The Oklahoma Girl Scout murders took place on the morning of June 13, 1977 at "Camp Scott" in Mayes County, Oklahoma. The mountainous tree-filled camping spot was located in the Cookson Hills a few miles south of Locust Grove, Oklahoma. The victims were three Girl Scouts ages 8, 9 and 10, who were raped and murdered. Their bodies were then left on a trail leading to the campsite's showers, about 150 yards from their "wooden platform style" canvas tent. The case was classified as solved when Gene Leroy Hart, a local jail escapee with a history of rape and violence was arrested. However, Hart was acquitted in March 1979 after a jury unanimously returned a verdict of not guilty. Even though he was deemed not guilty of these Girl Scout crimes, he was still sent back to prison due to the fact that he had been a jail escapee since 1973. In 2022, it was announced that DNA testing in the case, although officially inconclusive, strongly suggests Hart's involvement in the crime. The case remains officially unsolved. The DNA samples taken from the saved crime scene materials so far exclude all suspects except Hart. The case is ongoing.
