By Chloe Morrison

Staff Writer

Walker County 911 dispatcher Theresa Parker has been missing more than a month, and her family and friends say they are desperate to keep her case from becoming cold.

Mrs. Parker's brother-in-law Jonathan Wilson said the family has scheduled a vigil for Thursday at 7 p.m. behind the Walker County Civic Center and opened a reward fund, in part, to continue generating interest in the case.

"My wife is just doing this to keep the media active," he said. "It is real painful for her to do those (vigils). We are just doing what it takes to keep Theresa on everybody's mind."

Mr. Wilson said no new news "is frustrating."

"The (Georgia Bureau of Investigation) has several supervisors down here overseeing this, and I'm hopeful they will come to a conclusion. It is tough to have faith in them and trust them like they are asking us to, but I just can't see them not coming up with anything."

Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said there were no new developments over the weekend, but investigators are still working and following up investigative leads or tips.

Sam Parker, Mrs. Parker's estranged husband is still the only "person of interest" in the case. "No one else has been named a person of interest," Sheriff Wilson said.

High-profile searches, such as draining a pond near Mr. Parker's home, have become infrequent, and national media interest has dwindled.

The latest incident was April 13, when Mr. Parker was fired from the LaFayette Police Department for having explosives in his locker. Officials said his termination was not related to the missing woman, but on the night he was fired Mr. Parker threatened to harm himself.

Gov. Sonny Perdue approved a $1,000 reward for anyone with information leading to Mrs. Parker's recovery. Mr. Wilson said he's added $1,000 out of his own money, too.

E-mail Chloe Morrison at cmorrison@timesfreepress.com