[GA] Theresa, wife of Sgt. Parker, disappeared 1 year ago

...Mr. Parker, a former LaFayette police sergeant, is charged with his wife’s murder, although no body has been found. Mrs. Parker was reported missing on March 22 a year ago, but the family’s grief is still fresh and heavy...

One Year Anniversary of the Disappearance of Theresa Parker
WDEF News 12
Bethany Mowry
March 21, 2008
March 21, 2008 marks the one year anniversary of the last time anyone saw Theresa Parker alive. The Walker County 9-1-1 dispatcher's disappearance sparked an investigation and media frenzy no one is likely to soon forget. It started with a simple plea -- help us find this missing 9-1-1 dispatcher. "We're stressing that we definitely need the help of the people in the community," Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said on March 26, 2007. Search crews organized and combed the woods near the home Theresa Parker had shared with her estranged husband, LaFayette Police Sergeant Sam Parker -- it was an effort they would repeat many times over. The search on March 27, 2007 was particularly difficult, Fire Chief Randy Camp said that day,"There are a lot of personal emotions because again, she was a personal friend to a lot of them" Soon after, investigators searched the home itself. Sam Parker became a person of interest, but not a suspect, in the case. After explosives were discovered in his locker at the police department, he was dismissed... Websites and billboards popped up, pleading for information relating to Theresa's disappearance. It would be months before an arrest was made in her murder. But before that arrest, the person in question would appear on a local television show to share his side of the story. In his December 11, 2007 appearance on television, Sam Parker pleaded, "People are going to form their own opinions, and that's fine, but for our families' sake, if you don't know it for fact, don't say it because it hurts so bad." Nearly two months after his appearance, investigators arrested Sam Parker for the murder of his wife Theresa. Now a year after she disappeared, he awaits trial, denied bond. Sam Parker remains in an undisclosed area jail. [Full article here]

A year after Theresa Parker was reported missing, her family, friends still hope for closure
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Chloe Morrison
March 22, 2008
Nearly one year after Walker County 911 dispatcher Theresa Parker disappeared, Hilda Wilson sorted through her missing sister’s belongings, trying to salvage memories. Last week, at the Cordell Road home that Theresa Parker once shared with her husband Sam Parker, Mrs. Wilson found her sister’s belongings haphazardly stuffed into one room and a closet. Mr. Parker, a former LaFayette police sergeant, is charged with his wife’s murder, although no body has been found. Mrs. Parker was reported missing on March 22 a year ago, but the family’s grief is still fresh and heavy. “It was very difficult,” Mrs. Wilson said about going through belongings. “My girls were bawling. For the most part it was really hard and really strange... She is the kind of person who opens the car window and gives money to people on the side of the road”... It has been a long year since Mrs. Parker was reported missing. Months of searching, praying, and appeals to the public and media for information and publicity were followed by months of silence after District Attorney Leigh Patterson was appointed to the case and hushed authorities. Occasional incidents renewed attention. Mr. Parker tried to harm himself. Tip lines and rewards were established. Memorials were held... Sam Parker remained mostly quiet, except to give two interviews to say he did not harm his wife. Initially he alluded that he knew where she was... Then on Feb. 4 Mr. Parker was arrested and charged with his wife’s murder... Mrs. Parker’s co-workers are still hurting one year later. “They don’t go a day without thinking about Theresa,” said Walker County 911 Director David Ashburn. Mrs. Wilson said feelings are still almost unbearable. She said her daughters want to go see their estranged uncle in jail in hopes of finding answers... “It may be the fact that we can’t find her,” she said. “We don’t know where she is but we know she is dead. It is almost like it just happened. It is that pain that is just there"... [Full article here]