Blood found in car’s trunk belonged to missing Knoxville man, police confirm

Police have confirmed that blood found in the trunk of a car left outside a Williamsburg motel for several days last month belonged to the car’s owner, a Knoxville man, who has been missing for nearly seven weeks.
Williamsburg Police Detective Wayne Bird, who is heading up the investigation on the Kentucky side of the border, said he learned from Knoxville police Friday that blood recovered from the trunk of Byron K. Barker’s 2004 Nissan Altima did belong to Barker.
Bird said what this means for the investigation is uncertain.
“It is hard to say without something to go on other than what we have. The only thing we know is that the blood in his trunk is his blood,” Bird said.
Knoxville police confirmed that the last known sighting of Barker was on May 3, and that no one has reported seeing him since then, Bird noted.
Bird said that right now the case on the Kentucky end is at a standstill.
“I’m sure Knoxville has several leads they are still following up on. They have been ever since this thing happened. As to what they are exactly, I don’t know,” Bird said.
On May 5, Barker’s car was parked outside the Super 8 motel in Williamsburg, where it stayed for about 10 days before motel management had the vehicle towed.
The motel has no record of Barker checking in under his name, police said.
After no one called about the vehicle, the tow truck driver started looking through the glove box the following afternoon trying to find information about the owner.
“He checked the inside of the vehicle, and couldn’t find any documents. He popped the truck, and when he did that he found what we believe to be a blood stain in the trunk,” Bird said. “At that point we removed the vehicle, brought it to a secure location, and notified the authorities in Knoxville.”
The Whitley County Major Crimes Task Force was activated the next day.
Investigators searched the woods behind the motel, and showed Barker’s picture to motel employees, workers at stores along I-75, and at the rest area, but no one reported having seen Barker.
Barker, 47, is a white male, who owns a hair dressing business in Knoxville.
Anyone having information on Barker’s whereabouts is asked to contact Williamsburg police at 549-6037.