John Paul Parton Jr.

• Missing Since 05/16/2021
• Missing From High Ridge, Missouri
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Male
• Race White
• Date of Birth 04/10/2002 (23)
• Age 19 years old
• Height and Weight 6'0, 175 pounds
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, brown eyes. Parton may go by his initials, JP.

Details of Disappearance

Parton was last seen leaving his residence in High Ridge, Missouri on May 16, 2021. After he got home from work that day, he told his parents he was going camping with friends and would be back the next day.

Later that same night, Parton called his parents and said he and three friends had burglarized into a Jefferson County, Missouri address, stealing $2,000 in cash and and drugs. Two days earlier, he had been asked to leave that property by the landlord after an altercation between Parton and his girlfriend. Parton did not go inside the house during the alleged burglary but stayed in the car. The stolen money was spent on one one Taurus G2C 9MM handgun for each burglary participant.

Parton told his parents he felt guilty about the burglary and that there had been a dispute over how the proceeds of the crime should be divided. He never returned home, and the call to his parents confessing to his involvement in a burglary was the last indication of his whereabouts. They reported him missing on May 24. His parents said it's extremely uncharacteristic of him to leave without warning, especially for this long.

Parton's parents believe their son's disappearance could be tied to the death of Derontae Martin, a 19-year-old Ferguson, Missouri man who died of a gunshot wound to the head in April 2021. He was at a party when he died, and witnesses said he took his own life while under the influence of methamphetamine. The police said they'd found no evidence of foul play in his death. It was initially ruled a suicide, but after Martin's family questioned the ruling, there was an autopsy and an inquest.

The coroner's jury ruled that Martin died by violence, not suicide. The last time Parton saw his parents, he told them that he had been present when Martin died and that Martin had been murdered. No one has been arrested in Martin's death.

In April 2024, Thomas E. "Tedo" Gamble was arrested in Louisiana and charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, tampering with physical evidence and abandonment of a corpse in Parton's case. Authorities stated they had discoved Gamble shot Parton to death inside a vehicle on U.S. Highway 67 south near Leadington, Missouri on May 18, two days after he was last seen.

There was an eyewitness to the crime who was driving the vehicle at the time, and later told police that Parton was sitting in the front passenger seat when Gamble, who was seated in the back, shot him from behind through the seat.

Following the shooting, the witness and Gamble at first left Parton's body in a creek near Bismarck, Missouri. Two weeks later they returned to the site with a pickup truck, wrapped Parton's body in carpet and put it in the back of a truck. The witness said Gamble dropped him off at his home and he doesn't know what happened to Parton's body after that.

Another witness said Gamble came to her house on Pendleton Road in rural St. Francois County, Missouri, with a shovel and a rake, and told her he had shot Parton. She never saw Parton's body but did see blood inside the car, and saw Gamble cleaning it with water and bleach. She said Gamble was burning something in the woods on her property, something she believed was Parton's remains. The next day, when she saw Gamble again, he had soot on him.

The murder vehicle, a 2012 Toyota Camry, belonged to the witness on Pendleton Road, and she sold it after Parton's death. In 2024, investigators located it, processed it for evidence and removed a bullet that was embedded in the dashboard. The new owner of the car said the front passenger seat had been replaced because it was in poor condition, but he was able to tell police where the former seat was. When authorities checked the old seat, there was a blood in the foam on the back of the seat and a hole consistent with the size and shape of a bullet hole.

Gamble is awaiting trial. A photo of him is posted with this case summary. Foul play is suspected in Parton's case due to the circumstances involved. His remains have never been located.