GETTING TO KNOW OUR PEOPLE
Charles Parker (aka "Gumshoes") is the founder and driving force behind UNSOLVED CRIMES. Mr. Parker spent some of his younger years in law enforcement but later abandoned his ideals to pursue a business career. More than twenty-five years later, following the death of his former partner in the Nueces County Sheriff's Dept., Mr. Parker once again picked up the mantle of justice. By now a licensed private investigator, he began to help a few parents of murdered children, whose desperation was almost more than they could bear. He ran his business during the day and spent all of his free time trying to solve murders. After six years, he answered his heart and gave up his only livelihood to devote himself full time to helping the survivors whose plight had gradually taken over his life. Because of his humanitarian work, Charlie has begun to catch the attention of the national media. He has been featured on "The Today Show" and on "America's Most Wanted" and has been interviewed by Tom Snyder on "The Late, Late Show". John Walsh, host of "America's Most Wanted", calls him a "crime-fighting hero." Walsh also says, "When victims of crime have nowhere else to turn, he's their only hope...instead of complaining about crime, Charlie became part of the solution."
Carole Crouch serves as the Secretary-Treasurer of UNSOLVED CRIMES. Following several career paths, first as a high-school drama teacher, and then as a sales rep, she formed a partnership with Charles Parker in a San Antonio business for ten years. After watching from the sidelines for several years, she slowly began to find herself caught up in Charlie's passion for justice. Carole is now a licensed PI. Carole has a gift of compassion which she is able to impart to those in need. She handles all of the record-keeping, scheduling, and fund-raising for UNSOLVED CRIMES.
Kathleen Fonseca is a certified graphoanalyst and member of the International Graphoanalysis Society. She uses her skills in analyzing handwriting to examine documents to determine authenticity and/or authorship, as well as assessment of personality traits for employment purposes and compatibility analysis. She has a Master's degree in Business Administration, and is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Graphoanalysis.She is working with UNSOLVED CRIMES to develop a database of personality traits of victims and perpetrators in an effort to develop profiles of killers and their victims.
Jay Brandon provides legal counsel for UNSOLVED CRIMES, as well as serving on the Board of Directors. Mr. Brandon has served as an attorney with the District Attorney's office in San Antonio, and with the Court of Criminal Appeals, the highest criminal court in Texas. He was a staff attorney at the San Antonio Court of Appeals and still handles appellate cases. In addition to his legal career, Mr. Brandon is a professional author with a master's degree in writing from Johns Hopkins University. His novel FADE THE HEAT was nominated for the Edgar award as best mystery of 1990. His sixth novel, LOOSE AMONG THE LAMBS, was a Main Selection of the Literary Guild. Jay's novels have been published in more than a dozen foreign countries, and movie rights have been optioned by Stevel Spielberg, Bill Cosby, and Burt Reynolds, among others.