After nearly 45 years, authorities have identified the body of a man found along Interstate 5 in Oregon as Larry Eugene Parks, a 30-year-old Vietnam veteran. Oregon State Police have named Randy Kraft, known as the “Scorecard Killer,” as the sole person of interest in the 1980 murder.
Parks’ remains were discovered on July 18, 1980, near Woodburn, south of Portland. Despite initial efforts, police were unable to identify the victim at the time. Parks’ family had lost contact with him in 1979, and he was last seen in Pensacola, Florida.
In 2024, an investigator from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department assisted the Oregon State Police Cold Case Unit in identifying Parks using forensic investigative genetic genealogy. A genetic profile was developed from a blood sample, and Parks’ identity was confirmed when potential family members provided DNA profiles for comparison, according to AOL.
Randy Kraft, now 80, was convicted in 1989 for the murders of 16 men in California and is currently on death row at San Quentin State Prison. He has consistently denied any involvement in the killings. Kraft was arrested in 1983 after being pulled over on a California freeway with a strangled U.S. Marine in his passenger seat. A coded list found in his vehicle is believed to document 67 victims across California, Oregon, and Michigan.
Oregon State Police spokesperson Kyle Kennedy stated, “There’s some evidence that we’re processing to determine that link. We are very confident that we have the correct person of interest.”
The use of investigative genetic genealogy has also recently helped identify the remains of a teenager believed to have been killed by Kraft in California in 2023.
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