NEWS RELEASE
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA

John L. Brownlee
United States Attorney
Heidi Coy
Public Affairs Specialist BB&T Building
310 1st Street, S.W., Room 906
Roanoke, Virginia 24011
(540) 857-2250
FAX (540) 857-2180

February 9, 2007

GLADE SPRINGS MAN SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS IN PRISON FOR DRUG
AND FIREARMS OFFENSES CONNECTED TO THE DISAPPEARANCE OF
STACY MCCRAY

United States Attorney John L. Brownlee announced today that Mark Jason Parris, age 37, of Glade Springs, Virginia, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for drug conspiracy and firearms charges. The charges arose out of an investigation into the disappearance and death of Washington County resident Stacy McCray in November 2002.

Bobbi Jo Bishop, age 34, of Abingdon, Virginia, was sentenced to two years in prison for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. Bishop’s charges are also connected to McCray’s disappearance.
“Mr. Parris and Ms. Bishop concealed Stacy McCray’s body in order to cover up their own criminal conduct. The lengthy sentences imposed on these defendants reflect the seriousness of their actions,” said United States Attorney John Brownlee.

According to evidence presented by Criminal Chief Thomas J. Bondurant, Jr., the charges arose out of an investigation into the disappearance of Stacy McCray after her skeletal remains were discovered in the Jefferson National Forest in 2004.

Parris signed a written statement admitting that in November 2002 Parris and Bishop went to confetti’s Nightclub in Bristol, Tennessee to get powder cocaine. While at Confetti’s, Parris saw Stacy McCray in the parking lot. McCray asked if she could come back to Abingdon with Parris and Bishop in order to use cocaine with them. The three went back to Bishop’s apartment in Abingdon and smoked crack cocaine that Bishop prepared. Bishop and McCray left the living room and went upstairs. Less than 30 minutes later, Parris said that Bishop yelled for Parris to come upstairs. Parris said McCray was lying on the floor of the hall and her skin was pale and blue and she appeared dead. Parris and McCray decided to hide McCray’s body. They drove McCray’s car to a parking lot at an apartment building near the hospital in Abingdon and placed McCray’s body in the bed of Parris’ truck. Parris and the other woman drove into a remote area of the Jefferson National Forest and left McCray’s body there.

The evidence also showed that Parris and Bishop had been selling cocaine, methamphetamine, and hydrocodone to people in and around the Abingdon, Virginia area since 2001. The evidence showed that Bishop and Parris would sell their illegal drugs at the Moose Lodge in Abingdon, Virginia.

Parris pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy, use of a firearm, and possession of a stolen firearm pursuant to a written plea agreement in October 2006. Bishop was charged in a separate indictment and pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy in December 2006 pursuant to a plea agreement.

The case was investigated by Detective Mike Martin for the Washington County Sheriff’s Department and Special Agent Tim Burke for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Criminal Chief Thomas J. Bondurant, Jr., prosecuted the case.