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Unsolved: The murder of Eugene "Johnny" Parnell

December marks 33 years the Parnell family has waited for answers. They've faced dried up leads and few tips, but they hope now will finally be the time for answers.

LIVE OAK, Fla. — I-10 carries scores of travelers every day through Suwanee County. Some local, some just passing through.

In 1989 if you broke down, walking to a call box on the interstate was your only option for help.  On December 4th, 1989 just after eight o'clock in the morning, Parnell Wrecker Service got a call that a motorist was broken down on I-10 about a mile and a half from US-90.

"Eugene [Johnny Parnell] came in and told his mama he would take it," tells Investigator Chuck Tompkins with the Suwannee County Sheriff's Office. 

That was the last time Ida Parnell would see her son alive.

Not far away, Johnny’s older brother, Charles Parnell, was getting ready to head into work at the wrecker service as well.

"I heard a gunshot and I said that’s kind of strange this early in the morning," describes Charles.

He kept getting ready, but then his phone rang.

"Then my mom called me back and said Johnny was out there laying by the truck. So I jumped in my truck and went out there to the 273 mile marker and Johnny was laying on his back with his hands out and to the side," tells Charles. 

Two passing drivers had spotted the body by the tow truck. The broken-down motorist that needed help was nowhere to be found, but in looking at the Parnell tow truck in crime scene photos, it appears Johnny was in the process of helping someone when he was attacked.

"The winch cable was pulled out and the lift body was up like he was fixing to load a vehicle," tells Investigator Tompkins.

It also appears a struggle ensued. Johnny's glasses were knocked into the grass and a glove was thrown from his hand, but Johnny had died from a gunshot wound to the chest.

"It really shocked me because he had been the last person on Earth I would have thought someone would have done that too," tells a close friend, Roger Gill," It was a total shock, and it still is."

The Parnell family calls it a senseless crime, Johnny barely had any money on him at the time.

"50 bucks, that’s all the boy had on him was 50 bucks," tells Johnny's older sister, Denise Knight.

It’s unclear if robbery was the motive. But as an air force veteran, father and man described as a “friend’s friend”, those who knew Johnny say they don’t know why someone would kill him.

"We didn’t do anything illegal.  We didn’t do drugs, we didn’t buy drugs, we didn’t break the law," tells Charles Parnell.

Because of the rotation of the call box wrecker services, Tompkins says it is unlikely Johnny was specifically targeted.

In the initial days of the investigation in 1989, part of it centered on the murder weapon.  A newspaper article says it was a rifle, but it was never recovered.

Also, the paper says one motorist reported seeing a light blue or gray pickup parked on the interstate near the Parnell tow truck, but that report was unconfirmed.

Months turned into years, but the pain didn’t ease for the Parnell family.

"I think about him every day, he is in my dreams. But he is not a grown man in my dreams, he’s a young kid like I remember him in my wedding," tells his sister, Denise Knight.

But this case isn’t over.  Investigator Tompkins says the clothing and evidence taken from the scene can be tested at FDLE with new technology. Especially since it appears a struggle took place, there is a greater chance of DNA from the suspect on Parnell’s clothing.

While it isn’t a guarantee for answers, Tompkins says he plans to do everything he can to get this case closed.

"The way I see it, Eugene was his mama’s child and somebody took that child from her," he says," To find the person that did that and give her justice and closure, that’s my goal."

 If you know anything about the death of Eugene "Johnny" Parnell in Suwannee County, please call Crime Stoppers at 386-208-8477 or click here to submit a tip.

 

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