Body of missing 911 dispatcher found

The Associated Press

LaFAYETTE — The scattered, skeletal remains of a northwest Georgia 911 dispatcher were discovered three years after she disappeared and one year after the murder conviction of her husband, who claimed she had run away, investigators said Wednesday.

The remains of Theresa Parker were identified after a farmer looking for driftwood along the Chattooga River called to report finding a jawbone, investigators said at a news conference.

Parker, 41, disappeared in 2007 and a jury last year convicted her husband, former LaFayette police officer Sam Parker, in her murder. He is serving a life sentence.

Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said numerous law enforcement agencies had worked together to investigate the case ever since the woman disappeared. He said a team was searching another area when the call came Monday about the discovery about 30 miles away in Chattooga County.

"It was just a miracle that he stumbled upon it and reported it to the [Chattooga County] sheriff's office," Wilson said. He said he hopes a forensic review will determine the cause of death.

Wilson and other law enforcement officials at the news conference declined to provide details about any possible signs of violence at the scene or to say if any weapons were found.

Wilson said he spoke to the missing woman's mother and two sisters.

Leigh Patterson, the special prosecutor at Sam Parker's trial, said the mother and sisters had harbored hopes that she might return.

Chattooga County Sheriff John Everett told the Chattanooga Times Free Press before the news conference that the remains were found about 100 feet from the river in the Holland community near the state border with Alabama.

The couple was in the midst of getting a divorce when Teresa Parker was last seen leaving her sister's home on the night of March 21, 2007. Family members said the Parkers had a history of domestic problems.

Sam Parker's attorney, public defender David Dunn, declined comment.

Sam Parker was fired from the LaFayette Police Department months after his wife's disappearance for having explosives in his locker at work. He had been with the department about 25 years.

Prosecutors used circumstantial evidence at the trial, developing a timeline that showed how he could have committed the crime and disposed of the body. Defense attorneys said there was no direct evidence that Theresa Parker had been harmed or that her husband had anything to do with her disappearance.

Wilson said the convicted husband was born and raised in Chattooga County and the remains were found "about 12 miles from where he grew up."

David Ashburn, director of the 911 center where Theresa Parker worked, said friends and co-workers were notified.

"It's great we have an answer, but it's terrible it's not the answer we wanted," Ashburn said.

Lafayette is about 25 miles south of Chattanooga.