Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders /// Part 1/// 265 | Forensic Files

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[Music] Camp Scott was a 410 acre camp that was owned and operated by the tulsa-based magic Empire
Council of Girl Scouts since 1928 this Camp was located in a wooded area about two miles from the town of Locust
Grove Locust Grove Oklahoma is a small town even today with less than 2 000 people
this densely wooded area is about 40 miles from Tulsa Locust Grove has a large Native American
population members of the Cherokee and other tribes settled there after they were forcibly relocated for more Eastern
areas the camp had facilities for up to 140 children and a staff of 30 counselors
Camp Scott was divided into 10 units named after Indian tribes such as Choctaw and qual the Girl Scouts were
assigned their units and to their counselors when they arrived at Camp Scott the counselors were generally older
girls ages 16 to 25. there were no male counselors at the camp most of the campers came from the Tulsa
metropolitan area Camp Scott housed both Girl Scouts and their younger counterparts the brownies
so the girls attending ranged in age from second grade through High School one thing of note
the camp was partially fenced and had Gates that were locked at night but the fence has been described as not
the kind that could keep anyone in or out in the summer of 77 this place was filled with young people
the Girl Scouts is a group synonymous with camping the outdoors volunteering and of course cookies
and a new batch of Scout Troops shuffled in every two weeks to enjoy everything summer camp has to offer
until that one terrible night in June what took place the night of June 13 1977 was and still is horrifying
parents sent their young happy daughters to an idyllic two-week camp and they never returned
what was done to these girls can only be described as pure evil this week we examine the Oklahoma Girl
Scout murders [Music] well the trailer did a good job of setting up the location for this week's
case so let's dive right into the events of June 12th and June 13th of 1977. buses full of excited campers arrived
around 3 P.M on Sunday June 12th this was to be the first day of a two-week Camp the counselors offloaded the girls
checking their names off the list the girls were separated into units by age and school grade
there were 10 units total once the girls were sorted their bags were loaded onto
a pickup truck and transferred to the appropriate tents by counselors in the camp Ranger Ben Woodward
27 girls were assigned to the Kiowa unit and they were allowed to select their tent mates
all the tents had four girls but for some reason tent number eight in the Kiowa had only three girls assigned the
three girls who were left after everyone else picked their roommates these three
did not come to Camp with friends and did not know anyone else in the unit these girls were Lori farmer age eight
Denise Milner age 10 Michelle gussay age nine the three were introduced and agreed to
share a tent they were sent off to unpack and get acquainted the girls unrolled their sleeping bags
and put them on three of the four cots in tent number eight Lori and Michelle took the cots on the south end of the
tent and Denise took the first cut on the North side they stowed some of their other stuff on the empty cot
side note real quick here tent number eight was actually referred to by the Kiowa unit campers and staff as tent
number seven they did not count the counselor's tent as a tent with a number only the scout
tents it has become known as tent number eight there's even a well-known book about the
case with this title the counselors for the Kiowa Unit were Carla Sue wilheit 23 D Elder 20 and
Susan Emery only 18. all of these counselors were personally hired by camp director Barbara day with at least one
being a former camper and two being repeat counselors all attended a week-long pre-camp conference earlier in
the month this is to get acclimated to the rules and Protocols of the Girl Scout camp
there they were told if they saw any Outsiders on the camp property there to tell them that it's private property and
to leave this was pretty much the extent of the security of this camp the councilors arrived at Camp Scott
earlier on the day of the 12th prior to the arrival of the campers and some noticed that someone deliberately cut
off the flap on tent number six a large section of the newish tent about four feet by five feet was cut off
it was repaired with linen material so the tent was usable that day contrary to the beliefs of many no counselors were
assigned the Camper's tents the counselor shared their own tent accommodations within each unit so
Captain basically what we have here is we have seven tenths that are full of campers four in each with the exception
of what is actually cabin number seven has three girls in it but it's labeled number eight because the counselor's
tent that only houses counselors is not counted uh as it's not numbered per the camp yeah and this is a little strange
because every time I went to summer camp there was a counselor that stayed in our
cabin with us yes me me as well uh the Kiowa unit was more isolated than the rest of the units
it was located right next to the border of dense Woods at the westernmost edge of the camp and was accessible only by a
service road that came to a dead end at the campsite the unit was arranged in a semi-circle with a kitchen and a meeting
area in the middle of the circle and the circle comprised of the eight platform tents these were really 12 foot by 14
foot canvas cabins on top of wooden platforms two feet off of the ground Yeah so basically it it looks like a
cabin but the walls and the the ceiling and or the roof is made out of the tent material but the floor is wood in and
then you have some steps to get up onto the wooden platform the canvas sides were tied tightly to the wooden
platforms but could be rolled up as needed each tent was large enough to house four girls tent number eight was
the last one in the unit furthest removed from the counselor's tent 100 yards away tent number eight was near a
path that led to the restrooms but was 75 feet from the next closest tent it was not visible from the tent that
housed counselors Susan Carla and Dee we're gonna post pictures of the actual tents and the layout on our Instagram at
True Crime garage now we aren't sure what happened for portions of this first day likely the camp engaged in Get to
Know You activities we do know that dinner in the Great Hall cafeteria was around 5 30 or 6 p.m
after dinner all the girls gathered and D A Kiowa unit counselor led the whole camp in song
the sky began to look ominous and it started to pour as the girls made their way to their tents by the time they
arrived at their tents everyone was soaking wet after dinner activities were canceled
due to the storm and the counselors told the girls to change into dry clothes and
get ready for bed the kids spent the evening writing letters home to their parents
at 8 pm there was a meeting in the kitchen area in the middle of the unit where the girls had cookies and the
counselors read Winnie the Pooh we know that at some point Denise Milner asked Dee if she could call home she was
already homesick she did not want to go to camp but her mother convinced her to give it a try
D comforted Denise and told her to stick it out and that she could call her mother in the morning right counselors
were trained to try to keep the girls from calling home finding that it didn't help the homesick girls to feel any
better well and it probably didn't help the return rate I mean if a girl is calling home a couple times during Camp
her parents might think twice about sending her next year and we all know how young kids can act too given these
situations if they're in it if they're at a place that they don't really want to be
they will really exaggerate you know I hate it here it's terrible here it's the worst thing ever and you find out well
they're singing songs they're reading books they're writing letters they're it's awful yeah it's a torture it's
horrible you know what I find horrible though I don't like I never like the Get to Know You activities where you have to
say hi my name is Nick I'm from Columbus I go to school here and I enjoy boating
or you know you have to like name a hobby or something and because I always feel like to meet you yeah I always feel
like I'm on the spot and then not only that there's a whole bunch of people that you're meeting for the first time
and you you try to remember their names or something they're into and it just doesn't work for me yeah I used to get
extreme homesickness when I'd spend the night at people's houses so then I eventually to stop spinning at
people's house because I'm like oh I'm just going to wake up in the middle of night and start crying anyways and this
is not a good look for me so let me just leave about 11. Denise returned to tent
number eight and she wrote a letter to her mother uh of course this letter saying that she didn't really like camp
and wanted to come home all three girls in tent number eight wrote letters home that night the rain ended around 9pm
according to the Camp staff that night the counselors checked on each of the tents and told the girls it was time for
lights out this was around 10 30. girls stayed up late and told goat ghost stories and giggled and you know all
that kind of stuff some people have reported that there was an after dark game of Hide and Seek the
camp was not lit at night there were no electric lights that were left on except
at the Rangers and directors houses and the absolute Darkness was part of the experience that the girls were expected
to get used to there was a kerosene lanter hung at the latrine area for use but the girls were
told to always leave their tent in the company of a buddy and always carry a flashlight to help them navigate their
way around in the pitch black right the camp was surrounded by dense Woods which
contributed to the darkness now we need to get into the events and true stories of some things that we know
that went on that night in question so first we have a counselor in the Comanche unit
she reported she was walking back from the restrooms at some point after lights out and she noticed a dim light shining
in the woods nearby it appeared just beyond the tree line surrounding the camp the counselor knew that no one
should be in that area she shined her flashlight in that direction as as soon as her flashlight
hit the tree line the dim light was turned off this was in the direction of the service road correct in a few
minutes it returned and began moving Northwest in the direction of the Kiowa unit again she tried to see what it was
with her flashlight and again the light went off the counselor waited for several minutes
and didn't see the light again so she returned to her own tent around 9pm Susan Emery left Kiowa unit
to go to the staff house to hang out she was not on duty that night around 10 30 p.m D Elder decided to make
a tent check of the Kiowa unit she went to every tent and talked with the girls the last tent she visited was
the furthest away tent number eight all three of the girls were finishing their letters home by flashlight
Dee told them it was time for bed and after a few minutes she closed the flap on the tent and left Susan returned to
the Kiowa unit around 11 pm at some point in the night counselor Celia Stahl said a girl started screaming in the
woods and counselors found her sleepwalking they put her back to bed in her tent another thing that was reported
was at some time in the night a young girl scout started screaming in the club Paul unit
which housed the youngest campers a frightened girl told counselors that she was walking from her tent to the
restroom area when someone grabbed her by her raincoat other girls said something was walking around their tents
one girl said she saw a man in the woods or possibly two men reports vary right counselors presumably attributed all of
this paranoia to First Night Jitters and or pranks and escorted the girls back to
their tents I'm sure that it's probably fairly hard to tell what is fact and what is fiction regarding some of these
stories that these young campers are passing along to the counselors Carlin D both reported hearing the girls giggling
and messing around Into the Night Carla reported that she and Dee were awakened at 1 30 a.m by some of the
girls intent number five slamming the door in the bathroom area Carla got up and escorted the girls back
to their tent then as they both lay awake on their cots Carla and Dee heard a strange noise it seemed to be a low
guttural moaning Dee and Carla got up and went outside walking toward tent number five
Carla then walked toward the road that led to the camp when she reached the road she pointed her flashlight in the
direction of the sound she could see nothing in the woods and the moaning stopped
she said she assumed the noise was some kind of animal right she walked back to the tent area and she and D checked out
tent number five and then they returned to their own tent the strange moaning noise then resumed
sometime in the night likely after 2 A.M as Dee and Carla went back to sleep the flaps of the counselor's tent were
taken off the hook screws that held them Dees and Susan's purses and Carla's glasses disappeared
around this time young campers who woke up saw a light outside their tents the girls intent number seven watched as
the light approached their tent and then suddenly the tent panel was pulled open
and a light Shone inside the tent a ten-year-old camper watched terrified as a large dark figure glared into the tent
then dropped the panel and moved away at some point the hook screws holding down the back of tent number eight were
removed a girl in Cherokee reported hearing screams around 3 A.M and one of the more disturbing details
one camper and quilt paw unit reported hearing someone screaming or moaning mama mama
in the morning Carla woke up to her alarm at 6 a.m she planned to get up 30 minutes early so she could take a hot
shower at the staff house a few hundred yards away from the service road and at these camps I mean you're lucky if you
get hot water at all so you really you have to get there early and fast if you want to have a hot shower well Carla
tiptoed out of her dark tent and down the steps it was a beautiful calm sunny day after the storms the night before
Carla walked along the trail to the showers when a flash of bright yellow caught her eye and she walked over
closer to investigate she saw from several yards away a sleeping bag on the ground then she saw a child lying
partially on and under the bag and partially on the ground she wondered what the girl was doing
sleeping outside of her tent but then what she was seeing registered this small child was not sleeping
something terrible has happened and Carla ran away strangely she recounts that her first inclination was to run
and wake up Dee and Susan and the other Kiowa counselors right and insist that they count all of the girls in the Kiowa
tents she told them she saw a girl's body on the ground and more sleeping bags next to it near the trail
and she was afraid the girl on the ground was from her unit yeah Susan and Dee and Carla ran to all the Kiowa tents
checking on the occupants who were still asleep but found tent number eight was empty they had 24 girls accounted for
but Denise Lori and Michelle were missing Carla looked closer into the dark tent
and saw Blood on the floor and mattresses she was trying to make heads or Tales of
everything that was going on yeah it's almost like she wants to count all the campers first so if she goes back to the
body that she'll know that it's not one of her Campers or if it is one of her campers before she has to investigate
the body yeah and this girl she was lying near a tree about 150 yards away from tent number eight
it's very likely that it was simply because she was just too afraid of what she might find right so instead Carla
told Dee and Suzanne to make sure that the Kiowa girls didn't leave their tents while she ran for help the counselors
were trained to try to keep calm and keep from upsetting their girls in scary situations
Carla cut across the field toward the nurse's quarters which was approximately 300 yards to the South
but Susan apparently decided to investigate what Carla saw and when she came to the area where the girl lay on
the ground she started screaming right Dee came running and put her hand over Susan's mouth and told Susan to go back
to the unit to keep the girls calm D felt the first sleeping bag and felt a body inside and same for the second
sleeping bag she ran for her car meanwhile Carla reached the nurse's quarters and frantically roused Marianne
alabeck the camp nurse telling her something terrible had happened and there was a body down in the Kiowa unit
the nurse dressed quickly and hurried to her car while Carlo raced next door to awaken camp director Barbara day and her
husband Richard meanwhile nurse alebec encountered Dee on the road in her own car and when
asked what happened Dee told her there are those little girls down there and I think they're all dead
the nurse drove over to the Kiowa unit and found Suzanne who led her to the spot where the bodies lay
what nurse olabek saw and Susan Carla and Diesel earlier was horrifying Denise Milner lay on her back on the ground her
legs spread wide apart she was nude from the waist down there were visible wounds and blood on
her face the nurse touched the Carotid artery to see if there was a pulse but when she squeezed blood came out of the
girl's mouth trying to find her wrist the nurse realized that the dead girl's hands were
tied together behind her back camp director Barbara day and her husband arrived Barbara stayed at the
car while Richard ran over to the body on the ground he instinctively picked up a sleeping bag lying partially under
Denise and covered the dead girl Richard was a surgical technician at a large Tulsa hospital and he knew Dead
when he saw it he noted that there were two other sleeping bags that clearly contained
bodies and he told his wife to call the police but strangely no one seems to have
actually opened the two sleeping bags to check on the contents what if one or both of the girls were
still alive in any event Richard and Barbara got into their car and drove to the house of
Camp Ranger and ex-marine Ben Woodward he lived in a house on Camp Scott grounds with his wife and kids
his wife was the camp cook the days had trouble waking Ben and finally had to let themselves in and Shake him in his
bed until he woke up Richard told him what was going on and Barbara called the highway patrol
Richard went to the camp gate which was locked from the previous night to wait for the police and then LED them to the
Kiowa unit Ben Woodward went to the site of the bodies horrified at what he saw he was near tears
when he recovered himself and looked around he noted a red and white 9-volt flashlight with a roll of duct tape
lying near the bodies a decision was quickly made not to tell the other campers what happened multiple
stories are told by girls who were at the camp that day about what information they were given
some were told that there was a problem with the water supply others say that there was an accident
as one article said nothing in the Girl Scout manual told these young counselors
how to deal with this situation the campers were awakened by the camp Bell told to get dressed and sent to
breakfast in the Great Hall with counselors being sure to steer them onto Pathways from the scene
after they were fed breakfast and packed up they did some arts and crafts and went swimming until the buses arrived
and authorities approved the girl's departure all the girls were loaded up and sent
back home to Tulsa during all of this time while they kept campers distracted Camp staffers were
using nameless to try to figure out exactly who the missing girls were counselors were being questioned in the
tents and camp areas were searched by investigators there are conflicting stories about what
the Camper's parents were told about why the girls were coming home but it seems
most believed that there was quote an accident at the camp and the parents found themselves waiting for the buses
not being certain whether their children were coming home when they saw their daughters emerge
from the buses many of the parents broke down with relief the three victims parents were reached
by phone and told their daughters had been killed but not much more information than that was given Camp
Scott officially closed on June 14 1977 and never reopened [Music] yeah foreign [Music]
holiday cheers to everyone out there Peter Weaver was the sheriff of mays County and was one of the First
Responders on that morning at Camp Scott he quickly decided that the Slayer or Slayers likely picked that particular
tent because it was over 50 feet from the others and near thick brush which would give the killer cover
Weaver stated that he touched Denise Milner's body and estimated her body temperature at around 70 degrees this
led many people to speculate that Denise was only dead for a short time as her body was somewhat warm around 7 A.M
at that time of year in Oklahoma the sun begins to rise as early as 5 A.M Sheriff Weaver called in the Oklahoma
State Bureau of Investigation or the OSBI agent Mike Wilkerson was assigned the horrific case of the three dead girl
scouts his two brothers were also agents and like many Oklahomans the wilkersons were part Native American
Mike and his brother Dave wrote someone cry for the children a comprehensive book about this case which we will
reference from time to time when Wilkerson arrived at the scene he met up with another agent with the
district attorney Sheriff Weaver a medical examiner and a highway patrolman this is Howard Berry Trooper Berry lived
less than a mile from Camp Scott and a call from Dispatch sent him to the scene around 6 30 A.M
also called in was Mike wheat a reporter who helped police by taking crime scene
photos we took hundreds of photos of the bodies and the scene to document the findings for investigators
he is still Disturbed to this day at the memory of what he witnessed three sleeping bags one yellow plaid one dark
green the other a red flower pattern lying together beside the trail under a tree Denise Milner's body and the other
two inside the bags he photographed inside of tent number eight we commented later when he was done that
he noted Blood On The Souls of his shoes this next part Captain is very strange and I don't really know what to make of
it when agent Wilkerson arrived he learned that the two sleeping bags had still not been opened yeah this was at
10 A.M about four hours after discovering the bodies no one had opened the sleeping bags to check the Girls D
and Richard day both at least touched the sleeping bags and guessed that there were bodies inside but it's it's
shocking to me that the bags weren't opened earlier when Law Enforcement Officers opened the
first sleeping bag they found eight-year-old Lori farmer wrapped in bloody bed sheets
the next bag was opened and revealed Michelle gussay she was bloody and was bound in a fetal position with cord
around one hand then looped tightly under her buttocks and bound to the other hand
some reports state that Lori and Michelle had ligatures around their necks Blood Stained bed clothes were
found in their sleeping bags there is a disagreement about what the two girls in the sleeping bags were
wearing when they were found but one report says that they were naked from the waist down the other Reports say
that they may have been wearing something the body of ten-year-old Denise Milner
was lying out in the open half nude she was lying on her back with her pajama top pulled up under her arms and her
arms taped down around the shoulders with black duct tape that ran across the pajama top
her hands were bound behind her with thick dark two-inch duct tape and some kind of cord the duct tape over top of
the cord right she was beaten severely on her face in the shape of some kind of blunt object or instrument was visible
on her face observers said it appeared to be a rectangle approximately two inches long
and three quarters of an inch wide around Denise's neck there were two ligatures one was a cord the other was
an elastic bandage attached to the cord was a cylindrical object approximately four inches long
made of terry cloth towel material the theory at the time is the elastic bandage was pulled over her face to make
some type of blindfold the terry cloth object was a carefully handmade and hand sewn gag you said
there's discrepancies on what the findings were like on what they were wearing what two of the girls were
wearing yeah these would be both of the girls in the sleeping bags right but you
would assume with all these pictures being taken that would have evidence so we could look back on and say well this
is what the photo says yes and so where I think that lies is that I don't think there's a discrepancy for the
investigators I think there's a discrepancy for the general public because I wouldn't assume that all of
the photos have been released publicly right the other thing here before we move on regarding some of the other
items found and some of the evidence out there Captain is this this terry cloth object which has been
noted as carefully handmade hand sewn okay so whether it was intended to be made as a gag you know to gag one of the
girls or if it was just made for something else and then used as a potential gag it's interesting to me
because it's referenced as a carefully handmade hand sewn object right right so this is very likely a one of a kind
object and we've seen this in several cases that we've covered before where we have objects or things that were used
materials that were used in dumping of a body or binding a person or binding a victim that are one of a kind and later
we see those items photographed and photographs of such released to the public because again they're one of a
kind somebody out there knows about should know about these items especially if the killer didn't make it yeah even
if you can just identify the material if we know where that material came from maybe we can figure out who bought that
material and we saw this specifically in the Amy mihalovic case where we have this this thing that was probably used
to move her body or to cover up her body when it lied in the field but it was somebody repurposed this item somebody
put some work into this item and unfortunately in Amy's case we didn't get this wasn't released to the public until
20 some years later now I don't know I couldn't go back and find if this particular terry cloth object was
released publicly or pictures of it publicly at the time of the initial investigation
the other item we have is that flashlight so this is a red and white nine volt flashlight
this is a bulky almost rectangle shaped flashlight with a large handle on top with the light and lens in the front
these are very typical you see them in a lot of homes and a lot of people use these and purchase these for camping
right this is also possibly the blunt object that was used in the beating very likely and the other thing too we we
talked about uh Wayne Gravette his case not too long ago just a few weeks ago this is a similar flashlight to the one
that was used to make into a bomb for that case now the lens for this flashlight was covered by a piece of
dark green or black garbage bag there's I've had several people I've read several sites that state that it's dark
green I wasn't there and I don't think these people were there when I see pictures of this flashlight
this material this plastic material appears to be black to me right this is attached to the lens and it was attached
with masking tape and a small hole was placed in the plastic presumably so that only a tiny beam of muted light would
shine through inside the flashlight investigators found a section of newspaper wedged
inside the flashlight's battery compartment this very likely intended to keep the
battery in place the paper the newspaper was from the April 17th edition of Tulsa World
investigators entered tent number eight and they found it stained and splattered
with blood there were large blood stains on the wooden floor particularly near the cot
in the Southeast Corner the blood stains on the floor were smeared like someone had tried to wipe them up possibly even
using the sheets and blankets from the cots which we know were found in the sleeping bags with the two girls so the
girls were attacked most likely in the tent there were no drag marks at the spot
where the girl's bodies were found so they were likely carried from the tent over to the spot and then piled under
the tree some of the girls clothing was found nearby they found two different types of
footprints on the floor one a tennis shoe design size 7 and the other was a military
style boot print estimated to be in the size of 10 to 11 range now you're saying
male sizes that I don't know for certain um I would assume that when we're talking about military style boot print
and it being size 10 to 11 range we're looking at male prints there the interesting thing though is the tennis
shoe design size seven right you could speculate really either I guess investigators saw that
the screw hooks holding the back flap of the tent were unscrewed and they were placed on the ground they guessed that
the killer entered the tent from the back now this is this is exactly how it happened with the counselors tent as
well that's a really good question the description is that the flaps may have been opened in the counselor's tent but
but you paint an interesting picture here when you're trying to see this crime go down or the events of that
night do we have an individual or individuals that are they're going up to the back of
the tents and like you said they're they're canvas material these walls right so you could perch down and kind
of Crouch there and wait to see if you hear anybody talking inside right and if you go minutes and minutes and
minutes with no talking now you get Brazen enough and you say all right well I'm going to lift open this back portion
and just kind of peek in you know where it wouldn't be as noticeable as opening up one of the flaps yeah I don't know
how one perches and crouches at the same time but it's difficult you have to be talented yeah or or I could just learn
to speak so we have the camp counselor's tent plus another seven tenths so eight
in total was there things done to other tents well unless you count the story of one
of the campers saying hey somebody opened up our our flap to our tent and looked in
then the answer would be no well we have the one flaps that were cut but they were cut the day before correct so the
difficult thing here with the statement from one of the young campers that says hey somebody at some point opened up our
our flap looked in the tent you know shining a light in there and all I saw was a large shadowy figure right
I don't know that we can say for certain that that is one of the killers or the killer walking around looking for a tent
or looking for a victim it very well could have been a counselor that thought they heard something and was just simply
checking in on the tent and didn't want to wake up the sleeping campers you know
and if you have one girl that's lying there and opens up her eyes and sees this happen but doesn't move the
counselor doesn't know that that kid's you know sleeping so that's difficult to say because the interesting thing with
that is that the tent that the camper says Hey somebody opened up our flap and looked in at some point was the tent
that was next to number eight which all the victims came from so if it was the killer did that have did he see
something inside and that tell him hey I'm moving on to another tent 15 additional agents arrived to conduct
searches of the general area this by early afternoon and by 3 pm a mobile lab and command post and a converted 25-foot
motorhome arrived from Oklahoma City agents and State Police began questioning the Kiowa counselors as well
as the other adults at camp ambulances transported the dead bodies to the medical examiner's office for
autopsies swabs were taken from each victim the bodies were combed all loose hairs and fingernail clippings were
collected three hairs from a piece of duct tape found on Denise Milner's hands were
placed in an Evidence bag and sealed all cords were cut away to preserve the knots for future study the entire
section of blood-stained floor of the tent was removed and taken away the autopsy results were very upsetting
Denise suffered blunt trauma to the head and died of strangulation she was sexually assaulted
there were lacerations on her genitalia and fragments of leaves and debris were found in her what was the trauma
consistent with that flashlight or did they ever report that that's really difficult to say because there was
another item that was found nearby I believe it was a like a crowbar or a tire changing tool right
and they couldn't say for certain where this blunt force trauma came from many have
have thought over the years that it probably came from that crowbar or the tire changing tool but there is no
definitive statement given regarding those the blunt force trauma suffer to her head
Michelle was killed by blows to the back of her head and the sides of her head with contusions to the brain this
leading investigators to believe that she was either lying down or standing with her back to the assailant when she
was struck there were indications that she was sexually assaulted Lori died the same
way blows to the Head she was also sexually assaulted it's believed both Lori and Michelle were assaulted after
they were dead estimated time of death is as early as 2 A.M but noted that it's likely most likely between 4 and 6 A.M
a lot of officers and a lot of agencies the investigators generally agreed that the murderer entered the tent through
the back struck two girls sleeping on the south side of the tent killing them or at least incapacitating them there
wasn't much blood on Denise's bed leading agents to believe that she may have been tied up in the tent gagged or
strangled so she could not scream then taken outside of the tent assaulted in the woods where she was found
regarding the other things that went missing that night these were the purses belonging to Dee and Suzanne that
disappeared sometime in that night yeah Suzanne's purse which she had sown herself out of old blue jeans contained
a pair of sunglasses in a case pairs of glasses belonging to Suzanne and Carla were missing as well Carla didn't
realize this until June 14th when she was finally allowed to return to her tent right at least one pair of glasses
was found discarded in the bushes near the death scene well this gets weird because then you wonder is it somebody
messing with the scene afterwards or were these items actually taken that night that night yeah even if they were
taking that night did the perpetrator come through the front of the tent or do you come through the back because we
know the flaps of the back were taken off yeah and you have like you said there's like 24 hours that go by before
we are told that this item actually went missing right so there's been some thought regarding the
glasses that were found you know they're removed from the tent they're found near
the death scene in the bushes almost as if they were just like tossed away yeah and someone many people have said that
it was almost like someone was trying them on or for whatever reason stole them and decided to toss them at the
last minute investigators collected a pillowcase from the scene stained with semen
in the course of the investigation every adult at Camp Scott and all of the children in the Kiowa Unit were
interviewed by agents all counselors were asked about their sex lives investigators looked at Ben Woodward the
camp Ranger he was actually a suspect very early on Ben was the last person that we know of to enter Camp Scott that
Sunday night so how they approached that how how's your sex life Colonel you mean
regarding the interviewing the counselors right right how do you think they went about that
well and me being I'd be such a jackass that I you know they'd be like how's your sex life Captain I'd say it's kinky
okay well there were there was some evidence or at least some things at the scene that led some of the investigators
to believe now mind you this is before they received the autopsy reports right there were some things found at the
scene that led some investigators to believe that the sexual assaults might have been
might have been perpetrated by a female so I think what they're trying to figure
out here is everyone's you know sex preferences right and and we also have the situation where we have a camp full
of girls a camp full of female counselors and very few men that are working at this area
Ben I think Ben Woodward the camp Ranger I think he really you know I said he was a suspect early
on I don't think he technically was a suspect I think it's just the straight up fact that according to the books he's
the last individual that is known to have entered the camp that night yeah and he was the one that locked the gate
so his story is this his daughter she's grown or at least older and she worked somewhere in town off the campgrounds
yeah he had to pick her up from her work drive her back to their home and after returning he locked the gate this around
10 45 pm only Ben Woodward and Barbara day had keys to this gate is it possible that he
left it unlocked when he went to go pick up his daughter because that would give
somebody an opportunity to get a vehicle on the property and maybe park it in a position where he wouldn't know about
it's possible but according to his statement he when he was told of what had happened at the camp yeah he his
first course of action was to go to the gate unlock it waiting for police to arrive so he could lead them to where
he's been told that the first girl was found they did search his home that day they
found nothing of evidentiary value and he did take and pass a polygraph test with flying colors his wife was his
Alibi you know she said you know he returned home at around 10 45 and was with me all night and she took a
polygraph and passed one as well right Ben told law enforcement that the camp had been subject to break-ins in the off
season with supplies and food stolen more than once yeah but isn't that pretty common with any Campground
I would think so yeah the most recent break-in occurred several weeks before the camp opened this is supported by
several other associates it seems the break-ins were considered harmless almost a reality of life in the remote
wooded area right you know I I know some guys that have places way out in the middle of nowhere that they use cabins
for hunting or for fishing or both and they go there a handful of times each year and they always say hey when I
when I show up for that first time and haven't been there in a while there's things that are changed on my cabin or
on my ground somebody has been squatting there for a night or two right on the 14th a local farmer named Jack Shroff
showed up at Camp Scott with his adult son he heard about the murders on the news Jack Shroff told Sheriff Weaver his
Farmhouse was broken into at some point after 3 P.M on June 12th the Sunday when
the campers arrived at Camp Scott so the day leading into the night of the murders
right so possibly these break-ins have something to do with the murder the murders that night well at the very
least Shroff seems to believe they may have you know in his property it's a 110 acre property it's located about a mile
west of Camp Scott Shroff was there until Sunday the 12th until about 3 P.M so he knows that hey I've not been there
since this time when I returned I noticed that my home was broken into right it had to have happened after 3
P.M on the 12th so the agents went to The Farmhouse and they found that the door was kicked in and they found a boot
print on the doormat now Shroff reported that a role of black duct tape was missing as well as two six packs of
Pabst Blue Ribbon and a crowbar after thorough searches three empty PBR bottles and a crowbar were found in the
Southeast corner of Camp Scott cord matching the cord that had tied up the girls was found in the Shroff home
Shroff identified the duct tape found at Camp Scott as looking like duct tape that he had in his house
but he could not identify the flashlight that they found now Sharaf immediately became a suspect
agents theorized the burglary could be just a cover-up you know Shroff came up with when he realized he left his
flashlight and tape and other items at the scene and that his fingerprints would be found on these items the other
thing that's very curious here too Captain is his timing saying that hey my home was broken into sometime after 3
P.M on the 12th well we know that that was the day that the campers arrived but it's also the timing the time that the
campers arrived he's almost purposely removing himself I mean he could be truthfully removing himself right or
purposefully removing himself from that area at the exact time that the later would be victims are arriving to the
camp all right so this this what I could do he has access and some of his items that quote unquote
his barn was broken into his property was broken into these items are found at the scene correct so
but we don't think he has a motive does he have an alibi what's going to clear this individual
so a tricky thing because he was immediately targeted by the media as a child killer you know that they even I
believe the headlines say child Slayer on the newspaper the next day and they have a big picture of him on the
newspaper yeah that would that'd be really nice she'd come forward trying to help the police and this is what they
get to not the police but the media he Shroff immediately agreed and assisted in any in all parts of the investigation
that he could he went in for questioning and he cooperated he took a polygraph past the polygraph test now it wasn't
just that that cleared him because by all accounts he has been 100 percent cleared of any involvement in the crime
and this is because he had multiple properties Shroff was fairly well to do he had several Alibis that placed him
nowhere near the area at the time when the murders occurred he wasn't in town at that time right
so but it does take some time to track these things down and figure these things out and clear this guy but before
they could he's labeled by the media as the Killer well they would bring in tracking dogs
and once these tracking dogs were brought in OSBI agents did something interesting they brought the doormat
from the Shroff Farmhouse the one that had the discernible boot print on it they brought this to the dogs at Camp
Scott and they gave it to them for Ascent to follow the dogs led the agents right back to The shroff's Farmhouse and
pond area where a burned campfire was found a burnt out campfire this is interesting
because it means that the killer went straight from The Farmhouse you know from burglarizing The Farmhouse
sometime after 3 P.M on Sunday to Camp Scott possibly right so well according to the dogs right unless because he
these items that were placed at the crime scene were taken from the home right so somebody broke into this home
brought those items with them and went to Camp Scott so how did the burglar know that the
house would be empty we I mean we don't know for certain but did the burglar break into the house and happen upon the
duct tape and rope and decide to go kill some girls this seems very unlikely right now one thing that Jack schroff
told investigators was that his Farmhouse had been repeatedly broken into six seven or eight times yeah put
some locks on the door he says well when they found the door it was kicked in I was joking uh he said usually what was
taken from the house was food and tools right um but you have to wonder is it possible
that the killer knew that he would find these items at The Farmhouse because he had been there before possibly having
some squatters in the area because of the Wilderness you know there's a lot of times you can get some of that goes hey
I can set up a tank I could set up a little Campground for myself breaking to the neighboring houses and I can live
off this land for at least a few weeks which also makes you wonder if you're going to ask those questions did the
killer go to this Farmhouse with the intention of breaking into it to steal items to
commit murders yeah did this killer or Killers did they know that there would be 140 campers
showing up that day at Camp Scott I don't know and how much was this person keeping an eye on this area
anyway on Thursday so this is four days after the bodies were discovered a pair of tennis shoes and socks inside a bag
labeled Denise Milner were found on the front steps of a camp Scott Building being used as a command post by all
accounts I could find they were definitely not there the whole time someone placed them there this was right
after someone reported seeing a man in the woods for the third night of that week investigators used dogs but they
couldn't find anything they couldn't track anything they even strung up thread between trees that was found
broken the next day and Footprints were found as well but no trace of anyone someone was clearly in the area moving
around at night foreign a lot more to get to in episode two and three of the Oklahoma Girl Scout murders
yep and we will see everybody back here in the garage tomorrow until then be good be kind and don't litter
[Music] [Applause] [Music]

Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders /// Part 1/// 265

Part 1 of 3

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Camp Scott was a 410 acre camp operating since 1928. Located near a small town in Oklahoma the camp had facilities for up to 140 children and 30 staff. The camp was most often attended by Girl Scouts. In fact it was marketed to the Girl Scouts as “This is your camp.” After the night of June 13th, 1977 the camp closed forever. What took place that night was horrifying. Parents sent their young, happy daughters to an idyllic two-week camp and they never returned. What was done to those girls can only be described as pure evil. This week we take an in-depth look at the Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders. Beer of the Week - Anytime Minutes by The Willows Family Ales Garage Grade - 3 and 3 quarter bottle caps out of 5

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Brief Summary

The episode details the horrifying Oklahoma Girl Scout murders of 1977 and the ensuing investigation.

Key points

Camp Scott Overview. A look into the history and setup of Camp Scott, where the tragedy occurred.
The Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders. A chilling examination of the events surrounding the tragic murders at Camp Scott in 1977.
Horrifying Discovery at Camp Scott. Three girls were found dead at Camp Scott, shocking the community.
Investigation Unfolds. Authorities begin questioning counselors and searching the camp after the tragic event.
Autopsy Results. The autopsy revealed the disturbing details of the girls' deaths.
Investigation Begins. Investigators collect evidence from the scene, including a pillowcase stained with semen.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

What took place that night was horrifying.

Introduction to the Oklahoma Girl Scout murders.

4:47WatchNov 23, 2022

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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