Freaky composite from Bev Mcgowan case

[RyanD.]

It happened again, I had another nightmare featuring the composite from the Bev Mcgowan case. You know the one of the man dressed as a woman with a black wig on. It creeps me out everytime. I wonder who he was if it really was a man. I just can't seem to wrap my mind around that woman crudely chopping off a head by herself. Is he still out there?

[DarkDante]

It's been pretty much established that Elaine Parent alone was the mastermind in the murder of Beverly McGowan and was dressed in drag (under the name of "Sam") when she purchased a plane ticket to London in order to elude the authorities. Law enforcement learned this as they trailed Parent over the next ten years.

To answer your second question, Elaine Parent committed suicide as the police officers were knocking at her door to bring her in for questioning regarding McGowan.

[nohwheregirl]

There is no doubt in my mind that Elaine Parent acted alone. There was no male accomplice. She was known to investigators as "The Chameleon." Parent was a violent sociopath and fully capable of mutilating another human being to serve her own interests.

Despite the suspicion she raised, I believe that Parent's disguise (in the cleopatra wig) actually did a pretty effective job of looking like Beverly McGowan. If you look at pictures of Beverly side by side with the composite sketch, the resemblence is uncanny.

[DarkDante]

Yeah i agree with you nohwhere girl, the only problem the authorities still have with Elaine Parent acting alone is they are skeptical whether Parent who was not a particularly well built woman after she parked her vehicle somewhere, would she alone have been able to drag McGowan down the long embankment towards the ditch where she was found? According the the authorities, it was quite a hike especially at night.

[SitcomsAreTheWay]

It happened again, I had another nightmare featuring the composite from the Bev Mcgowan case. You know the one of the man dressed as a woman with a black wig on. It creeps me out everytime. I wonder who he was if it really was a man. I just can't seem to wrap my mind around that woman crudely chopping off a head by herself. Is he still out there?

I think Elaine had the capacity to have done all of it herself. For some reason, I get this feeling that she was the type of person who would jump out at you in the dark in an attempt to frighten you. She may have been glamourous but she also looked as if she would waste no time picking up a butcher knife if you made her angry.

[kadrmas15]

Yeah that composite was one of the scarier ones I have seen on UM. That is a very interesting theory and possiblity that Elaine Parent was possible the person seen wearing the cleopatra wig when she was renting the car and when she picked it up in London. I dont know if she was truly alone or not but from what I have heard about her I wouldnt put it past her to pull something like that off by herself. It is an interesting possiblity as I said. Yes she was one of the more dangerous sociopaths I have seen and I think she was really capable of doing anything that would benefit her own self interests and that she would be willing to do anything she had to, to accomplish it. The only problem I have is could Elaine Parent have done what was done to McGowan all by herself? I have trouble with that one. But it is possible. I still have to believe even a sociopath like she was would need at least one friend.

[RyanD.]

I don't know why, but I think about Parent and find her to be one of the more intrigueing people on UM. I think I would be more terrified of her than all of the 22 disciples of Hell. Does any one know the other show that preview this case?

[UMLongtimefan]

Does any one know the other show that preview this case?
I'm pretty sure AMW profiled Parent... creepy creepy chick.

[SitcomsAreTheWay]

Yeah, she was creepy and I think someone mentioned something about Bi-Polar on here before.

[Composite Sketch]

AMW profiled Parent many times. In fact it was an AMW tip after a show that profiled Parent that led authorities to her home where she shot and killed herself. Parent is considered one of AMW's 900+ 'captures'.

[nohwheregirl]

I know that many of you have expressed interest in seeing "Investigators: Chameleon," the CourtTV documentary on Elaine Parent. It's on this afternoon, Friday Dec 29, 2006 on Court TV at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central.

The image on the left is of the creepy composite sketch of the "man" at the travel agency, and the image on the right is of victim Beverly McGowan.

[buckeyeblogger]

I know that many of you have expressed interest in seeing "Investigators: Chameleon," the CourtTV documentary on Elaine Parent. It's on this afternoon, Friday Dec 29, 2006 on Court TV at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central.

The image on the left is of the creepy composite sketch of the "man" at the travel agency, and the image on the right is of victim Beverly McGowan.

"That's a man, baby!"

http://home.graffiti.net/bloodysam:graffiti.net/images/austinsurprise.jpg

[LooksLikeCRicci]

"That's a man, baby!"

http://home.graffiti.net/bloodysam:graffiti.net/images/austinsurprise.jpg


One of my favorite lines from Austin Powers, although I want to remember it as, "It's a man, man!"

:rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao:

Too funny.

[An 80s Guy]

Could someone please tell me evey thign about this case.

[nohwheregirl]

Could someone please tell me evey thign about this case.

http://www.wtparnell.com/parent1.htm

[An 80s Guy]

http://www.wtparnell.com/parent1.htm
That's a crazy case.

[Composite Sketch]

WOW - I never knew that authorities thought that Laurie "Bambi" Bembenek and her then-boyfriend who helped her escape from prison were considered suspects early on! Interesting!

The article is incorrect stating that UM aired the segment in February 1996 - it was actually November 1991. Maybe they re-aired it but I don't remember, and I was watching (or taping) the show every week in early 1996.

[SitcomsAreTheWay]

It's quite obvious that she was a complusive liar. I mean, even with just little white lies. I think the reason behind her depression was that she had difficulty finding another potential victim. I doubt she talked about the concept of death while ripping people off. It's almost as if identity theft was in her blood and depended on it as if it were an actual job. While she had been talking with Cowan in that gay bar, though she remained cordial, at the same time, she was cooking up another scheme. I was taken aback when I read that she suddenly arrived at her home sporting a fake mustache and begged for her personal info.

She must have been threatening enough to cause someone to drive so many miles away just to avoid her. It's quite difficult to detect in her photographs but there isn't a doubt in my mind that she was an undercover monster.

[Michael McGowan]

Hello all,
I am Bev's nephew. This case is not closed. the case is very well open. Yes Elaine did most by herself, but no she was not alone. They had the man with the truck who assisted and they blew it. The case will remain open because they know that the man had involvement. But i assure you that they will never charge him. This is something my family thinks about everyday. closure was never really had, but the ending of the search helped. i thank you for all being interested, and urge you all to learn from this. thanks...

[nohwheregirl]

Hello all,
I am Bev's nephew. This case is not closed. the case is very well open. Yes Elaine did most by herself, but no she was not alone. They had the man with the truck who assisted and they blew it. The case will remain open because they know that the man had involvement. But i assure you that they will never charge him. This is something my family thinks about everyday. closure was never really had, but the ending of the search helped. i thank you for all being interested, and urge you all to learn from this. thanks...

Michael,
Thanks so much for posting. It means a lot to us because we care so much about these cases. Your aunt's case has always stuck with me, and I'm truly sorry for the loss your family has experienced.

Can you tell us any more about the man with the truck? How did he know Elaine Parent? How involved was he with the actual murder, or did he just help after the fact? Did she hire him, or was he a friend? Where is he now? Any additional info would be appreciated.

[kadrmas15]

Yes, this man with the truck thing sounds interesting. Well Elaine Parent was quite good, being able to make people think she was a man which I am sure was a clever attempt on her part to throw the cops off her trail. I am just sorry she never went to prison. But the man with the truck stuff, I am assuming he knew the body was back there but I wonder why they have never got the guy. It sounds like the cops there in south Florida botched the investigation but it seems they have a habit for that.

[Awsi Dooger]

Court TV is airing the program on Elaine Parent, "The Chameleon," tonight on its The Investigators series. I just caught only the final two minutes of the first airing but it will replay in three hours, at 3 AM Pacific time. I'm not sure about other time zones.

[kadrmas15]

Hey Awsi, I saw the whole thing because on Monday Court TV was back for DISH network customers. I was pleasntly surprised to see it was back. The Courtv segment had some information that was unknown to me before. They also had a composite of the woman that was seen using Bev's credit cards and stuff, certainly looked like Elaine. That composite of Elaine though trying to look like Bev scared the crap out of me again though. They think that she dressed normal on the flight and then when she got to the airport in London she s topped in a rest room and changed back into her Bev costume. However what I didnt know was when she went to pay for the rental car in London she tried using Bev's credit cards and got declined and the clerk even confinscated the card but Elaine was able to talk her way out of trouble and I believe ended up paying for the car with cash. It was a pretty good segment, lots of unknown information, it seems Elaine was able to slip through the cracks mainly because of communication issues between the Florida cops and the London cops.

[Michael McGowan]

Ther is so much wonder about this person. Elaine called him with panic and we believe she killed Bev herself. We think that he only helped dump the body. He lived north of where the body was found. the scene was in south Florida, so he drove down picked up and dropped off to allow Elaine to continue to the airport and try to rent the car. Florida cops did botch alot, but Nora did so much for us and kept on this for so many years. You can see more on the Chameleon, on Saturday at 1pm on Court TV. This was shot just before Elaine killed herself. Another botch. They report she killed herself before the cops went into her apartment, but she was allowed to go change, and did it then. They could have caught her, but we think its a blessing that it ended the way it did.

[Awsi Dooger]

I watched the entire program also. There was some info I didn't know, but that wtparnell link that nohwheregirl posted at the end of page 1 has an incredible amount of detail. I would recommend it to everyone.

You could see how Parent was a tough catch, when she's relocating frequently including weird stops like working at a Sears in Tennessee and running a restaurant in New Mexico. Plus the sheer audacity of filing suit in South Florida, and winning, two years after the murder of Beverly McGowan. Parent had fallen in a restaurant. Or perhaps staged it. Companies didn't fight charges as much in those days.

I had a feeling that Court TV program was originally filmed before Parent was caught. It gets to a few minutes from the end with no hint of resolution, then they rush the final scene that mentions the suicide. The version I read was she came out of her bedroom in pajamas after someone tipped authorities based on an AMW segment earlier that night. The owner of the house opened the door and summoned Parent. She looked different from the photos pulled off the AMW site so the cops thought they had the wrong person, and only became suspicious when Parent's military ID was an obvious fake. But by that time she was changing clothes in the bedroom, on her request. She barked at the officers when they knocked on the door, then shot herself in the chest. There is actually a picture of the body on the AMW website after she shot herself. It's from a distance but you can see what she was wearing and how the body fell.

Here's the irony to me; for a chameleon she was apparently captured after looking very much like her known photos. The caller to AMW gave a name somewhat different than the one Parent was using at the end. But if you go to the AMW site and see the picture assigned to Parent while she was using the name given by the AMW caller, it looks exactly like the known photos of Parent. She must have gotten lazy and overconfident for a while. I read that she was stopped by police outside a restaurant less than two years earlier in the same northwest Florida area, but they didn't recognize her and thought the tip was mistaken. Parent was apparently conning an elderly man at the time, a con she never finished.

Many areas of frustration in the pursuit phase. The one that stuck with me was a 5-year delay in isolating Parent's alias among the passengers on the Miami to London flight. They isolated the exact flight but somehow it took 5 years to pick out her identity. The program mentioned some type of roadblock in being able to check non-Florida residents. If Parent had been identified off that passenger list in the first months it changes everything. She was pulled over and jailed overnight a year later in the Miami area.

Michael, how is so much known about the driver of the truck? You say she called him in panic. That makes sense to me but where could that info come from? Did Parent ever talk about the McGowan case to others, like the mysterious woman in England who she lived with and apparently had a relationship with for years? Also, was a specific truck identified that was used to dump the body? You say it came from north of the area where the body was found.

As far as a blessing it ended without a trial, etc. that may be true in regard to this murder and your family, but there could have been others, ones Parent could have cleared up. She had enough arrogance to send the postcard so perhaps she would have been willing to brag about her "career."

[kadrmas15]

Well that was a very good link you reminded us of Awsi, I checked it out and learned some interesting stuff. Also Michael thanks for posting again. Yeah that is still very interesting about the guy that helped Elaine dump the body. That must have been horrible gruesome, if he did that, I just dont know how he could manage to keep it to himself all these years. As for E laine, I found some things interesting about her, first that she wasnt British. I had always assumed because of the segment that she was British but she was actually born in and grew up in the United States. She was also older than I had thought she was, she graduated high school in 1960. It was kind of s cary to me that there is like an 8 year stretch in her life that no one really knows what she is doing. The woman was definitly a total sociopath but as far as I could tell, Bev McGowan is the only person she knew for sure she killed. IT seems that Bev was just in the wrong place at the wrong time when it came to this with Elaine having been dumped by her lover in England and Elaine more than furious as was seen from them doing the test on the pad in Bev's condo. I think there was probably more to it though than just Elaine killing Bev because she was angry about a lover. I have the feeling that Bev must have done or said something that just pushed Elaine over the edge. I am not in any way Bev deserved to get hurt in any way, obviously Bev had no idea what was going to happen but I have the feeling that Bev might have discovered what Elaine was doing and threatened to turn her in and Elaine got rid of her. It seems Elaine's favorite places were Florida and England. Florida probably has a higher than average amount of people to scam than your average state. Just a very sad and horrific case but Elaine's life could be made into a movie. As for her committing suicide, well it was bad that she did it because she escaped justice here on Earth. However she might have dragged this to trial had she lived and I dont know that the McGowan family would have wanted to go through that. It would have been horrific.