Panama City and St. Lucie County investigators spent several days conducting interviews in the St. Andrews Bay neighborhood and looking through evidence collected from the room that international fugitive Elaine Parent had rented at 449 S. MacArthur Avenue. Though many questions remain, enough information was uncovered to present a rough sketch of the last few months of her life.

Death Certificate

Parent had rented the room from a lady who was so shook up by her suicide and the subsequent revelations about Parent that she preferred not to make her name public. The homeowner told police that Parent, using the name Darlene Thompson, had rented the room in approximately August of the previous year. Parent told her that she had just lost an apartment in Panama City, where she had lived for seven years, and claimed she worked in Panama City for a telecommunications firm. The homeowner said that Parent paid her rent on time and was a good cook and frequently prepared meals for her.

Parent walked the homeowner’s dog daily at 6 a.m. and 4 p.m. and was described as kind to animals. She often met and talked with other women from the neighborhood who also walked their dogs in a nearby park. Other neighbors described her as something of a loner. One resident stated that when he knocked on the door to warn her about a potential suspicious person in the area, she wouldn’t answer. Parent provided a hint concerning her reclusive manner when she told the homeowner that she was in trouble with the IRS. She also told her church-going roommate that she didn’t believe in the Bible.

The homeowner’s adult children met Parent and advised their mother to get a background check on her but the homeowner, who described Parent as “nice”, saw no reason for concern. However, had the she been aware of some of the facts investigators uncovered during their brief stay, she undoubtedly would have agreed that her children’s concern was well founded.

In Parent’s room, investigators found books on how to apply stage makeup and learn to speak French. They also found an “FBI Most Wanted” poster with Parent’s passport photo and the name Anotonia Rhyes-Ormond. The poster stated that “Ormond” was wanted in connection with the murder of a high ranking government official. Investigators believe that the poster, which appeared to have been printed from a computer, was a fake. They believe that Parent intended to use the poster to intimidate someone for some purpose. They also uncovered evidence that Parent had not reverted from her old criminal habits and indeed appeared to have found a new potential victim.

A notebook was found in Parent’s room that contained information about an elderly man from the nearby community of Lynn Haven. The information included his Social Security number, credit card numbers, parents’ names and his date of birth. This was enough information to assume the man’s identity and a disguise police also found would have allowed Parent to do just that. It was also reported that Parent had a laptop computer but police were never able to locate such a computer or any related media.

Authorities were also surprised to discover that Parent had been questioned and released in February of 2001. After receiving a tip, police had approached her as she was leaving a restaurant, apparently in the company of the same elderly Lynn Haven man she was planning to scam. In a scene that foreshadowed the one that played out at the time of her suicide, police thought Parent looked nothing like the photo they had obtained from AMW. However, during this encounter, she claimed to have no identification and they therefore had no basis to detain her.

One item that was not recovered by investigators was the diary that Miami Police reported Parent had in her possession when she was arrested in 1991. Authorities had hoped that it could provide clues about her remarkable criminal history and her time as a fugitive. Instead, those interested in her unusual life are left to speculate about her motives and about the full extent of her crimes.

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