GBI Positively Identifies Woman Found 39 Years Ago in Dade County

A previously unidentified black female homicide victim found in Dade County, GA on September 28, 1981 has been positively identified as Patricia Parker. Parker was 30 years old at the time of her death. Since 1981, the GBI maintained an open investigation into these remains; however, over the years the case grew cold.

In 2018, prolific and confirmed serial killer Samuel Little gave the Texas Rangers information about the murder he committed in Chattanooga in the early 1980’s of a young, black female. Hamilton County, TN District Attorney’s Office Cold Case Unit (CCU) Supervisor Mike Mathis searched and did not find any unsolved cases in Chattanooga matching this description. CCU Supervisor Mathis contacted the GBI Regional Office in Calhoun, which covers northwest Georgia and borders Hamilton County to inquire if any unsolved GBI cases matched this description. It did match the description related to unidentified remains found in Dade County in 1981.

On December 19, 2018, GBI Special Agent Steve Rogers and CCU Supervisor Mathis travelled to Decatur, TX where Samuel Little was incarcerated and interviewed him. Little provided investigators with more details that led them to believe the remains found in Dade County were the woman Little had taken in Chattanooga and killed in Georgia.

On March 19, 2019, a press conference was held at the Hamilton County District Attorney’s CCU where the GBI unveiled a forensic reconstruction of the female’s skull asking for the public’s assistance in identifying the woman. As a direct result of that press conference, a family came forward stating they believed the woman was their family member. DNA was obtained from family members and samples were sent to the GBI Crime Lab for comparison leading to the positive ID.