Name: Tawnya Fay Parker
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: December 1, 1999
Location Last Seen: Redondo Beach, Los Angeles County, California
Date of Birth: May 29, 1969
Age: 30 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 115 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Nickname/Alias: Unknown
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Drug addiction.
Dentals: Not available.
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Available.
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Tawnya Parker, who despite a high-risk and transient lifestyle always kept in touch with friends and family, has not been heard from since the middle of December 1999.
Parker's boyfriend, Thomas Freeman, was convicted of second-degree murder for killing Tawnya, in November 2003.
Parker and Freeman had established a relationship in 1999. Parker fell in love with Freeman and moved in with him when she was evicted from her Venice apartment.
On December 2, 1999, Parker accused Freeman of raping her in his bedroom. The allegation came after Freeman called police when Parker used a knife to puncture the tires on his pickup truck during a fight. He also accused her of scratching the paint job on his other car. No charges were filed in either case.
Freeman killed Parker sometime between December 25 and December 27, 1999, in his Esplanade apartment's bedroom.
Parker's body has never been found, but circumstantial evidence, including blood found on Freeman's mattress and under the carpet in his former room, convinced the jury of Freeman's guilt. The blood was linked to Parker by a DNA analysis.
Police began searching for Parker in early 2000.
Parker was born in Inyo County, and became a ward of Washington state at 14. She lived in Atlanta briefly in 1997 and later ended up on the streets in Santa Monica and Venice. She was in and out of jail, and her criminal record shows she was a narcotics user and a prostitute with 12 arrests in Washington and two arrests in Santa Monica.
Despite her problems, she kept in touch with family in Washington and regularly sent birthday presents to her daughters until she disappeared.
Agency Name: Redondo Beach Police Department
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 310-379-5411
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 00-1706
NamUs Case Number: 23062
NamUs
CA DOJ
The Daily Breeze - Sept. 6, 2003
Added: 2-15-2009; Last Updated: 05-18-2022 - By: Htmlcnvtr
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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