Jennifer Sunflower
01-04-2003, 01:56 PM
Here's another article about "The Killer Chameleon". She, of course, is believed to be the mysterious Alice, the prime suspect in the grisly slaying of her roommate in Florida. The link is http://www.nwfdailynews.com/archive/news/020409news7.html
This article can be found on page B1 of the April 09, 2002 Daily News
Woman wanted in murder case kills herself
By MOHAMMAD A. FARUQUI, The Panama City News Herald
PANAMA CITY - A fugitive featured Saturday night on "America's Most Wanted" killed herself after Panama City police arrived at her residence there in response to callers' tips.
Immediately after the show profiled her case, neighbors called the national hotline and said they recognized 59-year-old Elaine Antoinette Parent. The woman was wanted in connection with a slaying 12 years ago.
Within minutes, three Panama City police officers arrived at Parent's 449 MacArthur Ave. home.
"The officers spoke to one lady and then (Parent) came out of bed," said police Cmdr. Mitchell Pitts. "She said, 'You mind if I go put some clothes on?' and went back to her room."
Pitts said officers allowed her to do so because a description given by officials at "America's Most Wanted" did not match Parent's appearance and officers thought they had run into a case of mistaken identity.
Parent's black hair had been bleached blonde and a mole under her right eye had been surgically removed.
She gave the officers a military identification card to look at while she dressed. One officer, who had prior military experience, recognized alterations on the ID and knocked on Parent's bedroom door.
She emphatically said, "I am getting dressed," and then shot herself in the chest with a high-caliber revolver. Pitts said Parent died on the scene.
Parent was positively identified through fingerprints Monday, Pitts said.
The owner of the MacArthur Avenue house, who did not want to be named, had taken in Parent as a roommate but did not know of her past. All she knew was that Parent was nice, a great gourmet cook, very hyper and good to animals.
Authorities had been looking for Parent since July 19, 1990, when they found the remains of her former roommate in a rural canal in St. Lucie County. The body of 34-year-old Beverly McGowan was mutilated to make identification difficult, police said.
Parent had used at least 10 aliases since St. Lucie County issued a warrant in 1990 for passport fraud and for questioning about the gruesome homicide.
Parent's Panama City neighbors said Sunday they knew the woman as 50-year-old Darlene Thompson.
"She didn't talk to anybody," said Robert Helm, who lives across the street. "I (would greet her) and she acted like she wouldn't acknowledge me.
"I knocked on her door one time to warn her about a man wandering around offering to do people's yards, and she wouldn't come to the door."
Parent told her Panama City roommate that she worked in telecommunications in downtown Panama City.
The roommate said her 11/2-year-old dog, Molly, will miss Parent, who walked the Pekingese-poodle mix twice a day and chatted with women who also walked dogs at a local park.
According to "America's Most Wanted," McGowan told her family and friends in July 1990 that she had taken a new roommate named Alice. Authorities believe that Alice was actually Parent.
When St. Lucie deputies began looking for her, Parent was trying to use McGowan's credit card at Heathrow International Airport in London. But McGowan's brother, Steve, had canceled her credit cards when he became suspicious after receiving a goodbye note from McGowan.
Steve McGowan had received the note three days before Beverly McGowan's body was found.
British clerks called police after Parent attempted to use the credit cards. Scotland Yard learned that St. Lucie police wanted Parent for questioning about McGowan's homicide, so constables boarded U.S.-bound airplanes to look for her.
London police searched for Parent for almost a week, even scouring neighborhoods.
In May 1991, police found Parent sleeping in a car in Miami and arrested her - as Charlotte Cowan - for failure to return a leased vehicle. She posted bond a few days later and was last seen in Nashville, Tenn., in 1994, where she worked as a clerk at a Sears store.
"America's Most Wanted" described Parent as a chameleon whose weight fluctuated drastically and who often used a British accent.
The profile said Parent traveled all over the world but always seemed to return to Florida.
_____
I have also learned that Court TV's The System dedicated an episode to Elaine Parent recently. I'm wondering has anyone seen it and if so, what further information did they divulge?
This article can be found on page B1 of the April 09, 2002 Daily News
Woman wanted in murder case kills herself
By MOHAMMAD A. FARUQUI, The Panama City News Herald
PANAMA CITY - A fugitive featured Saturday night on "America's Most Wanted" killed herself after Panama City police arrived at her residence there in response to callers' tips.
Immediately after the show profiled her case, neighbors called the national hotline and said they recognized 59-year-old Elaine Antoinette Parent. The woman was wanted in connection with a slaying 12 years ago.
Within minutes, three Panama City police officers arrived at Parent's 449 MacArthur Ave. home.
"The officers spoke to one lady and then (Parent) came out of bed," said police Cmdr. Mitchell Pitts. "She said, 'You mind if I go put some clothes on?' and went back to her room."
Pitts said officers allowed her to do so because a description given by officials at "America's Most Wanted" did not match Parent's appearance and officers thought they had run into a case of mistaken identity.
Parent's black hair had been bleached blonde and a mole under her right eye had been surgically removed.
She gave the officers a military identification card to look at while she dressed. One officer, who had prior military experience, recognized alterations on the ID and knocked on Parent's bedroom door.
She emphatically said, "I am getting dressed," and then shot herself in the chest with a high-caliber revolver. Pitts said Parent died on the scene.
Parent was positively identified through fingerprints Monday, Pitts said.
The owner of the MacArthur Avenue house, who did not want to be named, had taken in Parent as a roommate but did not know of her past. All she knew was that Parent was nice, a great gourmet cook, very hyper and good to animals.
Authorities had been looking for Parent since July 19, 1990, when they found the remains of her former roommate in a rural canal in St. Lucie County. The body of 34-year-old Beverly McGowan was mutilated to make identification difficult, police said.
Parent had used at least 10 aliases since St. Lucie County issued a warrant in 1990 for passport fraud and for questioning about the gruesome homicide.
Parent's Panama City neighbors said Sunday they knew the woman as 50-year-old Darlene Thompson.
"She didn't talk to anybody," said Robert Helm, who lives across the street. "I (would greet her) and she acted like she wouldn't acknowledge me.
"I knocked on her door one time to warn her about a man wandering around offering to do people's yards, and she wouldn't come to the door."
Parent told her Panama City roommate that she worked in telecommunications in downtown Panama City.
The roommate said her 11/2-year-old dog, Molly, will miss Parent, who walked the Pekingese-poodle mix twice a day and chatted with women who also walked dogs at a local park.
According to "America's Most Wanted," McGowan told her family and friends in July 1990 that she had taken a new roommate named Alice. Authorities believe that Alice was actually Parent.
When St. Lucie deputies began looking for her, Parent was trying to use McGowan's credit card at Heathrow International Airport in London. But McGowan's brother, Steve, had canceled her credit cards when he became suspicious after receiving a goodbye note from McGowan.
Steve McGowan had received the note three days before Beverly McGowan's body was found.
British clerks called police after Parent attempted to use the credit cards. Scotland Yard learned that St. Lucie police wanted Parent for questioning about McGowan's homicide, so constables boarded U.S.-bound airplanes to look for her.
London police searched for Parent for almost a week, even scouring neighborhoods.
In May 1991, police found Parent sleeping in a car in Miami and arrested her - as Charlotte Cowan - for failure to return a leased vehicle. She posted bond a few days later and was last seen in Nashville, Tenn., in 1994, where she worked as a clerk at a Sears store.
"America's Most Wanted" described Parent as a chameleon whose weight fluctuated drastically and who often used a British accent.
The profile said Parent traveled all over the world but always seemed to return to Florida.
_____
I have also learned that Court TV's The System dedicated an episode to Elaine Parent recently. I'm wondering has anyone seen it and if so, what further information did they divulge?