Notorious Serial Killer Linked To Victim After 45 Years: Police

LONG BEACH, CA — Investigators Tuesday announced a major break in a 45-year-old murder mystery tied to one of California's most notorious serial killers — a man convicted of murdering 16 people and suspected in the death of a young man whose body was left in the parking lot of the Golden Sails Hotel on Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach.

Using a genealogy database, Orange County Sheriff's Department investigators helped identify a 30-year-old man whose naked body was found alongside Interstate 5 near Woodburn in Oregon's Marion County on July 18, 1980. Long believed to be a victim of Randy Kraft, the serial murderer known as the Freeway Killer and the Scorecard Killer, the body has finally been identified as that of Vietnam War vet Larry Eugene Parks, according to Oregon State Police.

His family hadn't seen him since 1979 in Pensacola, Florida.

The Scorecard

Almost as soon as he was pulled over on the Golden State (5) Freeway in Mission Viejo on May 14, 1983 with a dead marine in his passenger seat, investigators suspected Kraft had killed before. He was arrested with a coded list suspected of referencing 67 victims.

Each line was a clue hinting at a life stolen.

In the months and years that followed, investigators connected Kraft to his victims, tying clues from the scorecard to the bodies of young men that turned up along Orange and Los Angeles county freeways, and in Seal Beach, Laguna Hills, Belmont Shore-Long Beach, Wilmington, San Bernardino, Mission Viejo and Oregon. Many of his victims were Marines or young runaways who were drugged raped, tortured and strangled to death.

Most of the murders Kraft is suspected of committing remain unsolved. Kraft was never convicted in connection with the slaying of Craig Jonaitis, the 21-year-old whose body was found at the Golden Sails in Long Beach. However, investigators suspect Jonaitis is the victim listed under the entry "Golden Sails" on Kraft's scorecard.

Kraft, now 80, was convicted in 1989 of killing 16 men over a decade in California and sentenced to death.

The “Portland Elk” Slaying

Authorities have long believed that Kraft is responsible for dozens of unsolved murders, potentially making him the worst U.S. serial killer. Most of the slayings hinted at in Kraft's notorious scorecard remain unsolved, according to police.

Among those, was a man in his 30s whose body was found early in the morning on July 18, 1980, along Interstate 5 outside Woodburn, Ore.

According to the Orange County Sheriffs Department, he had been strangled, and alcohol and diazepam were found in his system — all consistent with Kraft's MO. Investigators believe that man may have been the victim known as “Portland Elk” on Kraft's scorecard. But all this time, they had no idea who the slain man was.

With the 2018 arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo, the Golden State Killer, investigators in Orange County became pioneers in the use of genealogy databases to solve cold-case murders.

After multiple cold case arrests, investigators turned their attention to the unidentified bodies believed to be unnamed Kraft victims.

In 2023, Orange County Sheriff Cold Case investigators identified a deceased John Doe found in unincorporated Laguna Hills in 1974 as Michael Ray Schlicht, 17, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Michael was long believed to be a victim of Kraft, according to the sheriff's department.

Last year, they turned their attention to the victim believed to be "Portland Elk" on Kraft's scorecard.

While searching through the Kraft investigation to find evidence related to Schlicht, investigators found evidence related to the 1980 John Doe from Oregon, the sheriff's department announced.

They reached out to the Oregon State Police, and a blood sample for the victim was sent to Parabon Nanolabs, which developed a genetic profile. In January, the profile was uploaded to GEDmatch, a publicly available DNA database that allows law enforcement use, and investigators began building Doe’s family tree, according to police.

"DNA samples were collected from a woman believed to be the Doe’s half-sister and a man believed to be his nephew," the sheriff's department announced Tuesday. "These DNA samples were used to positively identify the decedent as 30-year-old Larry Eugene Parks. Larry was last seen by family in Pensacola, Fla. in 1979. Family members described Larry as a “drifter” with no known ties to Oregon."

At 30 years old, Parks would be an "outlier" for Kraft's victims, Capt. Kyle Kennedy of the Oregon State Police said. A drifter at the time, Parks' body was found unclothed, making it difficult to identify him. Investigators believe he was found within 24 hours of his death, Kennedy said.

"He really was just somebody who was dropped on the side of the highway" at the time, Kennedy said.

Kraft was working in the Portland area at the time and is suspected in six killings in Oregon, Kennedy said.

Parks' body was found a day after investigators found the body of 17- year-old Michael O'Fallon, another suspected victim of Kraft's, along Interstate 5 near the Talbot exit, Kennedy said.

"Investigators believe Kraft is responsible for six homicides in Oregon and two in Michigan, in addition to his presumed California victims, which are believed to be more than 60," the Orange County Sheriff's Department announced in a written statement Tuesday.

The Oregon State Police Cold Case Unit is conducting an investigation into Park’s homicide.

City News Service contributed to this report.