In 1977 three young Girl Scouts, aged between eight and ten years of age, were bludgeoned, strangled, molested and murdered on their first night of summer camp.
It sounds like the stuff urban legends are made of, but this story, unfortunately, is no legend – it is all true.
It sounds like the stuff urban legends are made of, but this story, unfortunately, is no legend – it is all true.
The Murders at Camp Scott
Sign pointing to Camp Scott. On 12 June, 1977, a group of girl scouts were camping in Mayes County, Oklahoma, at a well known camping ground known as “Camp Scott”. On the first night of the camp there was a vicious storm which forced all the campers to huddle inside their tents, waiting for it to pass. The following day the bodies of three girl scouts, aged between 8 and 10 were found dumped in the woods, sexually molested and murdered, not far from their camp.
A few months earlier a camp counsellor was at the camp. She was at a training session, and when she returned to her tent, she saw that all of her things were messily strewn about, and that her doughnuts had been taken. There was a handwritten note inside the doughnut box which stated that the writer would murder three campers in one tent. The counsellor was not concerned. It was a place of scary campfire tales after all, and pranks were very common. She threw the note out.
A few months earlier a camp counsellor was at the camp. She was at a training session, and when she returned to her tent, she saw that all of her things were messily strewn about, and that her doughnuts had been taken. There was a handwritten note inside the doughnut box which stated that the writer would murder three campers in one tent. The counsellor was not concerned. It was a place of scary campfire tales after all, and pranks were very common. She threw the note out.
The victims: Doris Milner, Lori Farmer and ichele Guise (Guse). Only two months later the note was to be realised as being true. On 13 June, Carla Emery, an 18 year old camp counsellor, was on her way to the showers when she discovered the dead body of 10 year old Doris Denise Milner. There was a towel and a rope wrapped around her neck and she was naked from the waist down. Nearby she found the bodies of 8 year old Lori Lee Farmer and 9 year old Michele Guise. Both of these girls had black electrical tape over their mouths, and their bodies had been put inside their sleeping bags. Doris had been strangled to death. Michele and Lori had been bludgeoned to death. All three bodies had been removed from the tent and carried more than 100 yards away from the camp ground.
The hunt began to find the killer. The floor of the tent, a wooden board, was airlifted to a crime laboratory due to the apparent unsuccessful attempt of someone who tried mopping up all the blood with towels and mattresses. A red flashlight which had a piece of newspaper inside it, a nylon rope and a roll of electrical tape was found near the bodies, and several pairs of prescription glasses were also found lying around.
The hunt began to find the killer. The floor of the tent, a wooden board, was airlifted to a crime laboratory due to the apparent unsuccessful attempt of someone who tried mopping up all the blood with towels and mattresses. A red flashlight which had a piece of newspaper inside it, a nylon rope and a roll of electrical tape was found near the bodies, and several pairs of prescription glasses were also found lying around.
The Tent. K-9 police dogs were called in and tracked the area. It was found that the murderer had passed by a counsellor’s tent to get to the girls. A cave was found nearby which had a newspaper in it, the same newspaper that fitted the scrap in the flashlight. Photographs of two women were also in the cave. It was discovered that the pictures were taken by a prison guard who was an occasional photographer, and had been developed by prison escapee Gene Leroy Hart.
Gene Leroy Hart had kidnapped two pregnant women (both who wore spectacles), driven them to a wooded area where he bound and raped both women. He put duct tape over their nostrils and left them to suffocate to death. The victims were able to free themselves and escape, which lead to his arrest.
Gene Leroy Hart had kidnapped two pregnant women (both who wore spectacles), driven them to a wooded area where he bound and raped both women. He put duct tape over their nostrils and left them to suffocate to death. The victims were able to free themselves and escape, which lead to his arrest.
A note discovered on the cave wall... Gene Leroy Hart was tracked down and arrested (and found wearing women’s glasses). He was charged with the murder of the three girls but the jury of his peers, 6 men and 6 women, could not find any irrefutable evidence and Hart was acquitted.
As he was an escaped prisoner, he was thrown back in prison, and a year later collapsed and died of a heart attack. He proclaimed his innocence up until his death.
In 2008 a DNA test was performed using material from the crime scene. The investigators stated the results were ‘inconclusive’.
The case is officially still open, although inactive. Camp Scott had served Girl Scouts for almost half a century but has never re-opened since this tragedy.
As he was an escaped prisoner, he was thrown back in prison, and a year later collapsed and died of a heart attack. He proclaimed his innocence up until his death.
In 2008 a DNA test was performed using material from the crime scene. The investigators stated the results were ‘inconclusive’.
The case is officially still open, although inactive. Camp Scott had served Girl Scouts for almost half a century but has never re-opened since this tragedy.
By Peet Banks 2014
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