Unsolved Mysteries: Horror at Camp Scott: The Girl Scout Murders

Who Was Responsible for the Vile Rape and Murder of Three Young Oklahoma Girls in 1977?

Abandoned buildings hold many stories, memories locked in their crumbling and rotting facades. In rural Oklahoma, a once joyous summer camp is slowly being reclaimed by nature, left only to the advancing mold and the ghosts of so many moments of fun. While those moments likely still exist in the back of many former residents’ minds, they are surely eclipsed by the horror of what transpired one rainy morning in 1977. By dawn, three schoolgirls were brutally raped and murdered, and the culprit would never officially be caught following an investigation where allegations of racism and corruption would run wild.

June 12, 1977, was a rainy night at Camp Scott in rural Oklahoma. The camp was historic, founded 49 years before as one of the centerpieces of the Magic Empire Girl Scout Council out of Tulsa. The 410-acre compound sat between Snake Creek and Spring Creek just off Highway 82. It was the first day of camping, and a summer thunderstorm was thrashing the tents of a group of girl scouts from the Broken Arrow section of Tulsa. In Tent 8, the furthest away from the camp counselor, three young girls huddled together for comfort, writing letters in the dark. They were…