19-year-old mysteriously vanished in 2021, MO cops say. Now, man charged with murder
A 19-year-old who mysteriously went missing in 2021 was shot and killed before his body was burned in a bathtub, Missouri authorities say.
Recent witness testimony involving the disappearance of John Paul Parton has now led to a murder charge against Thomas Gamble, 21, Missouri State Highway Patrol investigators said. Gamble was arrested in Louisiana on May 1.
Parton was last seen in Jefferson County, Missouri, on May 16, 2021, according to the highway patrol. In a phone call that night, he told his parents he and three friends were involved in a burglary and had stolen $2,000, among other valuables, family members told KTVI.
But Parton told his parents he and his friends had a disagreement about the stolen money — an argument the Partons believe could have led to the death of their son, KSDK reported in 2023. A witness said Parton and Gamble were both involved in the burglary, according to a probable cause statement.
Authorities received a break in the 3-year-old case in March, when Jefferson County detectives received information from a witness that Gamble confessed to killing Parton. The alleged killing happened May 18, 2021, two days after Parton was last heard from.
The witness said in an April interview, according to court documents, that he was driving when Gamble shot Parton, who was sitting in the front passenger seat. Parton died shortly after he was shot, according to the witness testimony.
In a second interview two weeks later, the witness said they initially dumped Parton’s body into a creek, highway patrol said. They switched vehicles to a pickup truck, then went back to retrieve the body and wrap it in carpet.
The witness said they put the body in the truck, but he did not know what Gamble eventually did with the body, according to the court documents.
A second witness said Gamble entered her home and admitted to the killing, authorities said. The witness never saw Parton’s body, investigators said, but she said she saw blood in the vehicle and Gamble cleaning the interior with bleach.
Investigators said the second witness indicated she believed Gamble had burnt Parton’s body on her property in St. Francois County. Recorded by a witness, Gamble admitted to burning Parton’s body in a bathtub, according to the probable cause statement.
The Toyota Camry was sold, authorities said, but investigators located it in April. The current owner had replaced the front passenger seat.
When investigators later found the seat, it had evidence of blood and “an obvious hole in it, consistent with being from a bullet,” state troopers said.
Charges of first-degree murder, armed criminal action, tampering and abandonment of a corpse were issued to Gamble on April 26, court records show. Authorities in Port Allen, Louisiana, arrested him May 1, according to the highway patrol.
Parton’s remains have never been found, state troopers said.
Gamble was being held in a Louisiana jail and was awaiting his extradition to Missouri.
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