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Missing Benjamin James Parker 
Parker, approximately 1980; Kenneth Murwin Date reported missing : 01/09/1980 Missing location (approx) : Clay County, Florida Missing classification : Endangered Missing Gender : Male Ethnicity : White Age at the time of disappearance: 34 - 37 years old Height / Weight : 6'3, unknown weight Distinguishing characteristics, birthmarks, tattoos : Caucasian male. Parker's right hand has been amputated at the wrist. Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : Parker was last seen in Clay County, Florida sometime during the summer of 1980. He has never been heard from again. Parker lived in Lakeland, Florida in 1980, and worked as a self-employed wrecker driver and junk dealer in Jacksonville, Florida. He was never reported missing. Kenneth Wayne Murwin was charged with first-degree murder in Parker's case in June 2009. Photographs of him are posted with this case summary. He is Parker's son-in-law. In the months before she died in 2005, Parker's wife told her three children that Murwin had killed Parker and buried him on the family's ten-acre plot in the 4700 block of Montana Trail in Keystone Heights. She had previously maintained that Parker had abandoned the family. In 2006, following their mother's death, her children went to the police. In their investigation, authorities discovered all activity on Parker's driver's license, Social Security number and other accounts stopped in mid-1980. They searched the Keystone Heights property for his body, but didn't find any evidence. Authorities stated they had an eyewitness to the murder and Murwin admitted to the crime under questioning. Murwin was convicted of second-degree murder in 2010. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Foul play is suspected in Parker's disappearance due to the circumstances involved. Other information and links : ncy Clay County Sheriff's Office September 2021 updates and sources First Coast News The Florida Times-Union The Gainesville Sun The Bradford County Telegraph Florida Department of Corrections October 12, 2004. October 26, 2010; Information on the case from local sources, may or may not be correct : updated. |