Bo and Sheri Farmer.Photo:Investigation Discovery
Investigation Discovery
All that’s left of Camp Scott near Locust Grove, Okla., is an eerily silent clearing in the woods overgrown with thick brush, and the burnt remains of a mess hall that once rang with the laughter and singing of hundreds of excited Girl Scouts every summer for nearly 50 years.
When Charles “Bo” Farmer, 77, and his wife, Sheri, 78, visited on a recent cool afternoon, they placed three pink roses against a dying tree — the site where the body of their daughter Lori, 8, was found 46 years ago.
“I don’t want to be here, but on the other hand, it is where we need to be,” says Bo.
“It is a nightmare and yet the reality of our life now,” says Sheri.
“Every. Single. Day,” whispers Bo.
On June 13, 1977, in the darkness of the night, an intruder sneaked into Lori’s tent. She and two other scouts — Michele Guse, 9, and Denise Milner, 10 — were sexually assaulted, beaten and strangled, their bodies left under the tree 150 yards from their tent.
Lori Farmer.Courtesy Farmer Family
Courtesy Farmer Family
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Now, Sheri and Bo are sharing their heart-wrenching story again in the two-hour premiere of the seventh season ofPeople Magazine Investigates. The episode, titled “Girl Scout Murders,” airs on Monday, July 10 at 9 p.m. ET on ID and streams on Max.
Watch an exclusive clip of the episode below.
Michele Guse (right), 9, was shy, athletic and enjoyed taking care of houseplants , especially African violets; and Denise Milner, (left) 10, a straight-A student who had taught herself to read, write and do match..
Though only 8 years old, Lori had just finishedWhere the Red Fern Growswhen she left her family’s Tulsa home for Camp Scott for a two-week stay. Lori was assigned to tent No. 8 and instantly became friends with Michele and Denise. The following morning, a camp counselor spotted Denise lying on a pile of sleeping bags near a trail. The bodies of Lori and Michele were found inside the bags.
Hart was tracked to a remote cabin where he was captured on April 6, 1978, and went on trial the following year, during which his lawyer alleged he had been framed. Hart was acquitted — to the heartbreak of the girls' families. “The judge told us, ‘Sometimes the guilty go free,’” says Sheri.
Sent back to prison to continue his previous sentence for the rapes, Hart died of a heart attack in the exercise yard two months later.
Near the bodies, investigators found a red plastic flashlight with a piece of garbage bag taped over the lens that police suspected was used to creep around the camp without being noticed. A newspaper was stuffed inside to keep the batteries from rattling.Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation
A piece of tape on a flashlight closely matched tape found in a cave near suspect Gene Leroy Hart’s boyhood home.Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation
‘I’m Hoping to Motivate Other People to Care’
During the years immediately after the murders, Sheri suffered from insomnia and panic attacks. The crippling grief of losing Lori made her second-guess every parenting choice. “It was hard to feel like I could make decisions as a mother because I let Lori go to that camp. I will take that to my grave,” she says.
“I usually say our children became amazing people in spite of us, not because of us,” says Sheri.
To honor their promise to Lori to do good in her memory, the Farmers reached out to other murder victims’ families to give support and advice.
Three crosses in memory of the three girl scouts murdered in 1977 in Oklahoma.Courtesy Lori Whiteday and Elizabeth Boney
Courtesy Lori Whiteday and Elizabeth Boney
In 1984, Sheri and Bo formed the Oklahoma chapter of Parents of Murdered Children. Sheri later successfully campaigned for the passage of Marsy’s Law in Oklahoma, which increased protections for victims and their families in the criminal justice system.
“In 1977, there were no victims’ rights,” says Sheri. “‘Victims are the person who died. You are not the victim.’ Now, we know that when something happens, victims’ families are victimized also. We worked to get that recognized that we are those people, we do need help.”
And in 2012, when Sheri and Bo learned that the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation planned to analyze evidence from cold cases using new DNA technology, they urged Mayes County sheriff Mike Reed to reinvestigate the case. But when evidence from the crime scene was finally sent to the DNA lab to be tested, the results were inconclusive. Multiple potential suspects were eliminated — but not Hart.
“Everything I look at points to Gene Hart,” says Reed.
But the case is still open.
Says Sheri: “Bo and I have been open to listening to people, and we still are. It’s been 46 years, and I feel the same today as I did then — that we care about the truth.”
These days, Bo still works part-time but plans to retire later this summer after practicing medicine for more than a half-century.
Sheri still works as a victims’ rights advocate giving talks to students, legislators, civic organizations and law enforcement — just as she promised her slain daughter she would on the day of the verdict.
In addition, Sheri says, she wants to make sure Lori, Denise and Michele are remembered.
“I always call this Lori’s legacy of love,” she says. “She didn’t get to live and grow up, but she does have a legacy. And to me it is love. That’s how Bo and I have lived our lives. Our children are all grown up. Our grandchildren are a lot grown up. But they have learned how to live with their sister being murdered and make amazing choices in what they do and how they conduct their lives. Our grandchildren have done amazing things.”
Every time she takes the stage for a talk, Sheri says, she always starts or ends with a message to her daughter. “Every time, I say, ‘Lori, this is for you.'"
Do you have information about the Camp Scott murders? Call OSBI at 405-848-6724.
People Magazine Investigates: Girl Scout Murders, the two-hour Season 7 premiere, will air on Monday, July 10 at 9 p.m. ET on ID and streams on Max.
source: people.com
