Parker was last seen in East Baton Rouge, Louisiana on November 10, 1981. She stopped at her parents' home in the Southdowns neighborhood to pick up some winter clothing, and was last seen driving in the direction of her apartment, which was on Gardere Lane.

One of Parker's former classmates claims to have seen her and spoken to her at the Cortana Mall on November 14, four days after she left her parents' home. The witness said Parker was wearing jeans and a gray Lee High School shirt with a blue football in the center. This sighting has never been confirmed. On November 18, her car was found parked alongside the road at North and North 17th Streets, near Goudchaux's, which is where Parker was employed at the time that she vanished. Her clothes were neatly folded in the trunk. There was no sign of a struggle at the scene.

Parker had moved into an apartment in East Baton Rouge with three female roomates shortly before her disappearance, and was planning to attend Louisiana State University the following spring. Ten other women with ties to Louisiana State University have been murdered since the early eighties. Some of them are believed to be victims of the Baton Rouge Serial Killer; Derrick Todd Lee has been charged in five of the killings, including that of Randi Mebruer, and he is considered a possible suspect in the disappearances of Mari Fowler, Melinda McGhee and Glenn Tankersley. A photograph of Lee is posted below this case summary. It is unknown if he had anything to do with Parker's case or if she was a serial killer victim but she is missing under suspicious circumstances; foul play is suspected in her case.

Above: Derrick Todd Lee