Infamous serial killer may be tied to victim identified after 45 years
With his identity now known, the department said, investigators are working to resolve the 45-year-old case and confirm whether the killing is tied to Randy Steven Kraft, alternately known as the Scorecard Killer, the Southern California Strangler and the Freeway Killer.
According to author Jack Smith's "The Scorecard Killer: The Life of Serial Killer Randy Steven Kraft," Kraft was a computer programmer who preyed on hitchhikers and unsuspecting bar hoppers, torturing, mutilating and sexually assaulting his mostly gay victims.
Evidence from both Oregon killings had been used during Kraft's trial and remained with authorities in Orange County, California, until last year.
Who was Randy Kraft?
Bodies of multiple young men were found killed throughout Orange County and Southern California in the 1970s and early 1980s, several of them within a few miles of where Parks' remains were discovered.
Randy Steven Kraft was taken into custody in 1983 after being pulled over by a California Highway Patrol officer who observed him swerving on Interstate 5 near Mission Viejo, in Orange County. According to the Orange County Sheriff's Department, the officer found a dead male victim in the front seat of Kraft's vehicle along with empty beer bottles and an open bottle of the sedative medication Lorazepam.
The victim was later identified as Terry Lee Gambrel, a 25-year-old Marine corporal, who had hitched a ride with Kraft to meet friends at a party, the sheriff's department said in a separate release.
In the trunk, officers found a coded list that authorities believe Kraft used to record incidents involving at least 67 victims.
Alternately known as the Scorecard Killer, the Southern California Strangler and the Freeway Killer, Kraft was ultimately convicted in May 1989 of 16 murders in California, though authorities say he may be responsible for more than 60 killings along the West Coast and in Michigan. Now 80, he remains on death row at the California Institution for Men in Chino, California.
How the Parks case unfolded
According to Oregon State Police, Parks' family had lost touch with him in 1979. His last known whereabouts were in Pensacola, Florida.
The 1980 discovery of his unidentified body near Woodburn, in Oregon's Marion County between Portland and Salem, prompted the opening of a homicide investigation. However, detectives were unable to identify him and he remained a John Doe until last month.
Last year, an Orange County Sheriff's Department investigator contacted the department's cold case unit offering to help identify Parks' remains with the use of forensic genealogy. Possible family members were contacted and submitted DNA samples for comparison, leading to Parks' definitive identification.
Similarly, in October 2023, Orange County investigators used the technology to identity Michael Ray Schlicht of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, whose body had been found in 1974 near in unincorporated Laguna Hills, now the city of Aliso Viejo, California. Detectives are likewise working to determine whether Kraft is linked to Schlicht's death.
Contributing: Whitney Woodworth
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EXCLUSIVE Britain's most dangerous parks revealed: The no-go green spaces blighted by stabbings, stranger rapes, violent muggings and even murder
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Sexual offences, phone thefts and drug dealing are among the crimes most often reported, while cyclists have been threatened and had expensive bikes stolen. Hyde Park has seen some terrifying crimes – including a man being chased through it in June 2021 by a gang wielding machetes before being hacked to the ground. Back in April 2019, videos emerged of a gangland-style standoff as thugs smashed bottles and chased each other with huge knives across the park. Regent's Park in North West London has also witnessed knife attacks and violent thefts in recent years – with cyclists particularly fearful of being targeted. In February this year, cyclist Patrick Conneely had his £4,200 road bike robbed by hammer-wielding thugs during his morning ride through the park. NOTTINGHAM Crime rankings - UK: 6th / Europe: 26th / World: 132nd The sixth worst city for crime in the UK is Nottingham, which is 132nd on the global list – below Barcelona, Turin and Miami; but ahead of Dallas, New York and Cairo. One park that has seen a number of criminal incidents in recent years is the Forest Recreation Ground, which is an open space that features a children's play area. On July 9, extra police patrols were brought in after a woman in her 20s was grabbed by the arm by a man following her. She managed to break free and run. Police linked the suspect to another incident at a nearby school, where a teacher reported a man matching the same description acting suspiciously outside on July 3. Back in July 2024, drunk sex offender Mohammed Darweesh, 24, raped a 17-year-old stranger in the same park – and was given a jail sentence of more than seven years. More recently the park's community garden was also targeted in a case of plant crime in April – when roses and crops grown by volunteers were mysteriously stolen. LIVERPOOL Crime rankings - UK: 7th / Europe: 33rd / World: 155th Seventh on the list is Liverpool, which is 155th most dangerous city in the world – ahead of Bremen, Tunis and Rome but below Orlando, Toulouse and Bali. A key area for trouble is Chavasse Park in the city centre, where police have brought in extra patrols in an attempt to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour. Residents say huge groups of gangs have been gathering in the area and intimidating passers-by in Liverpool city centre amid claims drug dealing is taking place. Other people have reported being spat at, kicked and verbally abused – with large numbers of young people congregating near the Liverpool One retail area. Merseyside Police has issued crime prevention orders to try to reduce criminal behaviour and urged parents to ensure they know what their children are doing. BELFAST Crime rankings - UK: 8th / Europe: 40th / World: 171st While Belfast might traditionally be perceived as being dangerous, it is only the eighth worse in Britain and the 171st in the world – behind Denver and Istanbul. One park that has suffered significant anti-social behaviour, particularly from children, is Falls Park – a popular space with families in the west of the city. The Police Service of Northern Ireland said an incident that saw a 15-year-old boy seriously assaulted in the park in May 2024 had led to 'nervousness' locally. Belfast City Council said at the time that it was 'working closely with the PSNI and youth workers, intervening in several altercations and dispersing those involved'. The incident came under a year after youths were filmed attacking a boy in the same park in June 2023 and began beating him up following a demand for money. GLASGOW Crime rankings - UK: 9th / Europe: 37th / World: 188th The most populated city in Scotland comes in ninth place in the UK rankings for crime – and 188th in the world – ahead of Frankfurt and Palermo but behind Stockholm. One of the most well-publicised crimes in a park in Glasgow in recent years saw a schoolboy kill a fellow teenager in a row over £50 in May last year. The 14-year-old stabbed Kory McCrimmon, 16, in the heart at Greenfield Park in the city's east end. The attacker, who was not named, was later locked up for five years. Kory - who played for Easterhouse Football Academy - had no previous convictions, but he and his killer were known as 'rivals' from different parts of the city. They had been regularly in touch on Instagram and were initially on 'good terms' before a 'falling out' over £50 – when the killer refused to pay the older boy back. The two sides eventually arranged to meet in Greenfield Park for a confrontation - the killer part of a gang who stormed in wielding batons, bats and bladed weapons. They challenged Kory and his friends to a fight but the teenager fled when he spotted his attacker had a knife. However, during the confrontation Kory was stabbed. LEEDS Crime rankings - UK: 10th / Europe: 51st / World: 193rd Completing the top ten for the UK's most dangerous locations is Leeds, with the West Yorkshire city in 193rd place globally – above Tampa, Genoa and Berlin. The Woodhouse Moor park in the Hyde Park area of Leeds is particularly notorious for crime – with students in the city actively discouraged from using it at night. University of Leeds graduate student Harry Kitcher told The Tab in January that he was held at knifepoint by a group of young men in the park while on his way to work. The group stole the graphic designer's phone and threw his work into the muddy surroundings, as well as throwing his house keys into the distance of the park. Mr Kitcher said he went directly to the police station after the attack, only to be told by detectives that he was the third victim of attacks in the area that evening. In December 2023, a five-month-old girl was found with serious injuries in the park and later died after her mother Hayley Macfarlane smothered her while on a walk. Macfarlane, 39, later admitted infanticide. She had been suffering from postnatal depression and postpartum psychosis and was given an indefinite hospital order. The Numbeo Crime Index, which MailOnline used for comparitive crime levels, is compiled from global survey responses and has been updated regularly since 2012. It covers general perception of crime levels; perceived safety during day and night; concerns about specific crimes; property crime severity; and violent crime severity. It is seen as a respected comparative tool globally because government crime data in different countries can often be patchy or withheld for political or social reasons.
