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Authorities have identified men who were found dead along an Oregon highway more than 40 years ago and could be linked to California’s infamous “scorecard killers” who targeted young men in the 1970s and 1980s.
Oregon State Police Colonel Kyle Kennedy said the man was identified as 30-year-old Larry Eugene Parks.
The park’s bodies were found on July 18, 1980 along the interstate and about a mile south of Woodburn, a suburb of Marion County, Oregon.
Authorities linked Parks’ death to Randycraft, who was found guilty of killing 16 young men in Orange County in 1989, becoming known as the “scorecard killer.”
His nickname comes from a handwritten list discovered in his brown Toyota Celica trunk. Prosecutors described it as a “dead list” during Kraft’s trial, saying it showed each and every one he killed.
He was convicted of 16 murders, but authorities believe Kraft could have killed more than 60 people in California, Oregon and Michigan. Most of the victims were men in their late teens to mid-twenties, with some members of the military.
Parks’ body was found one day after 17-year-old Michael O’Fallon was found dead along the same interstate near the Talbot Road exit in Marion County.
“The investigators at the time suspected that the two murders were linked due to similarities in the evidence,” Kennedy said. “Unfortunately, both investigations have become cold as the leads have dried up.”
O’Fallon’s death was linked to Craft after his arrest in 1983 when investigators said they had found a camera in the garage. O’Fallon’s mother’s initials were engraved on camera.
The killing occurred as authorities were trying to hunt down William G. Bonin, a former Downey truck driver known as a freeway killer.
However, the bodies of the young man continued to pile up after Bonin’s capture, causing him to believe another murderer was in a relaxed state. That chase ended in 1983 when two California Highway Patrol officers pulled a craft and discovered the dead Marines in their front seats.
Kennedy said it began in January when the Orange County Sheriff’s Department contacted the Oregon State Police Cold Case Unit, offering to help investigators identify victims using research genetic tools, a research genetic tool that helps generate leads in cold cases.
As part of that effort, Kennedy said the victim’s blood samples were sent to the lab, creating a genetic profile. The investigators were able to use the information to find families who could have ultimately led to the park’s identity.
Parks is the latest victim identified and linked to a convicted serial killer. Two years ago, authorities used the same tools to identify 17-year-old Michael Leishlicht.
Kennedy said the Oregon State Police Cold Case Unit is currently working to close the cases.
“Ultimately, once the case is filed for review, it is up to the Marion County District Attorney’s Office to determine whether the case will be charged,” he said.
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