Born
15 Dec 1959, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee

Death
24 Oct 1976, Norwood Park Township, Cook County, Illinois

Tragically, Kenneth Parker was one of the victims of Illinois serial killer and sex offender John Wayne Gacy who raped, tortured, and murdered at least 33 young men and boys between 1962 and 1977. His conviction for thirty-three murders (by one individual) then covered the most homicides in United States legal history. Gacy was sentenced to death and was executed by lethal injection at Statesville Correctional Center on May 10, 1994. He became known as “The Killer Clown” due to his public performances as a clown prior to the discovery of his crimes and is one of the most prolific serial murderers in Chicago history.

On October 24, 1976, 16-year-old Kenneth Parker and longtime friend 14-year-old Michael Marino, 14, were last seen near a restaurant at Clark Street and Diversey Parkway, an intersection where Gacy picked up many of his victims. Investigators believe the friends may have been killed at the same time because they shared a common grave under Gacy’s house. He was “Body #15” and was buried under the crawl space.

Dental records and X-rays of an arm Parker had previously broken are used to identify him March 29, 1980. His body is exhumed in 2016 for DNA testing at the request of Marino’s mother, who claims her son is not a Gacy victim.