Case overview
On June 13, 1977, three Girl Scouts, Lori Lee Farmer, 8, Michele Heather Guse, 9, and Doris Denise Milner, 10, were found murdered in their tent at Camp Scott in Mayes County, Oklahoma. The girls had been sexually assaulted and bludgeoned during their first night at summer camp. Gene Leroy Hart, a Cherokee man who had escaped from prison, was charged with the killings but acquitted in 1979, and the case remains officially unresolved despite decades of investigation.
The first night at camp
Camp Scott, located near Locust Grove in northeastern Oklahoma, opened for its summer session on June 12, 1977. The Oklahoma Girl Scout camp had operated since 1928 and was divided into several units spread across wooded terrain. Lori Farmer, Michele Guse, and Doris Milner were assigned to tent eight in the Kiowa unit, the farthest from the camp’s main facilities.
The girls attended orientation activities, ate dinner in the mess hall, and settled into their assigned sleeping bags. Counselors conducted a headcount around 10:30 p.m. and reported no issues. A thunderstorm moved through the area that night. Rain and wind masked sounds across the campground.
Camp counselors reported hearing a scream and moaning sounds during the night but attributed them to typical camp noises or animals in the woods. No alarm was raised until morning.
The discovery
At approximately 6:00 a.m. on June 13, a counselor walking to the showers discovered the bodies of two girls in sleeping bags about 150 yards from tent eight. A third body was found inside the tent. All three had been sexually assaulted and beaten. The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.
The Mayes County Sheriff’s Office and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation responded immediately. Camp Scott was evacuated within hours. The camp would never reopen.
Investigators found evidence suggesting the attack had been planned. A flashlight, tape, and cord were discovered at the scene. Inside the tent, the girls’ belongings had been disturbed. A note discovered earlier in the spring during camp preparations, which read “We are on a mission to kill three girls in tent one,” had been dismissed as a prank but took on new significance after the murders.
The suspect and the evidence
Within days, investigators focused on Gene Leroy Hart, a 33-year-old Cherokee man with prior convictions for kidnapping, rape, and assault. Hart had escaped from the Mayes County Jail in 1973 and had been a fugitive for four years. He was familiar with the area surrounding Camp Scott and had previously worked there as a Cherokee heritage counselor.
Hart was known to be living in the region, reportedly moving between locations in the heavily forested hills of eastern Oklahoma. A manhunt involving local law enforcement, state investigators, and Cherokee Nation trackers intensified throughout the summer and fall of 1977.
On April 6, 1978, nearly ten months after the murders, Hart was captured in a rural cabin near Stilwell, Oklahoma. He was arrested without incident. Investigators had gathered physical evidence linking him to the crime scene, including hair samples and fingerprints, but forensic analysis available in the late 1970s was limited by modern standards.
The trial and acquittal
Hart’s trial began on March 19, 1979, in Mayes County District Court. The prosecution presented circumstantial evidence, including testimony that Hart had been in the area and items found near the crime scene that matched materials he had access to. Hair samples collected from the scene were said to be consistent with Hart’s, though DNA testing was not yet available.
The defense argued that the evidence was insufficient and that Hart had been targeted due to his criminal history and outsider status. Defense attorneys pointed to inconsistencies in witness testimony and questioned the handling of physical evidence.
On March 30, 1979, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty on all counts. The decision shocked the families of the victims and much of the surrounding community. Prosecutors maintained that Hart was responsible but acknowledged the limitations in proving the case beyond a reasonable doubt with the forensic tools available at the time.
Hart’s death and lingering questions
Gene Leroy Hart returned to prison to serve the remainder of his earlier sentence for kidnapping and assault. On June 4, 1979, just two months after his acquittal, he died of a heart attack while exercising in the prison yard. He was 35 years old. His death eliminated the possibility of retrial or further legal developments.
Despite the acquittal, many investigators and family members believed Hart was responsible for the murders. Others questioned whether additional suspects had been overlooked or whether evidence pointing elsewhere had been dismissed too quickly.
DNA testing and renewed investigation
In 1989, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation conducted DNA testing on evidence from the crime scene using newly available technology. The results were inconclusive, neither definitively linking Hart to the crime nor excluding him. The case remained open but largely inactive for decades.
In 2017, the Mayes County Sheriff’s Office announced plans to retest evidence using advanced DNA analysis. In May 2022, the agency released the results of testing conducted by a private laboratory. According to the sheriff’s office, the analysis identified Hart’s DNA on items recovered from the scene, including duct tape used to bind the victims. Officials stated the findings confirmed Hart as the perpetrator.
Not all parties accepted the results as definitive. Some family members expressed relief, while others questioned the interpretation of the findings and noted that the case remained officially open due to procedural standards. Critics pointed to the lack of independent verification and the passage of time as factors complicating certainty.
Impact on Camp Scott and the community
The Oklahoma Girl Scout murders had an immediate and lasting effect on summer camps across the United States. Parents nationwide reconsidered the safety of overnight camp programs, and many camps instituted stricter security measures, including better lighting, closer counselor supervision, and background checks for all staff.
Camp Scott never reopened. The Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma closed the facility permanently in 1977. The land was later sold and portions were redeveloped. The Kiowa unit, where the murders occurred, was left largely untouched and became a site of local memory and informal memorialization.
The case also deepened tensions in Mayes County, where questions about law enforcement response, evidence handling, and the treatment of suspects became subjects of public debate. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation faced criticism for its initial management of the crime scene, and the trial exposed rifts within the community over Hart’s guilt.
Unresolved elements
Despite the 2022 DNA findings, the Oklahoma Girl Scout murders remain officially unresolved. No additional arrests have been made, and no other suspects have been publicly identified. Questions about whether Hart acted alone, how he accessed the camp undetected, and whether prior warnings were adequately addressed continue to circulate among families, investigators, and researchers.
The case is frequently cited in discussions of cold case forensic advances and the limitations of relying solely on DNA evidence in the absence of corroborating testimony or documentation. Some investigators maintain that other persons of interest were never fully ruled out, though no formal charges have been pursued.
The families of Lori Farmer, Michele Guse, and Doris Milner have remained advocates for justice and transparency. Memorial events have been held periodically, and the case continues to receive media coverage as one of Oklahoma’s most scrutinized unsolved crimes.
Where to look next
- Documentary: “Someone Cry for the Children: The Girl Scout Murders” (Peacock)
- Book: “Someone Cry for the Children: The True Story of the Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders” by Michael Wilkerson and Richard Klingenmeyer
- Podcast: “The Oklahoma Girl Scout Murders” (“Morbid”, Morbid Network)
