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On

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a humid afternoon in September

0:26

of 1980 for a group of local

0:29

teams won. into wooded lot

0:31

in the village of lindenhurst a small

0:33

suburban community on the southern shore

0:35

of long island approaching

0:37

local hang out known as the hut

0:39

the boys drop down into what was little

0:41

more than hole dug into the earth

0:44

and made horrifying discovery

0:46

they're beneath length of rolled up carpet

0:48

they found the body a fourteen year old

0:50

laura and parker laura

0:53

had gone missing for months earlier but

0:55

despite the please of her parents neither

0:57

law enforcement nor the local community

0:59

had given much attention labeled

1:02

a runaway laura's parents hit roadblock

1:04

after roadblock trying get someone

1:06

anyone to help them in their search

1:08

for their daughter then on

1:10

that sticky september afternoon they watched

1:12

in horror as their child skeletal remains

1:15

removed from that whole on the ground still

1:17

covered in scraps of the clothing she'd worn

1:20

the day she disappeared despite

1:22

the realization that laura had never run away

1:25

the wall of silence grew only hire

1:27

as investigators suddenly driven

1:29

to find out what has happened were rebuffed

1:31

and dismissed by community who appeared

1:33

not only to want nothing to do with the case

1:35

but showed almost no care of concern

1:38

about the teenager murdered just blocks

1:40

from the school forty

1:42

years the mystery of laura's death has

1:44

endured ever all of that time

1:46

those who hold pieces the puzzle have refused

1:48

to share them have more have encountered

1:51

a violent and vicious killer passing

1:53

through the village in search of his next victim

1:55

or has he been lured to that spot

1:57

and killed by someone she knew i'm

2:00

from the community perhaps even

2:02

someone from her own neighborhood this

2:05

is trace evidence episode one

2:07

ninety eight the murder of

2:09

laura and parker

2:17

welcome

2:19

to trace evidence i'm your host

2:21

stephen pacheco the day we

2:23

dive into the disturbing and haunting

2:25

murder of fourteen year old laura and

2:27

parker before getting into the case

2:30

just a few quick notes about the show

2:32

trace evidence is weekly true crime

2:35

podcast focused on unsolved murders

2:37

and disappearances you can follow

2:39

the show on social media on twitter

2:42

at trace of pod instagram

2:44

at trace evidence odd or by

2:46

searching facebook for trace evidence

2:49

if you're interested in supporting the show and

2:51

getting some trace evidence merch, there's

2:53

a patreon at patreon.com

2:56

trace evidence or

2:58

you can donate directly by a

3:00

PayPal visit Trace

3:02

dash evidence.com for also

3:04

media links donation options and

3:06

contact information you

3:08

can submit case suggestions through the website

3:11

or email me directly at

3:13

trace evidence pod at gmail

3:16

dot com in may have

3:18

nineteen eighty four lindenhurst high school

3:20

freshmen laura an parker mysteriously

3:22

vanished in the middle of day the

3:25

months or family fought to get help in finding

3:27

their little girl only to be ignored

3:29

by claims that the team had chosen

3:31

to run off four months later

3:33

when her body was recovered just blocks

3:36

from the school investigator struggled

3:38

to get any information about what may

3:40

have happened this is episode one

3:42

ninety eight the murder of laura

3:44

and parker

3:49

new york state

3:51

is home to nearly twenty million people

3:54

spread out across fifty seven thousand

3:56

square miles making it fourth most

3:58

populous state in the country that

4:00

twenty million just shy of eight

4:02

million or one third live

4:05

along a one hundred and twenty one mile

4:07

stretch of fish shaped land known

4:09

as long island or long

4:11

island his own state it would rank as the

4:13

thirteenth most populous the

4:15

eastern end of sparsely populated

4:18

farm land the western and densely

4:20

populated urban hubs of brooklyn

4:22

and queens there are wide variety

4:24

of lifestyles from city living to sprawling

4:27

suburban towns hamlets and

4:29

villages suffolk county comprises

4:31

the largest geographic portion of the

4:33

island running from east farmingdale

4:36

to mom talk and orient points

4:38

stretching out over eighty six miles

4:40

in length and twenty six miles and with the

4:42

topic is home to nearly one point six million

4:45

residents and is where i was born

4:47

and raised it is suburbia

4:49

for the most part countless rows

4:51

of streets with picturesque homes dotting

4:54

along every avenue from rich

4:56

areas along north shore and out

4:58

east to the blue collar community

5:00

is among southern shore long

5:02

island as an eclectic mixture of cultures

5:04

and ethnicities truly defining the melting

5:06

pot but as new york like

5:09

almost everywhere in the world each town

5:11

has it's own history in urban legends

5:13

the haunted house down the street to

5:15

the police were a madman once hunted

5:17

down victims their stories going

5:20

back for hundreds of years about the ghosts

5:22

of the revolutionary war to modern

5:24

day monsters like the long island serial

5:27

killer them stories are true

5:29

others have been so convoluted over time

5:32

it's difficult to discern fact from fiction

5:34

real life from fantasy the

5:37

village of lindenhurst located along

5:39

the south shore in the town of babylon

5:41

has it's share of mysteries but

5:43

one of them is so haunting it not only

5:45

remains unsolved it's hardly

5:47

ever discussed though

5:50

many small towns try conceal the

5:52

dark details of past events sprinkled

5:54

throughout their history and lindenhurst

5:56

is no different hundreds of thousands

5:59

of students attend the school on the island

6:01

and many of those schools are open campuses

6:04

allowing students to leave school property

6:06

during their lunch break lindenhurst

6:08

high school however is not one of them

6:11

students are required to remain on campus

6:13

throughout the day and when someone

6:15

asks why which happens countless

6:17

times each school year they're

6:19

told the same story the

6:21

girl once left for lunch and was murdered

6:24

causing the school to change its policy

6:27

many students they believed to be

6:29

a little more than a scare tactic away

6:31

for the administration to justify a closed

6:34

campus because it better suit their needs

6:37

it turns out however that is

6:39

true story for getting to the heart

6:41

it is vastly more complicated than you'd

6:43

imagine not only was

6:45

a student murdered after leaving school

6:47

for lunch but the community as a whole

6:49

was involved in placing dark shroud

6:52

over that true while

6:54

one family grieve their last

6:56

others turn their backs not only

6:58

ignoring the horrors of what had occurred

7:00

but actively working to keep the truth

7:02

from being revealed it was

7:04

the summer of nineteen eighty four and

7:07

fourteen year old laura parker had been

7:09

missing for months investigators

7:11

school employees and even families

7:14

in the community turned a blind eye they

7:16

dismissed her disappearance as little more

7:18

than a runaway situation a

7:20

rebellious teen looking to punish her parents

7:23

by escaping from their rule to live life

7:25

by her own choices of

7:27

county police and even the sb

7:30

eyes closed their investigations

7:32

labeling laura a runaway and dismissing

7:35

any speculation to the contrary

7:37

then one hot september morning

7:40

a group of teenagers came upon grizzly

7:42

seen the skeletal remains

7:44

a young woman hidden beneath a rolled

7:46

up carpet in local hangout the

7:49

turnout laura hadn't run off

7:51

anywhere he had been killed the

7:53

day she was reported missing and for

7:55

months nobody seem to care

7:58

even now nearly forty years later

8:01

the truth of laura's faith remains unknown

8:04

and those who might possess some answers

8:06

continue to keep their silence this

8:08

is her story at least as

8:10

much of it as is known laura

8:14

and parker was born on saturday

8:16

july twenty six nineteen sixty

8:18

nine and was adopted at birth by

8:20

james and patricia parker the

8:23

time james was employed as mechanic

8:25

for pan am airlines working out

8:27

of jfk airport in nearby queens

8:30

the parkers had previously had one child

8:32

a daughter named kathleen who

8:35

been born with intellectual disabilities

8:37

resulting in her necessitating round

8:39

the clock care outside the home

8:42

following kathleen's birth the couple

8:44

continue to try and have children though

8:46

after six difficult and painful

8:48

miscarriages they came believe

8:50

that they simply couldn't have their own children

8:52

anymore the result this

8:55

they decided that adoption was their best

8:57

option from the moment

8:59

they brought laura home the parkers were completely

9:01

and mannered with the infant patricia

9:04

would later explained the daily news saying

9:06

quo we got laura when she was

9:08

only three days old she was

9:10

so beautiful we worried that her mother

9:12

might want her back recall

9:14

seeing the mother's sister in a department

9:16

store and rushing off in fear the woman

9:19

would tell her sister of laura's beauty

9:21

and ground the time

9:24

of laura's arrival the parkers were

9:26

living in quaint little neighborhood on south

9:28

seven street in lindenhurst

9:30

a village located on long island and

9:32

suffolk county linda her sits

9:34

on southern shore the islands is part

9:36

of town of babylon the

9:38

nineteen seventies when laura was growing

9:41

up lindenhurst was at it's peak

9:43

population with more than twenty eight thousand

9:45

residents living in the tight space of

9:47

just three point eight square miles

9:50

it was in away what you might imagine

9:52

have a television show neighborhood the

9:54

lot of young parents raising their kids

9:57

getting to know each other through their children social

9:59

connections block parties

10:01

gatherings backyard barbecues

10:04

many who lived in and grew up around lindenhurst

10:06

would describe it as very tight knit community

10:09

where everyone looked out for each other according

10:12

to patricia laura was sweet

10:14

loving little girl who was highly active

10:16

throughout her use and extremely social

10:19

he played little league softball and showed

10:21

skill and athletic prowess the

10:23

loved music and enjoyed singing dreaming

10:26

of perhaps one day becoming a famous

10:28

musician that your she explained

10:30

quo laura was outgoing

10:32

and friendly and social she wanted everyone

10:34

she met to lighter and she liked them

10:36

in turn was always doing little

10:38

nice things i remember

10:40

seeing her pick up the phone and calling gym

10:43

at the airport because he just wanted

10:45

to say hello he joined the girl

10:47

scouts she made friends everywhere

10:49

she loved sing and was member of the st

10:51

barnabas episcopal church choir

10:53

and lindenhurst can still hear

10:55

her singing in her room and

10:59

laura grew up she became more physically

11:01

active getting involved in sports

11:03

and continuing to expand her social experiences

11:06

through different groups in clubs the

11:09

late seventies the parkers discovered

11:11

that they were not in fact and capable

11:13

of having children as patricia would

11:15

give birth to a son james jr

11:18

laura was excited to have a little brother was

11:20

active helping the take care of the

11:23

parkers were a tight knit family who loved

11:25

one another deeply and who spent lot

11:27

of their free time together for family nights

11:29

and group outings it was

11:31

for lack of better term seemingly

11:34

the ideal family the

11:37

age of fourteen laura began attending

11:39

school at lindenhurst high school where

11:41

she continued her participation in sports

11:43

and clubs joining the swim team

11:45

the school choir where she was listed as

11:47

an alto beyond that

11:49

in her free time to volunteer

11:51

for a mental health organization inspired

11:54

in part by the struggles of her older

11:56

sister kathleen who she adored

11:59

all around it appeared laura was a

12:01

popular teen who made friends easily

12:03

and care deeply for those she invited into

12:05

her inner circle while

12:08

laura seem to excel at physical

12:10

activities and the social networking

12:12

if there was one place she fell short

12:14

it was in her academic performance certainly

12:17

wasn't due to a lack of intelligence laura

12:20

was sharp young woman who spoke your mind

12:22

and followed through on her intentions according

12:25

to patricia it was more that among

12:27

the list of things that kept laura's attention

12:30

school was very low on it the

12:32

explained quote the like to

12:34

swim enjoying track team and school

12:37

laura could have been a good student but

12:39

she had too many interest other than school

12:42

because of her marks or father said

12:44

she couldn't date until she was sixteen

12:47

the and quo i'm sure many

12:49

parents of teenagers have experienced

12:51

banning a child from dating sim work

12:54

but only for a period of time regardless

12:57

of her grades and her father's reaction

12:59

to them laura didn't remain single

13:01

for long in fact during

13:03

her freshman year she began a relationship

13:05

with boy one year her junior mom

13:08

and dad weren't exactly in the dark about

13:11

this but it wasn't an issue that needed

13:13

to be directly addressed patricia

13:15

later explained they were aware that laura

13:17

was seeing a boy named michael often

13:20

times when they dropped her off for choir

13:22

practice in school activities they

13:24

knew she was spending time with him under

13:26

the belief that day were unaware according

13:30

to patricia laura was quite series

13:32

about michael in as much as fourteen

13:34

year old and thirteen year old can be serious

13:37

about one another first love

13:39

as we all know can feel like it's

13:41

all that matters in that moment i

13:43

may have nineteen eighty four the end

13:45

of the school year was approaching and while

13:47

laura haven't performed very well academically

13:50

her parents believe things would improve the

13:52

next year the time laura

13:54

was going through somewhat of rebellious

13:56

phase as most teens do so

13:59

her folks weren't worried as with teenagers

14:01

things could change at any time unfortunately

14:05

there's no way of knowing that just weeks before

14:07

the official and of classes laura

14:10

would mysteriously disappear leading

14:12

to summer fraught with pain greece

14:14

desperation and loss the

14:17

morning of wednesday may twenty third

14:19

when jim awoke to begin as normal morning

14:21

ritual before heading off to work being

14:24

mechanic at the airports in schedule

14:26

had i'm arriving at six am to begin a

14:28

long day of working on engines and ensuring

14:31

that the fleet was running properly approximately

14:34

five thirty am he walked into lower

14:36

his bedroom and woke the fourteen year old

14:39

while it was early laura like to

14:41

be awakened before her dad left for work

14:43

so she can have time to dry and style

14:45

her hair according to jim

14:47

the last time he saw laura she

14:50

was sitting on the edge of her bed still dressed

14:52

her pajamas and rubbing the sleep from her

14:54

eyes they did most mornings

14:57

the him leaned over and kissed her on the forehead

14:59

wishing her a good day at school and telling

15:01

you read c or later that night at the dinner

15:03

table been

15:05

working on adding a death to the back of

15:07

home and completed the work the previous

15:10

day before leaving laura's bedroom

15:12

that morning he told the team that she

15:14

should make use of that deck and invite

15:16

some friends over for a party excited

15:19

by the proposition laura lit up

15:21

told her father that she loved him grabbing

15:24

his gear gym strode out the home

15:26

began the thirty minute drive to the airport

15:29

never imagining that this would be the last

15:31

time he'd ever see has beautiful daughter

15:33

alive things

15:36

were slightly different for patricia

15:39

that morning she awoke somewhat startled

15:41

in midst of dream that qualifies more

15:43

as a nightmare while she

15:45

couldn't exactly nail down all the details

15:48

she later told newsday that the nightmare

15:50

had focus on laura and there was

15:52

this overwhelming feeling that she'd

15:54

never see her daughter again of

15:56

course in the moment no one takes

15:58

their nightmares all that seriously

16:01

temperatures kicked off the blankets heading

16:03

into the kitchen for her morning cup of coffee

16:06

that is time laura was already well

16:08

under way to getting set for school and

16:10

came bouncing into kitchen to say goodbye

16:14

the cool morning on the southern shore

16:16

with chile twenty mile per hour winds

16:18

sweeping up from the atlantic during

16:20

her attention towards laura patricia

16:22

became concerned that team might not be

16:24

appropriately dressed for what was seemingly

16:27

going be an unseasonably cold

16:29

morning the later detail

16:31

her exchange with her daughter saying

16:33

quote the had on white jeans

16:36

and a green and white striped tank top with

16:38

hang ten on i said it's

16:40

cool you better go put something on

16:43

quote moments later

16:45

laura through on or school jacket in

16:47

called out that she was heading off and patricia

16:50

western good day watching as the

16:52

team block out the front door person

16:54

hand for the last time what

16:57

had begun as a typical day in parker

16:59

home would just twelve hours later

17:01

transform into every parent's worst

17:04

nightmare one which continues to

17:06

endure nearly forty years

17:08

later according

17:11

to everything that is known about this day

17:13

laura arrived at school that morning is usually

17:16

did and nothing stood out as being

17:18

out of the ordinary are strange about her

17:20

or her behavior that

17:22

ending morning classes laura made

17:24

way over to her locker before the start

17:26

of launched and stowed a handful of

17:28

items for retrieval later these

17:31

being her makeup kit purse diary

17:33

and reading glasses then

17:35

made her way lunch where she sat down with

17:37

her best friend anne marie vital

17:40

knowing her about the party your father was allowing

17:42

her to throw on their new deck emery

17:45

would later states that laura was in good spirits

17:47

that afternoon describing her is bubbly

17:50

now there somewhat of a debate about

17:52

the last time laura was seen though

17:54

there appears to be more evidence on one

17:57

side than the other the every

17:59

reports the time they did that laura

18:01

was last seen during the final period of

18:03

classes and disappeared shortly thereafter

18:05

missing an after school practice that she

18:07

never would have had see any choice

18:09

about however other reports

18:12

suggested the last time anyone actually saw

18:14

laura was during this lunch period the

18:17

time lindenhurst had an open campus

18:20

wouldn't years after the disappearance the

18:22

school would change its policy this

18:24

can join with the fact that there don't appear to be

18:26

any verified sightings of laura after

18:29

lunch that day leads most

18:31

to believe that she disappeared sometime

18:33

during the middle of the day in addition

18:35

to this the suffolk county police have stated

18:37

on more than one occasion that the last

18:39

time laura was seen by anyone

18:41

was at approximately twelve ten pm

18:45

the nearly forty years that have passed

18:47

some former classmates of laura's have

18:50

come forward with varying claims about their

18:52

encounters with her that wednesday afternoon

18:55

several students have stated that they saw

18:57

laura during their lunch break and that she

18:59

invited them to come with her off

19:01

campus to hang out for bit no

19:03

one ended up going with fourteen year old

19:05

though and the last time there's a confirmed

19:07

sighting of the teen was ten minutes afternoon

19:10

didn't have anything with her at the time having

19:13

left most of her stuff in her locker where

19:15

she planted rabbit later bradley

19:18

laura would never make it back to her locker

19:20

or even the school what exactly

19:22

happened that afternoon remains mystery

19:24

to investigators and her family

19:26

to this day laura

19:29

didn't arrive home after school that afternoon

19:32

there was no immediate reason for concern

19:35

the choir practice which started

19:37

thirty minutes after the final bell rang

19:39

it wasn't unusual for laura to arrive

19:42

home several hours after school

19:44

ended usually hanging around to

19:46

chat with friends after practice however

19:49

when jim arrived home and dinner

19:51

hit the table and laura still wasn't

19:53

there her parents began to worry

19:56

it wasn't like her to be that late not

19:58

without so much as a song called though

20:00

they did what most parents would do in that situation

20:03

they began making calls to the parents of laura's

20:05

friends asking if their daughter was

20:07

there they quickly discovered

20:09

no one had seen the fourteen year old since that

20:11

afternoon the parkers

20:13

called school they were informed that

20:15

laura hadn't shown up for choir practice

20:17

either that one piece of information

20:20

certified to her parents that something

20:22

was definitely wrong their

20:25

next goal was to the suffolk county

20:27

police departments where gym explain

20:29

the situation and stated that he wanted

20:31

to file a missing persons report for his

20:34

daughter the time the

20:36

police weren't exactly concerned

20:38

them if fourteen year old

20:40

hadn't come home there were two likely

20:43

answers either she was off with

20:45

friends and had lost track of time or

20:47

she was a runaway and she'd return eventually

20:50

frustrated by this response gym

20:52

wasn't going to give up any continue

20:54

to press the police until they agreed send

20:57

some officers out to look for her different

20:59

units were dispatched different areas

21:02

but based on the information gleaned

21:04

over the years it doesn't sound like

21:06

they were exactly searching their hearts out

21:09

while some officers went to the school

21:11

others drove around the area keeping an

21:13

eye out for laura but not doing

21:15

much beyond that continuing

21:18

to argue against the belief that his daughter had

21:20

run off the him contacted the f

21:22

b i am requested their involvement in

21:24

tracking down laura who with this point

21:26

he believed had to be in some kind of trouble

21:29

their part the f b i did

21:31

send an agent to lindenhurst to conduct

21:34

interviews and to try and locate the missing

21:36

team the morning of next

21:38

day thursday may twenty four

21:41

word of lore his disappearance made the rounds

21:44

the audience whispered and gossip about the

21:46

missing girl and as you'd expect all

21:48

manner of stories were spun up from laura

21:51

running off with an older man to

21:53

her been the victim of a vicious murderer

21:56

when f b i agent ralph fiennes

21:58

the arrived at the school he spoke

22:00

to the administration before conducting

22:02

interviews with students over

22:04

the course of the next few days both

22:07

the f b i and the suffolk county police

22:09

spoke with countless students and teenagers

22:11

from around the area the vast

22:13

majority hadn't seen laura since

22:15

the previous day though there were

22:17

some who made different claims

22:19

at least a few students told the f

22:21

b i agent that they'd seen laura

22:23

in the hours and days after

22:25

her disappearance in some

22:27

instances they reported seeing her

22:30

around the neighborhood in others

22:32

they claim to have actually spoken with

22:34

her saying that laura told them she'd

22:36

run away from home and had no intention

22:38

of coming back as a result

22:41

of these interviews the f b i

22:43

made the determination that laura

22:45

had in fact runaway and therefore

22:47

they didn't need to be involved agent

22:50

in newsy later told the daily news

22:52

quo we entered the case as

22:54

soon as laura's disappearance was reported

22:57

and launched an extensive investigation

23:00

we determined that she left home voluntarily

23:02

based on her being seen several times

23:04

by friends we discontinued

23:07

that investigation well

23:10

the f b i were not alone in this point

23:12

view with both the suffolk county police

23:15

and the administration the high school

23:17

telling not only laura's parents but

23:19

other students and their parents that

23:21

this was not an abduction or

23:23

case of foul play but instead

23:25

a runaway as a result

23:28

any searches or efforts to locate

23:30

the team were halted much to the chagrin

23:32

of the parkers games later

23:34

explained quote it's terribly

23:36

frustrating already tell

23:38

me the difference in a runaway and missing

23:40

person is the runaway telephones

23:43

home and says she's alright we

23:45

haven't heard from laura since may my

23:47

wife patricia and eyes take turns

23:50

being up and down and some days we

23:52

overlap don't know why she

23:54

would leave flunk several subjects

23:56

in school but didn't seem overly

23:58

distraught very happy

24:00

on morning her disappearance because

24:02

i had just put the last nail on patio

24:05

deck i'd been making and told her to

24:07

invite some friends over for were party

24:09

and this week's began

24:11

passing with no sign of laura nor

24:14

any contact with her family the

24:16

parkers had to take it upon themselves to

24:18

try and track down there missing daughter

24:20

you in part to the opinion of law enforcement

24:23

officials and the school that laura

24:25

had run away the parkers ran into

24:27

a lot of road blocks in their search

24:30

neighbors and friends didn't really participate

24:32

in searches for the team's believing she

24:34

was off on our own and would come back when

24:36

she pleased they too

24:38

had heard rumors of laura being seen

24:40

around the area and figured that if she

24:42

wanted to come home she do so

24:44

in due time the left

24:46

the parkers to do everything themselves

24:49

each new piece of information that came out

24:51

let the parents to try and track down

24:53

leads when local teams claim

24:55

to have seen her around gym and patricia

24:58

were patrol the area looking for her

25:00

and asking anyone they saw if they'd

25:02

seen their daughter the family

25:04

put up fliers bearing laura's photo

25:07

and description on every like post and trees

25:09

route lindenhurst they spoke

25:11

to the newspapers did interviews fought

25:13

to get television and radio stations to

25:15

cover her story but for the most part

25:18

they were dismissed as once reporter

25:20

spoke to police they were told it was

25:22

a runaway situation and nothing to

25:24

worry about frustrated

25:26

the parkers began putting their home number

25:28

on the flyers rather than contact

25:30

information for police believing

25:32

that they would investigate far better than

25:34

law enforcement who are essentially

25:36

ambivalent at one point

25:39

in time the barkers received call

25:41

from a truck driver who claim to have seen

25:43

a young woman matching laura's description

25:45

walking the streets of manhattan the

25:48

i'm headed out to the city and patrol the streets

25:50

for a week showing pictures of his daughter

25:52

and trying to track her down he

25:55

later told newsday quote walked

25:57

the streets in the city for seven days

25:59

on i i walk down streets

26:01

charles bronson wouldn't walk on

26:04

and world one point

26:06

he spotted someone who looked exactly

26:08

like his daughter sitting in

26:10

his car the young woman was walking

26:12

towards him and gym began tensing

26:15

up getting ready to grab her when

26:17

finally at the last moment realized

26:20

it wasn't laura the heart

26:22

sunk that desperate hope in

26:24

his got replaced with the intense emptiness

26:26

in crushed hopes and grief of a parent

26:29

the returned home to long island haven't

26:31

gotten no closer to finding his daughter

26:34

but now wondering just how far she might

26:36

be if she was still alive

26:38

out there somewhere while

26:41

putting their home phone number out in the public

26:43

it resulted in a flood of calls and tips

26:45

not one of them was accurate the

26:48

lead either lead to a dead end to

26:50

a case of mistaken identity horrifyingly

26:54

some calls were neither flush with tips

26:56

or information but instead we're

26:58

pranks targeting the family jim

27:01

explained quote about months

27:03

after she was missing i got a phone

27:05

call the girl said daddy

27:07

will you come and get me kept

27:09

saying where are you then

27:11

i heard another girl laughing in background

27:14

and quo it appeared

27:16

that teenagers from all across the state

27:19

thought it was amusing to taunt the grief stricken

27:21

parents have missing girl my

27:24

all these acts were immature and needlessly

27:26

cruel there was another aspect

27:29

of a case that the parkers found even

27:31

more disturbing while

27:33

school and police had told the local

27:35

community that laura was runaway

27:38

resulting in most people choosing not to

27:40

participate in any searches many

27:42

of parents in the area to things a step

27:44

further the reasons unknown

27:47

they told their children not to cooperate

27:49

with the police kids were told

27:51

not to speak to them not to provide them

27:53

with any information and when asked to

27:56

direct investigators to the parents

27:59

detectives at the time i'm described

28:01

the local communities involvement as

28:03

poor giving him nothing to

28:05

work with according detectives

28:08

they were startled by this response

28:10

and especially given who's some of these people

28:12

were for instance it

28:14

was reported that laura's best friend

28:16

amery vitaliy was amongst

28:19

those who was instructed not cooperate

28:21

there's was her previous boyfriend michael

28:24

for the parkers he was a horrifying

28:26

nightmare not only was their daughter

28:28

gone but no one including

28:31

people they once considered friends

28:33

seem to give a damn in desperation

28:36

the parkers announced that they would be offering

28:38

one thousand dollar reward for any

28:40

information that could lead to their daughter safe

28:43

return family though

28:45

by the middle of july sixty days

28:47

after laura was last seen call

28:49

slowly trickled out and the suffolk

28:52

county police officially deactivated

28:54

their investigation now

28:56

it truly was down to the family

28:58

with jim and patricia being the only

29:00

two people actively trying find

29:02

laura the summer

29:04

of nineteen eighty four was hot and humid

29:07

on the island and while many families

29:09

continued on with their lives the

29:11

parkers stuck at a standstill they

29:14

watched from their windows as neighborhood children

29:16

got together hung out and played

29:18

games seemingly unaware

29:21

of laura's absence their

29:23

support system was weak their hearts

29:25

were broken and they quickly began to

29:27

realize that the town they had fallen in

29:29

love with had turned it's back on

29:31

them the new school

29:33

year was set to begin in early september

29:36

nearly four months after laura had

29:38

last been seen this

29:40

time while the parkers continue to hope

29:42

for the best they couldn't continue fighting

29:44

off dark thoughts that invaded their minds

29:48

laura to have been gone this long

29:50

for their to have been no legitimate sightings

29:52

no contact no information

29:55

chances of her still being out there somewhere

29:58

where between slim and none the

30:00

began to think of an incident which occurred

30:03

year earlier one which stood

30:05

in direct contrast to their experience

30:08

the teenager not much older than

30:10

laura had mysteriously disappeared

30:13

the town came together conducted

30:15

a long arduous search and eventually

30:18

found her the turned out

30:20

between had been abducted by a violent

30:22

man who moved to queens enforcer

30:25

intersex here he was rescued

30:27

from a seedy motel in returned to her family

30:31

the parkers couldn't help but wonder why

30:33

had town rallied around her but

30:35

chosen to ignore laura's plug

30:39

in a better sense of irony the soap

30:41

opera general hospital was in the midst of

30:43

explosion of popularity telling

30:45

the story of lucan laura the

30:47

training ratings that know daytime television

30:50

show at ever seen before celebrities

30:52

were drawn to the show with elizabeth taylor

30:55

even agreeing to play a part on what

30:57

was quickly becoming a television phenomenon

31:00

just months before laura's disappearance

31:02

christopher cross recorded song for

31:04

the show entitled think of laura

31:07

the song got a ton of airplay blaring

31:10

out from radios all over town yet

31:13

the meaning was seemingly loss on the population

31:15

of lindenhurst who sang along

31:17

to the tune all the while no

31:20

one was thinking of the missing bora

31:22

parker nor the family whose hearts

31:24

we're sinking deeper into grief patricia

31:27

later recalled climbing into her daughter's

31:29

bed and sobbing herself to sleep

31:32

wondering if they would ever find a beautiful

31:34

girl who had brought so much light

31:36

into their lives now

31:38

they hope desperately to know the truth

31:40

the knock at the door would give them an answer

31:43

they had been dreading we'll get

31:45

to that knock on the door and back into

31:47

the case after a quick word from

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trace now let's get

35:33

back into our examination of the murder

35:36

of laura and parker on

35:38

the afternoon of monday september

35:40

ten the him stood up from couch

35:43

dancer knock the front door the

35:45

detectives were standing there and

35:47

introduce themselves as being from the suffolk

35:49

county police department according

35:52

to jim the detectives informed him

35:54

that they'd found his daughter and for just

35:56

a moment heart flooded with

35:58

joy that was short lived

36:01

the gym explained quote he

36:04

said it doesn't look good mr

36:06

parker your daughter is dead

36:09

and quote approximately

36:11

three miles north the families south

36:13

seventh avenue home just few

36:15

blocks from the high school where laura had

36:17

last been seen three teenagers

36:20

had made the grisly discovery near

36:23

the intersection of monroe avenue and frank

36:25

street not far from breslau

36:27

cemetery it was wooded plot

36:29

of land this area was

36:31

popular amongst local teams as

36:33

a short distance from the roadway a

36:36

whole had been dug into the earth described

36:39

as being four and half feet deep and

36:41

eleven feet diameter is

36:43

spot was known amongst local scenes

36:45

as the hot the

36:47

whole was partially covered over with plywood

36:50

and allowed kids to hang out inside

36:52

out the view of anyone in the area them

36:55

came to hang out and talk others

36:58

smoke cigarettes or marijuana

37:00

hanging out into the late night hours

37:03

that monday morning three twelve

37:05

year old boys had gone into the woods with

37:07

plans of cleaning out the hard went

37:10

down in the whole they were tossing pieces

37:12

of broken would an empty boxes out

37:15

when they found rolled up length of carpet

37:18

moving to pick the carpet up the quickly

37:20

discovered that it was very heavy moments

37:23

later they saw the remnants of

37:25

pink shoe sticking out feeling

37:28

back part the carpet the boys saw

37:30

the unmistakable site of a human

37:32

skull terrifies

37:34

they ran screaming from the woods to their homes

37:37

where they inform their parents of what they'd found

37:40

following the kids back to this whole in the woods

37:43

the parents confirmed that this was no story

37:45

made up by children and quickly

37:47

dialed nine one one when

37:49

police arrived on the scene they found

37:52

the badly decomposed remains of what

37:54

they believed be a teenager do

37:56

the hot humid weather that summer little

37:59

remained doubts the a skeleton covered

38:01

in scraps of clothing it

38:03

on descriptions given by the parkers

38:06

the body appeared to have been wearing the same

38:08

clothing that laura had warned to school

38:10

the day she disappeared the

38:13

him went down to the scene with detectives

38:15

and witnessed as they carried the body

38:17

out in what he described as a duffel

38:19

bag james explained

38:21

quote kerry didn't one

38:24

hands how could anyone leave

38:26

her like that they have mirrors

38:28

in their house how can they look themselves

38:31

in the face how can they keep something

38:33

like that themselves and

38:36

the time they couldn't confirm

38:38

was one hundred percent certainty that it was

38:41

laura however circumstantial

38:43

evidence lead them to believe it was that

38:46

time the parkers were informed that

38:48

they would need copies of laura's dental

38:50

records in order to confirm her identity

38:54

john f gallagher chief of detectives

38:56

for suffolk county police spoke

38:58

to the media who had begun gathering in the road

39:01

just outside the boundary set by the

39:03

police tape line gallagher

39:05

told reporters quote we're

39:07

still doing crime scene work taking

39:09

sand and soil from below the body

39:12

we don't know the cause of death on this youngster

39:14

yeah the feeling is she may

39:16

have died of natural causes from

39:19

the remains there is nothing to indicate

39:21

fractures or anything like that we'll

39:24

have to way for x rays to see if we can

39:26

pinpoint anything and quote

39:29

the following day tuesday september

39:32

eleventh police officially confirmed

39:34

that the body recover from the whole was

39:36

in fact laura parker you'd

39:38

have a high level of decomposition they couldn't

39:41

that that time determine cause

39:43

of death however was noted

39:45

that the didn't appear to be severe trauma

39:47

to the body no broken bones or fractures

39:50

no evidence of knife wounds are gunshots

39:53

mildest lead them to say that the desk could

39:55

been natural causes investigators

39:58

didn't believe this was likely the

40:00

fact remains that someone had covered

40:02

her body with that piece of carpet which

40:04

suggested it minimum set at

40:06

least one person knew her body

40:08

was there and had tried to conceal

40:10

it by newsday

40:13

why police had an investigated this case

40:15

more thoroughly from the get go chief

40:17

of detectives gallagher explain that the

40:19

f b i have worked the case and quo

40:22

they determined that was not an abduction

40:25

and they called us and we took it as

40:27

a missing person the best we

40:29

could learn was that she had told friends she

40:31

was having an argument with her father well

40:35

in addition this gallagher noted

40:37

that multiple teams allegedly

40:39

friends of laura's had told them

40:41

that they'd seen her around town in the days

40:44

and months after her disappearance leading

40:46

them to believe the she was a runaway the

40:49

turned out not one of

40:51

those sightings was real in

40:53

fact no one had seen laura

40:55

parker since lunch the day of her disappearance

40:58

no one other than the person who killed

41:00

her why they claimed otherwise

41:03

is another mystery in this case which

41:05

has never been answered parkers

41:08

were devastated learn that not only

41:10

was laura dead that she had likely

41:12

been killed not only that

41:15

she had almost certainly been killed the same

41:17

day she was reported missing the

41:19

aim spoke to the daily news saying

41:22

quote the chase rainbow

41:24

and you think you'll never come to the end we

41:27

did laura's dead at

41:29

least now we know i feel terrible

41:32

for the parents who have missing kids and

41:34

never find out we now

41:36

some of those parents will never know

41:39

the world thursday september

41:42

thirteenth the parkers announced

41:44

in the newspaper that a funeral mass would be

41:46

held for laura st boniface episcopal

41:48

church and lindenhurst where teenager

41:50

would be cremated and her ashes

41:52

kept in vault as for

41:54

comment during this tremendous time of grief

41:57

jim struggled to find the words the

42:00

daily news quote good

42:02

in the story that we loved her and

42:06

non obituary for laura accompanied

42:08

the funeral announcement and read in

42:10

part quote laura and

42:13

beloved daughter of james and patricia

42:16

mr of james jr and kathleen

42:19

laura was a member of softball little

42:21

league girl scouts lindenhurst

42:23

high school chorus track and swimming

42:25

team the romances st

42:27

boniface episcopal church where laura

42:30

served as an acolyte and member of

42:32

piss couple young churchmen and

42:34

also sang in the church choir and

42:38

the time neither investigators

42:41

nor the medical examiner were able to

42:43

determine the cause of death examination

42:45

had yielded few clues though

42:48

for detectives working the case as a homicide

42:50

there was one com and theory you

42:52

to a lack of violence on the remains

42:55

there was a likelihood that laura had died

42:57

as the result of strangulation or

42:59

suffocation whether or

43:01

not she had been killed in the whole or

43:03

deposited there by her killer was unknown

43:06

but to details were certain someone

43:08

had known all along exactly

43:11

where she was then that

43:13

person left the fourteen year old

43:15

lifeless face down in

43:17

the dirt the carpet thrown

43:19

over top of her investigators

43:21

didn't believe she had fallen into the whole

43:24

but had been placed due the positioning

43:26

of her body with one of her arms

43:28

behind her back detectives

43:31

previously disinterested in the case

43:34

dismissing it as a runaway situations

43:36

where now focused on trying to find out what

43:38

had happened to laura this was

43:40

in sense a slap in the face to

43:42

the parkers who had spent four months

43:44

trying to get police off their asses

43:47

only to be dismissed as the parents of

43:49

runaway team there was

43:51

no joy your pride to be found and

43:53

having been proved right and while

43:55

there must have been great animosity towards

43:57

both suffolk county police and the f b

43:59

i the parkers didn't speak ill

44:01

of investigators the bring now

44:03

that they might find the answers and bring

44:05

justice to whoever had taken their beautiful

44:08

daughter from them investigators

44:10

though hit the same brick wall

44:12

they encountered early on no

44:15

one would talk not parents

44:17

not teenagers no one seemed

44:19

to want to get involved if

44:21

indeed they believe laura had simply

44:23

run away that's one thing right

44:25

now the body of a fourteen year old dean

44:27

has been found in the middle of their community

44:30

and still nobody cares

44:33

it was a have more as life didn't matter to

44:35

anyone but her family as

44:37

a result investigation quickly

44:39

grew cold while the parkers

44:42

had hoped for answers they watch bitterly

44:44

as days turn to weeks weeks

44:46

to months and months to years

44:50

the parkers left lindenhurst not long

44:53

after the discovery laura's bodies

44:55

finally get too painful to drive down the

44:57

street they watched her grow up on

44:59

and feeling betrayed by people they once

45:01

believed were friends and neighbors racking

45:04

up their belongings they headed further east

45:06

on the island settling into a condo

45:09

in the hamlet of holbrooke two

45:11

years later in nineteen eighty six

45:14

floors cold case was among those up

45:16

for review and was ultimately

45:18

assigned to to homicide investigators

45:21

with connections to the area detectives

45:23

carmody and faults graph had both

45:25

attend as lindenhurst high school they've

45:28

been with the suffolk county police department

45:30

for a combined thirty eight years six

45:32

of which have been spent working homicides

45:35

they were married men with children

45:37

lower his age and they took the case

45:39

personally wanting to find answers

45:42

for the family and for their community

45:45

the even two years later though carmody

45:47

and false grass ran into the same issues

45:50

their predecessors had no

45:52

one wanted talk about the case and

45:54

no one wanted to get involved in

45:56

january of nineteen eighty seven both

45:58

detectives approach daily news and requested

46:01

that they write piece about laura's unsolved

46:03

murder men express their

46:05

frustrations with the investigation and

46:07

the lack of cooperation about

46:10

laura's friends and those closest to her

46:13

detective false graph explained quote

46:15

the vitaliy family won't allow us

46:17

to talk to ann marie and michael

46:20

once cooperative won't speak

46:22

to us anymore and wow

46:25

i can't comment on and murray's cooperation

46:28

or lack thereof i did come

46:30

across several posts from michael according

46:33

to him he was thirteen years old

46:35

when dated laura and had no idea

46:37

what had happened to her michael

46:39

said that he and laura had broken up a few

46:41

weeks prior to her disappearance

46:43

but couldn't remember exactly why

46:45

saying it was probably typical teenage

46:48

drama when michael

46:50

was accused of not cooperating with police

46:52

he responded by noting that he had

46:54

cooperated he told investigators

46:57

everything he knew the time

46:59

went on following the discovery of laura's

47:01

body investigators had become

47:03

more aggressive with him that

47:06

that they frequently showed up at school

47:08

and pulled him out of class questioning

47:10

him without his parents present for

47:12

him the final straw came one day when

47:14

they showed up at his house and interrogated

47:17

him on the front porch accusing

47:19

him of murder and trying to threatened

47:21

him into confessing at least

47:23

that's how he and his family side

47:25

and given the circumstances it's hard

47:27

to blame them their

47:30

thoughts on the case false graphing

47:32

carmody had to slightly different theories

47:34

on what might have happened neither

47:36

believed it was robbery gone wrong

47:39

as one found laura was still

47:41

wearing her rings and gold chain

47:44

while carmody was a little more protective

47:46

of his thoughts false graph was

47:48

open to share selling the daily

47:50

news quote the length of time

47:52

the body was in the whole eliminated leads

47:55

the position of the body with the face

47:57

in the dirt and an arm them behind

47:59

indicates the me that she was suffocated

48:01

at scene reason however

48:04

is unknown it might have been

48:06

a sexual encounter although lures

48:08

clothing including her underwear

48:10

were intact why do people

48:12

kill people sex drugs

48:15

robbery we have no evidence

48:17

of any of these the question

48:20

for his bar harmony wasn't sure

48:22

about the cause of death and while he

48:25

acknowledged suffocation was possible

48:27

didn't want comment without knowing for certain

48:30

he did however explain that neither

48:32

detective could wrap their heads around the lack

48:34

of cooperation saying that it

48:36

was quotes mind boggling

48:38

not being able to find people who will tell

48:40

us what happened somebody must

48:42

know somebody who knows what happened

48:45

and at the time

48:48

there were rumors circulating about laura

48:51

while no one really wanted to talk cooperate

48:54

or assist investigators in solving her murder

48:56

they were more than happy to speculate about

48:58

her personality and behaviors multiple

49:01

people reported the she was a smoker

49:03

this character flaw their mindset

49:05

seemingly being enough not to care about

49:08

her death there's mentioned drugs

49:10

that laura was involved in using

49:12

and hung around drug dealers the

49:14

struck her parents as odd as they hadn't

49:16

experienced anything with laura to indicate

49:18

that she had any kind of drug problem yeah

49:22

apparently admitted to her parents that

49:24

she smoked joint once but

49:26

there no indications that has gone any further

49:28

than that regardless

49:30

there were rumors that the teen had gotten into

49:32

heavier drugs i may have died

49:34

due to an overdose leading someone cover

49:37

her up with a rug and leave her there

49:39

these rumors would later be dismissed

49:42

when a forensic examination of her bone

49:44

marrow concluded that were no traces

49:46

of drugs in her system at the time

49:48

of her death the

49:50

bleeding the interview detective carmody

49:52

as the community to help with information

49:55

updated quo we appeal to

49:57

the public for help from a moral standpoint

50:00

laura and parents are going through living

50:02

hell not knowing what happened their daughter

50:05

we can't supply and answer at this point we

50:08

still don't know if it was actual murder

50:10

since know vital organs remains

50:13

what we're asking is if anyone

50:15

knew what happened to laura an please

50:17

come forward and tell us if someone

50:19

reading this killed her well collison

50:22

talk to us get it off your chest it

50:25

was accidental we can close

50:27

the case and satisfy the parents

50:30

the terrible thing to not know what

50:32

happened to your kid the worse

50:34

than torture and co unfortunately

50:37

it seems no one was willing to

50:39

come forward with any information or

50:41

at least if they did it didn't assist

50:43

investigators in signing the answers

50:45

they saw another

50:47

year past when in february nineteen

50:50

eighty eight both the parkers and

50:52

detectives carmody and false grass

50:54

again went to the newspapers in hopes

50:56

of drumming up some leads speaking

50:59

to newsday detective car many revealed

51:01

a few new pieces of information

51:04

they did quote we believe

51:06

she was murdered the same day she disappeared

51:09

if she was a murder victim we believe

51:11

the murderer was someone known to her

51:14

the killer probably was from neighborhood

51:17

we have is she's found in this

51:19

whole and she's covered up with carpet

51:21

so we don't know how she does we

51:24

are ruling out that she was strangled

51:26

or smothered and quo carmody

51:29

went on to explain that given the isolated

51:31

location in which the body have been found

51:33

and lack of any sightings of transience

51:35

are strangers in the area there was

51:37

high likelihood that laura had been killed by

51:39

someone she knew someone who lived

51:41

the area and probably still

51:44

live there the community

51:46

and lindenhurst however if they

51:48

knew who had taken laura's life

51:50

they still weren't talking the

51:52

case once again grew cold

51:55

year later in may have nineteen eighty

51:57

nine the parkers along with the

52:00

the carmody and faults graph embarked

52:02

upon new endeavor it had

52:04

been five long years since laura's

52:06

body had been pulled from the hole in the woods

52:08

and the answers were still fleeting laura

52:11

lived she was set to have graduated

52:13

from lindenhurst high school in the spring

52:15

of nineteen eighty seven two years

52:17

earlier detectives and

52:19

the family hope that the passage of time might

52:21

have changed some people's perspectives that

52:24

maybe the information they might

52:26

possess would have been weighing on them in

52:28

hopes of applying pressure to those emotions

52:31

the group wrote and mail letters to one

52:33

thousand of laura's classmates

52:35

who would have graduated in nineteen eighty seven

52:38

the carmody explained quote the

52:41

letter is trying get some sympathy

52:43

we never give up on looking for new information

52:46

and gwen once again

52:48

however investigators were given

52:50

cold shoulder the

52:52

more time passed the less anyone

52:55

was interested revisiting this horrible

52:57

crime the

52:59

last major piece of media coverage

53:01

available and laura's case came in may

53:03

of ninety ninety one marching seven

53:06

years since he had disappeared the

53:08

alive she would have been turning twenty one

53:10

years old that summer but instead of celebrating

53:13

her entrance into the world of full adulthood

53:15

the parkers that only the bitter grief of

53:18

wondering what might have been patricia

53:21

speaking newsday express their

53:23

pain and frustration with her former community

53:25

and their lack of interest helping to bring

53:27

her daughter's killer to justice the

53:30

status quo this is your

53:32

home town something has happened

53:34

to a young girls and people say

53:37

let her rest in peace let her

53:39

rest in peace there's questions

53:41

that have to be answered so she

53:43

can rest in peace the and

53:45

co the

53:47

living room of the family home they

53:49

keep large framed photo of laura

53:52

and they look at it every day seeing

53:54

the smiling face of the beautiful daughter

53:56

they still miss so desperately

54:00

there's in their bedroom they kept a gold ring

54:02

with pearl setting there was a gift

54:04

from gym to his daughter and was

54:06

found on her body that horrible day

54:08

in september of nineteen eighty four

54:11

seven long years later the

54:13

parker still didn't know for certain

54:15

how their daughter had been killed nor

54:18

why someone would have done this to her

54:20

even for investigators the mystery

54:22

a strong enough that her case was not

54:25

officially classified as homicide

54:27

but as a suspicious death they

54:29

know however that somewhere out there

54:32

someone and likely more than

54:34

one person know exactly

54:36

what happened to laura and parker

54:38

that may afternoon when she

54:40

walked off campus and never came

54:42

back the about

54:44

the family and their search for truth

54:47

detective robert doyle told newsday

54:49

quote they're stuck in

54:51

stage where there is no light at the end

54:54

the tunnel the victims pain

54:56

is over the victim is dead

54:59

the victim's family that goes through and

55:01

a measurable amount of pain with

55:03

the constant waiting for an arrest

55:06

and co the

55:08

years have gone on not much has

55:10

changed in the investigation the

55:12

mystery of laura's death is as unexplained

55:15

as it was nearly forty years ago when

55:17

her body was pulled from that hole in the air

55:20

parents never stop fighting to find answers

55:23

and justice that

55:25

league games passed away in two thousand

55:27

one having lived the last seventeen

55:29

years of his life hoping to one day

55:31

know the truth patricia

55:34

the fight went on but she too

55:36

has now passed on never knowing

55:39

what happened to her beloved daughter nor

55:41

why someone would have done something so

55:43

terrible to such sweet loving

55:45

and kind young woman asked

55:48

about the pain after all those years

55:50

but your she told reporters quote sometimes

55:53

i have mixed emotions about finding

55:55

out what happened she died

55:57

horribly from suffocation or something

56:00

that then i don't wanna hear miss

56:03

her terribly and she was in my thoughts throughout

56:05

christmas and new years i'm

56:07

also tired i had her

56:09

and lost her i know my

56:11

husband will never rest until he knows

56:14

what happened and why i

56:16

don't think drugs were involved but if they

56:18

were what kind of a friend would

56:20

leave my daughter as she was unconscious

56:23

know my daughter would never leave them

56:26

and court when last seen

56:28

laura and parker was described

56:30

as being white female would sandy

56:32

blonde hair and blue eyes standing five

56:34

feet two inches tall and weighing approximately

56:37

one hundred and twenty pounds was

56:40

last seen around twelve ten pm on

56:42

the afternoon of wednesday may twenty third

56:44

nineteen eighty four leaving the campus

56:47

of lindenhurst high school the

56:49

time of disappearance she was wearing

56:51

white jeans and green and white

56:53

striped tank top with the words hang ten

56:55

on was also wearing lindenhurst

56:58

highschool jacket and pink running

57:00

shoes the remains

57:02

discovered four months later on september

57:04

tenth in a local hang out in the

57:06

woods known as the hot little

57:08

more than hole in the ground floor as

57:10

body was found beneath piece of rolled up

57:12

carpet he was face down

57:15

with one of her arms behind her back her

57:18

clothes and partially worn away there was

57:20

enough to confirm it was the same outfit

57:22

she'd worn the day she went missing the

57:25

level of decomposition a cause

57:27

of death has never been determined however

57:30

given that she had been covered up of the carpet

57:33

investigators believe that her death was suspicious

57:35

and was either accidental or

57:37

result of foul play perhaps

57:39

by strangulation or suffocation

57:43

the years after laura's death or

57:45

parents published memorials to her and

57:47

local newspapers on bitter anniversary

57:50

of the day she went missing they wish

57:52

to express their love for her and

57:54

their hope that someone would come forward

57:56

with what they knew asked

57:58

about the loss of his after in the years

58:01

prior to his passing parker

58:03

spoke through painful sobs telling

58:06

reporters of the life that was stolen

58:08

the light that was extinguished and

58:10

of the dreams gone unfulfilled

58:13

the inquiry something was taken

58:15

from us that can never be replaced

58:18

we went to friend's daughter's wedding

58:20

and it hurt very much when

58:22

i followed my daughter down the aisle

58:25

it was behind her casket and

58:27

not as the father of the bride

58:41

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the every parent's worst nightmare you're

1:04:03

loving beautiful child has off for

1:04:05

another day at school and never comes home

1:04:08

for months you endure the pain and grief of searching

1:04:10

for her only to have your world

1:04:12

come crashing down when her body is found

1:04:15

the midst of the horror you set out

1:04:17

to lay your beloved child to rest

1:04:20

then turn your attention towards finding

1:04:22

the answers why did this happen

1:04:24

who did it and will they ever pay the price

1:04:27

though many families have gone through this

1:04:29

and while many have found answers and

1:04:31

some have received justice nothing

1:04:34

can ever feel the hole their hearts left

1:04:36

behind by the loss of a child

1:04:39

of course this case is a little different

1:04:41

isn't it from the get go the

1:04:43

parkers had to fight to get anyone help them

1:04:45

the police were dismissive she's just

1:04:47

runaway so she's not worth their time

1:04:50

the f b i ask some questions got

1:04:52

told she's been seen in the area figure hey

1:04:54

this doesn't require our attention i

1:04:57

mean what the chances some local teams might

1:04:59

not be telling the whole truth right don't

1:05:01

even get me started on the community i

1:05:04

don't know what was wrong with these people but turn

1:05:06

your back on friends and neighbors

1:05:08

to disregard the pain and loss of a family

1:05:11

into instructor children not to cooperate

1:05:13

that's level of madness can't even begin

1:05:16

the wrap my head around james

1:05:18

i'm patricia parker already had the weight

1:05:20

the world on their shoulders their daughter

1:05:23

was gone but no one seemed care

1:05:25

no one to leave them when they said their daughter wouldn't

1:05:27

just run away nobody cared

1:05:29

when they begged for help or information

1:05:32

instead they had the police the school

1:05:34

in their own community turning their backs on

1:05:37

them they were abandoned by people

1:05:39

who spent time with their daughter been

1:05:41

in their homes shared barbecues

1:05:43

and birthday parties not only

1:05:45

did they lose their child they lost

1:05:47

their idea of what their lives were

1:05:50

the end they fought for the truth

1:05:52

alone they drove the streets

1:05:55

put up fliers followed up on every

1:05:57

ten they dealt with liars

1:05:59

praying there's people seeking a cash

1:06:01

grab it investigators couldn't be bothered

1:06:04

actually go out and look i

1:06:06

know we've covered this and past episodes

1:06:08

how police were so quick to just dismiss

1:06:10

missing teenagers as runaways but

1:06:13

why does that make them i'm worthy of finding

1:06:16

more was fourteen years old when

1:06:18

she disappeared and the basic response

1:06:20

was well she'll come back when she wants

1:06:22

to i'm sorry but that's absolutely

1:06:24

unacceptable maybe we might

1:06:27

be able to look back with hindsight's and

1:06:29

figure cops just didn't know any better or

1:06:31

that's just the way things work but at

1:06:33

some point that stops being an excuse

1:06:36

especially when you consider that stuff like that

1:06:38

still happens today

1:06:40

the end after a long hot

1:06:43

summer filled with dashed hopes and exhaustive

1:06:45

search is there came knock

1:06:47

at the door the parkers have been dreading they

1:06:50

found laura and she was dead

1:06:52

three miles from her home and mere blocks

1:06:55

from the high school where she was last seen

1:06:57

the middle of the woods and

1:06:59

hole dug into the ground where local

1:07:01

teams used to gather he'd

1:07:03

been there since the day she disappeared the

1:07:05

climate of long island summer wearing

1:07:08

away her body until only skeleton

1:07:10

wrapped in scraps of clothing remains

1:07:13

the composition was so extensive that

1:07:15

by the time she was found the medical examiner

1:07:18

couldn't determine the cause of death

1:07:20

the result for case isn't listed

1:07:22

as a homicide

1:07:24

however given that someone had hidden

1:07:26

her body but he's a role of carpet

1:07:28

it seemed to parents someone out there new

1:07:30

laura was dead and continued

1:07:32

on that summer as if nothing had

1:07:34

happened there for

1:07:36

long months she lingered their face

1:07:38

down the dirt or arm twisted

1:07:40

behind back nobody tried

1:07:42

to help

1:07:43

nobody picked up phone and less than anonymous

1:07:45

message nobody did anything

1:07:48

it seem like despite the concerned

1:07:50

most communities would feel if the disappearance

1:07:53

of teenager laura's case

1:07:55

didn't garner any care one

1:07:57

year earlier the same community

1:07:59

had

1:08:00

the together find of missing teens

1:08:02

and they succeeded she came home

1:08:04

or abductor was brought to justice when

1:08:07

it came time to rally the troops for laura

1:08:10

nobody was interested how

1:08:12

anyone can show such callous indifference

1:08:15

is beyond my ability to comprehend

1:08:17

patricia said this was their

1:08:19

community it could have been any of

1:08:21

their kids but because it wasn't

1:08:24

im want to get involved

1:08:26

gary if you go out and look for posts

1:08:29

about laura's case and they are out

1:08:31

there you'll find comments from people

1:08:33

who lived in the area of the time people

1:08:35

who knew her people who went school

1:08:37

with her

1:08:38

com express their sadness and hope

1:08:40

the answers are found

1:08:42

there's express their surprise they'd

1:08:44

never heard the story they'd never heard

1:08:46

laura's name before

1:08:48

there are no memorials to the fourteen year

1:08:50

old know plaques on park benches

1:08:53

know streets named after hurts know

1:08:55

dedication and or own high school yearbook

1:08:58

if nobody wanted to address it no

1:09:00

one wanted to think about it no one wanted

1:09:02

to remember what kind of people

1:09:04

are the then

1:09:07

there are the other folks

1:09:09

the ones to push the envelope to just

1:09:11

shy of blaming laura for what

1:09:13

happened to her

1:09:14

i've seen people say well she was

1:09:16

smoker and well she was a troublemaker

1:09:19

or she was so rebellious as

1:09:21

if any of those are justification for

1:09:23

fourteen year old being murdered left

1:09:25

in the dirt's and covered with an old piece

1:09:27

a carpet

1:09:28

laura told her mother she tried smoking marijuana

1:09:31

once well hell guess she deserved it then

1:09:33

right she was fourteen

1:09:35

years old she had her whole life in

1:09:37

front of her until someone stole away

1:09:40

and people act like it's no big deal the

1:09:42

even forty years later nobody's

1:09:44

come forward no once told the police

1:09:46

what they know fewer people

1:09:48

will gossip about it still talk about

1:09:50

what they heard from someone south

1:09:53

still speculate about who it might have

1:09:55

been still reference random people

1:09:57

in their communities but apparently nobody

1:09:59

who

1:10:00

actually has solid information wants

1:10:02

talk the police after

1:10:04

all these years doesn't not way

1:10:06

on you anymore is it just bad

1:10:08

dream you brush away from your memories

1:10:10

with disregard

1:10:12

i could go on for hours about how i feel about

1:10:14

these people vs the ice the

1:10:16

original investigators but i'd rather

1:10:18

not ramble on stream of obscenity

1:10:20

is an insult because what difference is that

1:10:22

gonna make now the

1:10:24

let's turn our attention towards the differing

1:10:26

series in this case and yes

1:10:28

despite the absolute void of coverage

1:10:31

on it and the town seeming disinterest

1:10:33

about laura there's couple

1:10:36

that is often the case when someone is killed

1:10:38

or abducted from a close tight knit quiet

1:10:40

community the first thought was this

1:10:42

had to be from someone else someone

1:10:44

passing through someone who worked in

1:10:46

the area for didn't live there i mean

1:10:49

it couldn't possibly have been someone from the

1:10:51

area or someone who knew laura right

1:10:53

that would just be absurd it would almost

1:10:55

be like believing the community would just ignore

1:10:58

whole situation altogether when

1:11:00

comes to the stranger theory a lot

1:11:02

people believe there may have been serial killer

1:11:05

active on long island during mid nineteen

1:11:07

eighties they point to series

1:11:09

of unsolved cases surrounding laura's

1:11:12

in

1:11:12

june of nineteen eighty four just one

1:11:14

month after laura's disappearance

1:11:16

fifteen year old kelly morrissey vanished

1:11:18

from the town of lynbrook twenty miles

1:11:21

west of lindenhurst five

1:11:23

months later in november two months

1:11:25

after laura's body had been found sell

1:11:27

his friend teresa fusco disappeared

1:11:30

after leaving her job at a limb both roller

1:11:32

rink one month later

1:11:34

her nude body was found in wooded area

1:11:37

covered by leaves in debris four

1:11:39

months later in march of nineteen eighty five

1:11:42

nineteen year old jacqueline more darrelle have

1:11:44

vanished after leaving her oceanside home

1:11:46

to go to her job

1:11:48

oceanside is neighbor to lynbrook it

1:11:50

was just under twenty miles west of lindenhurst

1:11:53

one month later in april jacqueline

1:11:55

body was found near local golf course

1:11:57

he was nude and while d

1:12:00

position was extensive it was ultimately

1:12:02

determine that she has been strangled

1:12:05

many believe there has to be a link between

1:12:07

these cases would some noting that there

1:12:09

may have been a killer active in the area

1:12:11

perhaps someone who knew or had been around

1:12:13

kelly into recess as the to were friends

1:12:16

and new a lot of the same people plus

1:12:18

they've vanished not far from one another

1:12:21

certainly a possibility of

1:12:23

course these days with the long island serial

1:12:25

killer being so preeminent in the minds

1:12:27

of armchair detectives and online sleuths

1:12:30

many believe it has to be connected to list

1:12:32

this i find frustrating as

1:12:34

someone it was born and raised on long island

1:12:37

there's certainly high chances more than

1:12:39

one serial killer was active any given

1:12:41

time in population of nearly eight

1:12:43

million people but i digress

1:12:46

not mention list was an active

1:12:48

until years later as far as we

1:12:50

now the thing about

1:12:52

these cases as they certainly appear

1:12:54

to be possibly connected the

1:12:57

question is whether not they have any connection

1:12:59

to laura laura disappeared

1:13:01

in middle of the school day was found four months

1:13:03

later just blocks away

1:13:05

wasn't nude there nothing to indicate

1:13:08

sexual assaults and she wasn't found

1:13:10

in a public area where should be easily

1:13:12

locate

1:13:13

instead her skeletal remains recovered

1:13:15

from hole in the ground where local teenagers

1:13:17

hung out

1:13:18

the only question that remains is is

1:13:20

that where she was killed or is that merely

1:13:23

where she was placed after being

1:13:25

killed certainly don't

1:13:27

believe we can rule out the possibility

1:13:29

that this could have been random crime perhaps

1:13:32

conducted by a serial killer maybe

1:13:34

buy some sick bastard passing through

1:13:36

who happened lay eyes on the fourteen year

1:13:38

old that afternoon the thing

1:13:40

about it is though

1:13:42

most to the evidence seems to indicate

1:13:44

someone from the local community

1:13:46

what did a spot you just stumble upon

1:13:48

passing through town he needed

1:13:50

know it's there are you have to be looking

1:13:52

to dispose of a body in small wooded

1:13:55

lot in the middle of neighborhood in broad

1:13:57

daylight assuming no one was going

1:13:59

see while it's entirely

1:14:01

possible laura's cases linked to others

1:14:04

neither investigators nor her family

1:14:06

believe this to be the case that

1:14:09

turns our attention back towards lindenhurst

1:14:11

and as result someone who may

1:14:13

have known laura or at least lived

1:14:15

in the same area knew about the t

1:14:17

and hang out

1:14:18

just for the record by the way i've seen

1:14:20

lot of people saying that it's odd that kids

1:14:22

were hanging out a hole in the woods

1:14:25

maybe it is but as someone grew up on

1:14:27

long island i did this as a teenager

1:14:29

to the same place

1:14:31

i didn't live in lindenhurst maybe

1:14:33

it's just long island thing

1:14:35

you dig hole in the woods and you hang out

1:14:37

with your friends and know when driving by

1:14:39

as the wise anyway let's

1:14:41

move on the

1:14:43

first person to look at is michael who

1:14:45

had dated laura in the months leading up to her

1:14:47

death michael was thirteen years

1:14:50

old when he began dating laura and

1:14:52

while that doesn't rule out as a potential suspect

1:14:54

i think if we're talking about someone either smothering

1:14:57

or manually strangling laura it's

1:14:59

a little difficult to believe he would have have the strength

1:15:01

necessary to do it and to have walked

1:15:03

away unscathed despite

1:15:06

what movies and tv might show you killing

1:15:08

someone in that way is not easy

1:15:11

there are would have been fighting for her life with

1:15:13

every ounce of strength she had and

1:15:15

while it is an impossible it

1:15:17

does seem a little bit unlikely

1:15:20

not to mention how well do you believe

1:15:22

scared thirteen year old boy would hold

1:15:24

up to questioning by season homicide

1:15:26

investigators reddit

1:15:28

user who's done extensive research

1:15:30

into this case and whose originally from

1:15:32

lindenhurst

1:15:34

twenty extra mile i managed track

1:15:36

down michael in interview him more than thirty

1:15:38

years later according her

1:15:41

he was very open about the relationship between

1:15:43

two which he described as typically

1:15:45

innocent teenager stuff the

1:15:47

held hands they kissed but

1:15:49

it didn't go beyond that according

1:15:52

him a couple had broken up about

1:15:54

month so before laura went missing

1:15:56

there wasn't a bitter break up it was just one

1:15:58

those things that happened when teenagers

1:16:01

they're young they don't know what they want

1:16:03

a mile something's come together others

1:16:05

fall apart reached

1:16:08

out to this poster who you can find

1:16:10

under the reddit name betty davis midler

1:16:13

determined to try expose this case

1:16:15

to more live into hopefully help

1:16:17

bring answers to the family in

1:16:19

her opinion michael was honest with her and

1:16:21

didn't seem like was trying hide anything

1:16:24

now i managed find a post from michael

1:16:26

and want to read it you

1:16:28

the a thread where a lot of people were throwing

1:16:30

accusations around this was

1:16:32

how he responded one i

1:16:35

can guarantee it was not her boyfriend

1:16:37

might who was in junior high at

1:16:39

the time and he was thoroughly investigated

1:16:42

including being pulled from class

1:16:44

and interviewed on a daily basis without

1:16:46

apparent pressing there was routinely

1:16:49

harassed on his own front porch by very

1:16:51

aggressive detectives it was

1:16:53

to this day the worst six

1:16:55

months of his life the didn't even

1:16:57

go to her funeral because he was too afraid

1:17:00

was only thirteen years old and

1:17:02

had no idea what to make of the whirlwind

1:17:05

his life became maybe

1:17:07

next time don't speak to things

1:17:09

you don't know

1:17:10

that being said i hope they find

1:17:12

the person responsible and he spends

1:17:14

long time in prison and

1:17:18

do think it's worth noting that at no time

1:17:20

as michael been named suspect by investigators

1:17:23

nor has he been named person of interest

1:17:25

it appears at the time he was the best

1:17:27

avenue investigators had or

1:17:29

least the best avenue they believed

1:17:31

they had the

1:17:33

reason i bring it up as not to throw him into

1:17:35

the mix of possibilities but to get

1:17:37

you to a story that he told when speaking

1:17:39

to betty davis midler according

1:17:42

to her interview with him michael said

1:17:44

that while he was starting to use drugs

1:17:46

around the time he was dating laura she

1:17:48

was an into that scene michael

1:17:50

dealer at the time was best friends with

1:17:52

another local guy the

1:17:55

guy because in nineteen eighty four when

1:17:57

all this happened this guy was

1:17:59

for five years the older than laura making

1:18:01

them eighteen nineteen that

1:18:03

being said here was michael's account

1:18:07

the often went to his dealers house and

1:18:09

noticed there was a rug in the guys bedroom

1:18:12

after laura disappeared though he

1:18:14

noticed that the rug had been replaced with

1:18:16

new one this combined

1:18:18

with the fact that his dealers friend who

1:18:20

i will refer to was alex had

1:18:22

reportedly gotten physically violent with

1:18:24

a young woman in the week prior to lower

1:18:27

his disappearance made him believe

1:18:29

something was up the when noticed

1:18:31

the rug missing any heard the story

1:18:33

about alex he immediately believe

1:18:35

that alex was the one responsible for

1:18:37

laura's murder

1:18:39

michael went on the state that he left long

1:18:41

island later on and didn't return

1:18:43

until mid to late nineties

1:18:45

upon his return now in his mid twenties

1:18:48

he went to the suffolk county police and

1:18:50

told them the story about the dealer about

1:18:52

the rug and about alex apparently

1:18:56

the police replied the day new alex

1:18:58

and he'd become quite the road runner in the

1:19:00

years since nineteen eighty four and

1:19:02

have connections to gang members another

1:19:04

violent offenders

1:19:06

seemingly nothing came out this

1:19:09

and whether or not police followed up on it is

1:19:11

up for debate as they've never offered

1:19:13

any common though let's

1:19:15

take moment to look at alex this

1:19:17

guy's name as come up time and time

1:19:19

again in my research for this case

1:19:22

multiple people say did and online

1:19:24

postings that this is the person they've always

1:19:26

believe killed laura

1:19:28

the as a record for drugs having been

1:19:30

busted possession with intent to distribute

1:19:32

while at playground of all places

1:19:34

apparently leading to his expulsion from

1:19:36

school

1:19:38

beyond that found records of him being arrested

1:19:40

for several do you eyes

1:19:42

the least one instance he was arrested while

1:19:44

attending a club that was selling alcohol

1:19:46

without a liquor license

1:19:48

basically if dig around enough

1:19:51

you'll find that this guy was generally considered

1:19:53

a terrible person who was always in trouble

1:19:55

with the loss was physically violent

1:19:57

and supposedly had assaulted young woman

1:19:59

a week prior to lower his disappearance

1:20:03

the time of laura's disappearance this

1:20:05

guy live less than one mile from the location

1:20:07

and which her body was found on farmers

1:20:09

avenue obviously the

1:20:12

opinions of people who not legally connected

1:20:14

the case nor in possession of any actual

1:20:16

evidence can't be weighed that heavily

1:20:18

but do find it fascinating that everyone

1:20:20

seems to speak freely and openly about

1:20:22

this guy being there suspect there's

1:20:25

never been any major follow

1:20:27

now for their part i imagine

1:20:29

investigators are highly aware of this

1:20:32

guy and the rumors surrounding him

1:20:34

but if they did dig into him than

1:20:36

and never managed to find enough to file charges

1:20:38

or make an arrest

1:20:40

also it's worth pointing out that alex

1:20:43

is no longer alive to be question

1:20:45

further

1:20:46

the passed away in two thousand and five

1:20:48

after a long bout with alcoholism

1:20:50

the only reason i have elected

1:20:52

not to use his real name is

1:20:54

because he has family out there instance

1:20:56

he was never named as suspect i

1:20:59

don't want bring undo prejudice to them

1:21:01

since he's not here to answer for himself

1:21:05

outside and possibility that laura

1:21:07

was intentionally murdered police

1:21:09

have considered that this could have all been terribly

1:21:11

tragic accident maybe

1:21:13

laura and someone else were rough housing

1:21:15

and things went too far or someone

1:21:18

was looking the bully the fourteen year old

1:21:20

and it turned violent unfortunately

1:21:22

it's almost impossible to know given the evidence

1:21:24

and information avail

1:21:26

given the body was covered with carpet

1:21:28

there's no doubt that someone knew she was dead

1:21:31

and tried to hide

1:21:33

whether or not that suggests fear shame

1:21:35

or malice is a question i'm not

1:21:37

qualified to answer that

1:21:40

essentially brings us to the end of the most

1:21:42

prominent theories but there is one

1:21:44

thing i'd like to address the

1:21:46

euro was lying dead in that hole

1:21:48

in the woods for nearly four months by

1:21:50

the time she was found long

1:21:52

island summers are ha they're human

1:21:55

living there we used to joke that was like waking

1:21:57

up in glass of warm water every

1:21:59

day the gray skies

1:22:01

intense heat and as soon as you walk

1:22:03

out the door you were coated with the salty

1:22:06

sticky ocean air this

1:22:08

whole the woods was a local

1:22:10

hang out they called it the hot

1:22:12

when i struggle to understand about this case

1:22:15

among many other things as and when

1:22:17

the hell did no one finds her suitor

1:22:19

the smell of decomposition

1:22:21

is unlike anything else it's not

1:22:23

smell your simply going to tolerate

1:22:25

ignored

1:22:26

the overwhelming especially if you're

1:22:28

sitting this whole with your friends and less

1:22:30

than eleven feet away as a rotting corpse

1:22:33

how

1:22:34

it possible that none of these kids knew

1:22:36

something was wrong headed they dot finder

1:22:38

sooner sounds almost

1:22:40

like for that entire summer people

1:22:42

avoided that spot and i can't help

1:22:44

but wonder did they avoided because

1:22:46

the smell or because they'd heard rumors

1:22:49

there was a dead body there

1:22:51

was the latter it's really difficult

1:22:53

to understand how no one no

1:22:55

parent no child know teen

1:22:57

checked it out nobody called police

1:22:59

nobody did anything

1:23:01

there were supposed to believe that all of sudden

1:23:04

this hangout spot that all the teens knew about

1:23:06

was just abandoned for seemingly

1:23:08

no reason the hell of a

1:23:10

coincidence

1:23:12

last month mark thirty eight years

1:23:15

since laura and parker went missing

1:23:17

while on her lunch break at lindenhurst

1:23:19

high school the sandy haired

1:23:21

blue eyed team strode off campus

1:23:24

and never returned four

1:23:26

months later her skeletal remains were recovered

1:23:28

from a hole in the woods just few blocks

1:23:31

from the school the town

1:23:33

where most people knew one another where

1:23:35

people talks were rumors and gossip

1:23:37

were abundant

1:23:38

how was it possible that no one knows

1:23:41

what happened here more

1:23:43

you analyze it the deeper dig

1:23:45

the more it seems likely that people knew

1:23:48

or had a pretty good idea maybe

1:23:50

they'd heard a rumor maybe they chalked

1:23:52

it up to boasting are tough talk

1:23:55

the

1:23:55

sheer fact that no one even all

1:23:57

these years later has come forward

1:23:59

with d the no information is not

1:24:01

only a slap in the face to laura but

1:24:04

to her family and an entire

1:24:06

community cover

1:24:08

lot of cases on trace evidence them

1:24:11

seem solvable others appear

1:24:13

nearly impossible this

1:24:15

is gonna be one of if not the most solvable

1:24:17

case i've ever addressed and guess

1:24:19

what the one that was the most

1:24:21

difficult to research was

1:24:24

born on long island i lived there

1:24:26

for twenty five years i've

1:24:28

been the lindenhurst i was friends with people

1:24:30

who went to that high school and i didn't

1:24:32

hear about this case for the first time

1:24:34

until few years ago maybe

1:24:36

of more people were willing talk about

1:24:38

laura there be some hope of seeing

1:24:40

her case song maybe for

1:24:43

death wasn't hidden away in ignored

1:24:45

as if it didn't matter just as good

1:24:47

finally be delivered

1:24:49

pick up the phone make call

1:24:51

sending an anonymous tip text

1:24:53

crimestoppers just do something

1:24:57

bit long enough

1:24:59

fortunately without new evidence

1:25:01

and outright confession or someone

1:25:04

coming forward the murder of

1:25:06

laura and parker will remain open

1:25:09

unsolved and very

1:25:11

cold

1:25:21

rumi hiring drivers from

1:25:23

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