John W. Palmer, 54, was found dead in a wooded area near Bannister Road and Lydia Avenue on August 19, 2016. A pedestrian discovered the body on a south Kansas City walking trail, and police determined the death was not of natural causes, opening a homicide investigation. Palmer’s family described him as a short-order cook with an infectious laugh who enjoyed long walks; his stepson called him a cherished father figure.

Palmer’s killing was one of several similar slayings of middle-aged white men along the city’s trail systems that raised fears of a serial attacker. In August 2017 investigators arrested 22-year-old Fredrick Demond Scott after DNA linked him to another victim, Steven Gibbons. DNA from a t-shirt recovered at Palmer’s scene was also matched to Scott, and he confessed to Palmer’s killing; the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office charged him with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in Palmer’s death.

If anyone knew John Palmer, his routines, or saw anything suspicious along the trails that summer of 2016, please come forward with information.