Guest Post: The Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders

Written by RedHanded podcast

 

Case File Overview

In Oklahoma in 1977, Camp Scott opened its doors to an excited group of young Girl Scouts, but no one could have imagined the horrors that lay ahead.

On the very first night of camp, as the tents shook against a raging thunderstorm, dark events would unfold like a twisted campfire story come to life. And by morning three young girls would be dead, molested and murdered in the middle of the night.

On June 12, 1977 three girls–Denise Milner age 10, Michelle Guse age 9 and Lori Lee Farmer age 8–slept in tent 8 of ‘Kaiawa’ camp: none would survive the night.

Murder victims Michelle, Lori, and Denise 

 

Tent 8

The next morning their dead bodies were found out by the treeline of the forest, 100 ft (30.5 m) from their tent. Lori and Michelle had died from blunt force trauma to the head, but Denise had died from ligature asphyxiation. Reports suggested that both Denise and Michelle had been molested, but with Lori it was hard to tell if anything sexual had happened.

40 years later this brutal crime still remains unsolved. What really happened to the murdered Oklahoma Girl Scouts?

 

Case File Theories

 

The Supernatural

With strange discoveries made at the campsite, curses and deaths, supernatural links were growing and hysteria hit its peak.

Spooky, dark woods of Mayes County

 

Gene Leroy Hart

Gene Leroy Hart

Evidence found in a nearby cave would lead police to track down escaped, convicted rapist Gene Leroy Hart.

Note found on a nearby cave wall

Hart was eventually caught and stood trial for the murders of Michelle, Lori and Denise.

Shockingly, despite vast amounts of circumstantial evidence, he was found not guilty.

DNA from the case has been re-examined twice over the past four decades, but there has never been a conclusive match to Hart or anyone else.

Who do you think murdered Denise, Michelle, and Lori?

The fact that this crime remains unsolved is truly shocking.

Given what happened that night, it seems likely that this was the work of more than one man.

So even if Hart, who died in prison two months after the trial, was involved, he did not commit these heinous murders alone.

This means there is still potentially a killer on the loose in the dark woods of Mayes County.

 

To learn more about this bizarre true crime case, check out RedHanded podcast episode ten. It’s available on Apple Podcasts, Podbean, Otto Radio, and Stitcher.

Brilliant and hilarious Hannah and Suruthi cover a wide variety of true crime and supernatural cases that will satisfy your desire for the macabre.

 

You can also follow RedHanded podcast on Twitter. Hannah and Suruthi would love to hear your feedback and to talk some true crime.

 

Related Reading

“Murder of 3 Oklahoma Girl Scouts remains unsolved after 40 years” – New York Daily News article

“40 years ago, the murders of three Girl Scouts in Oklahoma stunned the nation, created shockwaves still being felt” – Tulsa World article

“12 Facts About The Unsolved Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders” – Ranker article

Interested in unsolved, bewildering murders? Check out the case of Lindsay Buziak, a realtor who was lured to her death by a mysterious, murderous duo.