Post by gagal on Jun 29, 2007 12:51:16 GMT -5
news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=730&NewsID=793817&CategoryID=3511&on=1
Originally appeared in Walker County Messenger, 03/28/07
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 dauRandy Camp, chief of Walker County Emergency Service
ghter 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.
According to relatives, Theresa clocked out from the Walker County 911 Emergency Center, where she is a supervisor, about 6 a.m. on Wednesday, March 21., and planned to go to her new residence in Fort Oglethorpe. She called her sister about 10:30 p.m. that day. She
Theresa Parker was scheduled to move into this residence at 59 Flagstone Drive in Fort Oglethorpe. (Messenger photo/Terry Pennington) was reported missing Saturday morning. Her vehicle was found parked at the couple’s residence on Cordell Road in LaFayette.
Authorities say Sam, a sergeant with the LaFayette Police Department, went on a fishing trip on Thursday, March 22.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Records show officers responded to domestic disputes at Parker residence
Sam and Theresa Parker apparently had some problems, according to records obtained from the 911 center where she worked. The couple are undergoing a divorce. Officers went to the residence on two occasions responding to calls for domestic disputes — 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.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“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.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is leading the investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call (706) 624-1424, (706) 638-1913 or (706) 375-7810.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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, noting that Theresa had reserved a rental truck in Chickamauga for moving Saturday. “Now he hasn’t called anyone in her family to ask how they’re doing or if they need anything.”
Robinson also expressed disgust at what she perceived as Sam Parker’s lack of concern for his missing wife, saying, “Divorce or not, after 14 years he should be out looking for her.”
It’s been an emotional roller coaster for Caruthers, who filed the missing person report Saturday morning, having only learned of Theresa’s disappearance the night before.
“I cried all night because I didn’t know what to do,” she said, adding that Theresa stayed in contact with her on a daily basis. “She’s such a good person — she took care of the whole family.”
Originally appeared in Walker County Messenger, 03/28/07
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 dauRandy Camp, chief of Walker County Emergency Service
ghter 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.
According to relatives, Theresa clocked out from the Walker County 911 Emergency Center, where she is a supervisor, about 6 a.m. on Wednesday, March 21., and planned to go to her new residence in Fort Oglethorpe. She called her sister about 10:30 p.m. that day. She
Theresa Parker was scheduled to move into this residence at 59 Flagstone Drive in Fort Oglethorpe. (Messenger photo/Terry Pennington) was reported missing Saturday morning. Her vehicle was found parked at the couple’s residence on Cordell Road in LaFayette.
Authorities say Sam, a sergeant with the LaFayette Police Department, went on a fishing trip on Thursday, March 22.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Records show officers responded to domestic disputes at Parker residence
Sam and Theresa Parker apparently had some problems, according to records obtained from the 911 center where she worked. The couple are undergoing a divorce. Officers went to the residence on two occasions responding to calls for domestic disputes — 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.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“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.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is leading the investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call (706) 624-1424, (706) 638-1913 or (706) 375-7810.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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, noting that Theresa had reserved a rental truck in Chickamauga for moving Saturday. “Now he hasn’t called anyone in her family to ask how they’re doing or if they need anything.”
Robinson also expressed disgust at what she perceived as Sam Parker’s lack of concern for his missing wife, saying, “Divorce or not, after 14 years he should be out looking for her.”
It’s been an emotional roller coaster for Caruthers, who filed the missing person report Saturday morning, having only learned of Theresa’s disappearance the night before.
“I cried all night because I didn’t know what to do,” she said, adding that Theresa stayed in contact with her on a daily basis. “She’s such a good person — she took care of the whole family.”