Identified! KY - Eddyville, Lake Barkley, WhtMale 35-50, UP75, wrapped in tire chains anchored by hydraulic jack, May’99 - Roger Dale Parham (Wanted by FBI)

[Oakie]

IMO, vigilante... In the initial post on this thread, the Kentucky State Police ruled the death a homicide, although cause of death was unknown. I assume that something about the way he was wrapped in chains and weighted down meant that another person was responsible. IMO, he was located after he fled and killed by someone enraged by the charges. But there are a lot of unknowns.

Another possibility is that he was involved in a wider variety of criminal activity, and was murdered by one of his "associates", for reasons having nothing to do with his pending charges.

 

[MagicCityMan]

Another possibility is that he was involved in a wider variety of criminal activity, and was murdered by one of his "associates", for reasons having nothing to do with his pending charges.

For sure. He might have been motivated to rat out others to gain favor and reduce charges etc. Just the suspicion alone that he might do that could have been enough to get him killed.

 

[hoodratholly]

Didn’t see the actual ViCAP link...
ViCAP | Federal Bureau of Investigation

I’m super late to the party on this one and admittedly binged it, so might have missed it, but is it common for UPs to have VICAP posters? I’ve only ever seen NAMUS et al., so it feels strange to me that he ended up being wanted by the FBI and had a VICAP notice out so long before ID.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Roger Dale Parham​

In May 1999, two fisherman found the body of a man wrapped in heavy tire chainsand anchored with a hydraulic jack in Lake Berkley in southwest Kentucky.

In 2023, KSP submitted DNA evidence to Othram. Later that year, he was identified as Roger Dale Parham, according to Othram's website.

Parham was from Fort Smith, Arkansas, and was wanted by the FBI. When he disappeared in March 1999, he was awaiting trial after being charged with raping a minor. Police thought he had left the area to flee prosecution.

Parham’s cause of death remains undetermined. The case is being investigated as a homicide.

Kentucky cold cases: 9 bodies, 2 killers identified using DNA, family trees

Kentucky officials have several identified homicide victims and suspects by matching their DNA to potential relatives.

www.courier-journal.com