Does the date March 21, 2007 mean anything to you? For one family and one small town, this date isn’t memorialized as a delighted occasion; it’s not a day that the residents of close-knit La Fayette, Georgia will ever forget. This is the tragic day that 41 year old Teresa Parker, a 9-1-1 dispatcher since 1992, went missing and her estranged husband, Samuel Parker, became the only person of interest in her disappearance.
Teresa and Sam Parker were in the process of a divorce after many years of what her family and county records show to have been filled with abuse and rough times for the couple. After 14 years of marriage, Teresa was finally able to look to the future and starting a new life. During their 14 year marriage, county records show that since 2002 – once in May 2002 and again in April 2004.
There were two calls for assistance on May 4, 2004, one from Theresa and another from Sam 31 minutes later. The dispatch report states Sam wanted an officer to come to check the house. He told dispatchers that Theresa was telling her family “he tore up the house and struck her and advised it did not happen,” reports the Walker County Messenger (WCM), there was also a mutual restraining order issued in 2004 between the couple.
During further investigating, it was discovered that “Sgt. Parker, a 20-year veteran of the La Fayette Police Department, recently completed a two-year period of probation with the Georgia Peace Officers Standards and Training Council, the plot agency that certifies law enforcement officers. The probation was the result of a domestic disturbance Parker and his wife had while on vacation a few years ago in Panama City Beach, Florida.
According to a police report, during the argument, Parker fired a pistol out of the window of the couple’s hotel room. No arrests were made. The report goes on to say that Parker confessed to having suicidal thoughts. He was admitted to a mental health facility, where he spent nine days undergoing treatment,” reports Channel 2 News.
And now just days before Teresa was to move out of the Cordell residence and into a townhouse located in Fort Oglethorpe, G.A., she has vanished. No one has heard from her or seen her since the night of March 21st. Is Sam Parker to blame? From following media reports to reading on-line, all of the circumstantial evidence that has been released points to Sam although nothing solid has been presented to the public relating to this case.
The Time Line –
Tuesday March 20, 2007 – “Parker’s shift ends at 7 a.m. so she clocked out shortly after that, Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said. She was scheduled to be off Wednesday through Saturday, which is normal rotation for dispatchers, and she asked for Sunday off as well to work on moving into her new apartment.”(WCM) The new apartment was a townhouse located in Fort Oglethorpe, near Lakeview Drive.
“Parker reportedly told GBI agents that he last saw his wife on Tuesday, March 20, the day before she was last at her sister’s house,” reports Chuck Hustmyer from crimelibrary.com.
Wednesday March 21, 2007 – This is the day that will be haunting the Corinth community, as well as the Parker’s family and friends for some time to approach.
7 pm – this was well-known as the last time that Sam saw Teresa.” Reported in the news conference held March 30, Carolyn Wooten revealed that the last time Sam saw Theresa was at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 21, at their trailer home on Cordell Rd. approach LaFayette.”
10 pm – It was noted that Teresa had contact with her sister.
“..the last known contact with Parker was with her sister at around 10 p.m. on Wednesday. Parker was reportedly on her plot to desirable a status before provocative into it,” Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent James Harris told the Walker County Messenger.
“…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,” reports Chuck Hustmyre.
10:15pm- “I knew it was not her because she was over at her apartment cleaning. A neighbor saw her outside about 10:15 p.m. talking on her cell phone,” Christina said.
10:44 pm – “..Christina believes Sam was at the house that Wednesday night, because at 10:44 p.m. her phone rang and the caller ID showed it was from the house in LaFayette,” reports the Walker County Messenger.
Thursday March 22, 2007
Sam has the day off and receives a call from Mr. William Slack, a La Fayette attorney, and they plan a fishing trip in Chattooga County. Sam had to travel to the Cordell Road estate to retrieve the motor for his boat. He was staying in Trion at his deceased parent’s home until Teresa vacated the martial home, and then he was planning on returning. This status was approximately 16 miles from La Fayette.
“Since the couple’s separation, Sam Parker has been living at the home of his deceased parents, about 15 miles south of LaFayette, Sheriff Steve Wilson said. Parker was planning to move back into the Cordell Road home after Theresa moved out,” stated Sheriff Steve Wilson
6 am – “This was about 6 a.m. and according to Christina, Sam said he went into the house where he saw Theresa’s bedroom door shut, so assuming she was asleep, he did not disturb her.” (WCM)
230 pm – “The two men fished until about 2:30 p.m., loaded up the truck and headed to Armstrong’s Barbecue in Summerville for lunch before going home,” attorney Bill Slack recollected when talking to the Walker County Messenger.
3 pm – Sam returns to the residence on Cordell Road and stats that Teresa wasn’t at the space at that time. The bedroom door was ajar and there were items of Teresa’s missing, most notable were her cell phone, purse, and an overnight bag.
“He (Sam) told Christina that when he returned around 3 p.m. Theresa was gone but her vehicle was still there.” (WCM)
Over the course of the next few weeks, there were many searches performed and many leads that were followed up on. Walker County Sheriff’s office called in the GBI due to the relationship that the couple has with the area.
The FBI has sense been called in and become involved in this massive search for Teresa. Since her disappearance, Teresa’s family has organized many prayer vigils and events to help find Teresa. The latest was a donation drive to raise the reward money for information pertaining to Teresa’s disappearance.
Since her disappearance, Sam has been fired from his position for unrelated policy violations although some feel that it was related. Freeman said that a search conducted by Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents last week revealed some blasting caps and a small amount of C-4 plastic explosive in Parker’s personal locker at the LaFayette Police Department.
Sam’s friend and colleague LaFayette police officer Harbin Chaffin was arrested April 2 for making spurious statement to the GBI, according to an article posted on amw.com. Although this seems like minute progress, it is great when you think of this case with no leads.
This case is still ongoing and being reported on weekly by local news stations, as well as national and on-line coverage from CNN and Fox News.
The marital residence as well as other areas has been searched extensively with nothing being reported as found. Latest is the search the FBI performed on the house, where they concentrated on the garage area, since this was where Teresa’s 1999 Toyota Forerunner was located after her disappearance and it did have traces of blood located on it.
We, the residents, family, friends, and even those that are not so terminate to this story, ask that everyone pray for Teresa. We just want to bring her home safe.
If you have any information, there is a tip line set up for that reason; we ask that you please call with any information no matter how large or small it may be. Anyone with information about Parker’s disappearance is asked to call.
The number is 706-639-CALL or 706-639-2255.
I have linked this article to many boards that discuss this event; most distinguished is the Walker County Messenger - the local paper for the residents of Lafayette, Georgia.
Sources primitive in the researching of this article:
http://www.crimelibrary.com/news/original/0307/2801_Theresa_parker.html
http://www.crimelibrary.com/news/original/0407/0601_Theresa_parker.html
http://www.amw.com/missing_persons/case.cfm? id=44242
http://www.cybersleuths.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi? ubb=next_topic&f=2&t=001836&go=older
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,263037,00.html
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0704/04/ng.01.html
Odontology and Psychological Profiling
