams will concentrate on an area south of LaFayette and north of the Chattooga County line, bounded on the east by Taylor’s Ridge and on the west by Pigeon Mountain, Wilson said.

The search will be organized by Walker County Coordinator David Ashburn and Walker County Fire Chief Randy Camp.
Rome News - Tribune

[Linda]

Prayer Vigil for Missing Dispatcher

Submitted by Bethany Mowry on March 30, 2007 - 7:00pm. News

While law enforcement works to find Theresa Parker, her friends and family put their efforts at the Courthouse to pray for her.

Her brother-in-law, Johnathan Wilson, spoke on behalf of the family.

He thanks everyone who has shared in their concern and who are helping to try and find Theresa.

Local government officials and clergy echoed Wilson's comments, saying the community has come together in this difficult time.

Wilson says everyone needs to keep hope the only reason they search ends is because they have found Theresa.

"We all need to pray for her safe return and that our greatest fears do not become reality and no harm has come to her yet."
Prayer Vigil for Missing Dispatcher | WDEF News 12 | News, Weather and Sports for Chattanooga and the Tennessee Valley

[Linda]

Attorney talks about fishing trip with husband of missing woman

03/30/07
Eric Beavers

Two old friends with an open schedule went fishing on a Thursday afternoon, March 22. One caught a big bass and the other became a suspect -- in the public eye, at least -- as being responsible for a missing person.

Sam Parker, husband of missing 911 dispatcher Theresa Parker, got a call from LaFayette attorney Bill Slack on the same Wednesday afternoon, March 21, when Theresa's family last saw her.

The Parkers are going through a divorce. Slack said he was not representing either of them in the divorce proceedings, but had represented Theresa and others in her family in the past.

Slack said he was supposed to be in court in Trenton that Thursday, but found out on the previous day that the hearing was cancelled, leaving him with a clear calendar.

“I thought, what am I going to do?” Slack said. “I've got a free day and the weather is good. I've got to go fishing.”

After calling two other friends who couldn't go fishing with him, he caught up with Sam.

Sam picked Slack up that morning, with a small boat in the back of his truck ready to fish – and apparently with no knowledge of the missing person story that was unfolding, the story of his wife.

“We stop(ped) and (bought) bait, (it was) a perfectly normal little trip (to Chattooga County),” Slack said. "He (was) just as normal as he can be."

Slack said they talked about judges, court cases, new LaFayette Public Safety Director Tommy Freeman during the course of the day. They also talked about Theresa and their imminent divorce.

"His feelings were hurt by some of her behavior, but he wasn't angry," Slack said. "He was happy that their relationship was over."

During the trip, Sam wasn't acting like someone who caused harm to anyone, Slack said.

"There was nothing to indicate he was upset, or excited or angry or anything," he said.

The attorney said Sam had no motive harm to his wife. The death of Sam’s mother a year ago and his father within the last month had left him with no financial worries. The terms of divorce had been established, the property had been divided and the papers were reportedly ready to be filed any day.

"It was done," he said. "There was no more fussing or anything. It was all done. That part of his life was over."

Slack said he knew the couple had their problems, but didn't suspect violence was ever an issue.

"In the past, they had separated many times, but they always seemed to come back together" he said. "They could fuss a lot, but they never crossed a line into harming one another."

Slack talked about what he knew of Sam's willingness to comply with the police investigation.

"It's natural that Sam would be suspected," Slack said. "He understands that. It's part of his job and he has certainly cooperated fully with the GBI. He's answered every question. They have searched his house, his car, his father's house, his wife's car. They have sprayed him with chemicals to look for blood or other fluids and so forth. Nothing.
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[Linda]

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Sam Parker's sister holds news conference

03/30/07

Here is the full text of Carolyn Wooten's statement at a news conference Friday afternoon in front of the Walker County Courthouse in downtown LaFayette. Wooten is the sister of Sam Parker. She declined to answer any questions from reporters at the end of her prepared statement.

"Thank you for the respect you gave to me at the press conference," Wooten wrote in an email to the news media about an hour after her news conference. "I feel that now is not the time to answer questions or bring attention away from the search for my precious sister-in-law."

On behalf of my brother, Sgt. Sam Parker this information is being given to satisfy requests for his comments concerning the disappearance of his wife, Theresa Parker. Sgt. Parker joins Theresa's mother, her brother, and her two sisters in praying for her safe and quick return. He is distraught over her disappearance and recent death of our father on March 4th, three weeks ago. He is very disturbed that because of his wife's disappearance people may believe that he was responsible in some way. He is also suffering from the traumatic stress of his loss of his privacy because of her disappearance.

Numerous people from the media or complete strangers have come to his door seeking comment. He has received countless phone calls on his unlisted telephone from the media and strangers. He also has been subjected to a thorough investigation by at least seven GBI agents, in which he has willingly cooperated. They have completely searched his home, searched his car and searched his wife's car. He has allowed his home, his car, and his wife's car to be chemically tested for any evidence of blood or bodily fluids. His home and property has been searched by specially trained dogs and by infrared devices. His bank records and phone records have been thoroughly examined. His own body has been physically and carefully examined and photographed by the GBI agents. The GBI has even searched our recently deceased father's home. Since Saturday night he has answered hundreds and hundreds of friendly and hostile questions from the GBI. To the best of Sgt. Parker's knowledge, none of these searches, examinations, or questions have lead to any evidence of his having knowledge of or participated in his wife's disappearance.

The last contact my brother had with his wife was on Wednesday, March 21st, at approximately 7:30 p.m. at their home. She said she was taking some of her personal property to her new residence. Since that time he has had no contact with her and he does not know where she is. He has done nothing to harm her in anyway.

Once again, Sam and our family joins Theresa's family in praying for her quick and safe return. He would ask the public to respect his privacy, and rest assured that he will continue to cooperate with the authorities in an effort to answer all the questions we all have about Theresa's disappearance.