1977 Camp Scott Murders of 3 Young Girl Scouts - Still Unsolved

While browsing some old summer camp ads from the 1980's on Youtube yesterday, I came across a video titled "Camp Scott - 43 Years After the Murders". This immediately caught my attention because I've never heard about this. Apparently, on June 13, 1977, three Girl Scouts - ages 8, 9, and 10 - were found raped and strangled after the first night of camp. All evidence pointed to Leroy Hart, a man who had escaped from the state penitentiary after he kidnapped and raped two pregnant women and burgled several homes. Hart was eventually acquitted, but went back to prison to serve out the rest of his 400 year sentence, thus leaving this crime "unsolved."



As this story unfolds, you will find out that two months prior to this camp beginning, one of the camp leaders had their room ransacked and someone ate all of their donuts, leaving behind a note that read "Our mission is to kill three girls in tent one". The camp leader disregarded the note, thinking it was a prank. I'm going to link a 1993 documentary on this but the way it's laid out is a smaller screen on Youtube but still easy enough to watch. It's tough to watch the parents tell their story because one mom said her daughter wanted to choose between Camp Y and Girl Scout Camp but couldn't decide so the mom chose Girl Scout Camp and chose the date she'd go, so she said she lives with this every single day of her life. Another one talked her child into going because she wanted her to be more independent and told her just before boarding the bus that if she gets scared, don't hesitate to call and she'd come immediately to pick her up. This is probably the girl the Camp Counselor heard crying for her mom but passed it off as the little girl just being afraid during the night.

There are other parts of this that are rather hair raising like the Counselor going to the bathroom (positioned between her cabin and the three girls' tent) and hearing the deep sound of something like a deep guttural noise, a sound she said she'd never heard in her life. Scared, she hurried back to her cabin only to discover the bodies the next morning.



I'd never heard of this story before yesterday, but after seeing the date it happened and the scene it happened in, I can't help but think it could have been sort of an idea behind camp horror films in the 80's such as Friday the 13th and Sleepaway Camp. Anyway, maybe y'all can do a little dissecting on this and share some of the mysterious or hair raising points you find.

Documentary: 1 hour, 28 min


43 Years After the Murders: a 14 minute walkthrough from 2020

Listening to the Native American investigator tell his story is worthy of chill bumps. There's a lot of mystery surrounding this 44 year old story.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I've never heard of this case.

Looks like they got a partial DNA match to Hart in 1989. However, DNA testing being what it was at that time all that could really conclude is that it came from a small group of Native American men.

I hope this the darkest tale I hear today.
Dam, man...
'Sleep Away Camp'...that one messed up my childhood psyche.

a reply to: LSU2018

This is like a campfire story we told each other as kids. I will have to include this in my next camping trip with my sons.....

a reply to: LSU2018

Interesting story. Will definitely try to find more on it. I love unsolved case stuff.

On another note....you were browsing old summer camp ads? May I ask what for?

I found a pretty good website devoted to the subject. It is very old style and a little hard to navigate but has a lot of information and background on the camp.

More high strangeness occurred involving the police and search dogs during the investigation of the area.

girlscoutmurders.com...

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
a reply to: LSU2018

Interesting story. Will definitely try to find more on it. I love unsolved case stuff.

On another note....you were browsing old summer camp ads? May I ask what for?

Because I was thinking about putting a couple of my boys in a summer camp and realized that none I pulled up were close to what they were in the 80's so I was checking the 'tube to find an old ad for comparison. That, and I always reminisce about how great things were when I was a kid. Plus the summer camp prices are outrageous, cheapest I could find was $3,800 for 2 weeks, PER kid.

I’m watching the doc now, I’ve been on a tear of these lately.

Not bad, it has the man in black Johnny Cash narrating it!

I’ve been watching JCS, criminal psychology channel where it show the interrogation technics used on murder suspects. It fascinating. Watched a bunch of old Charles Manson stuff too. I truly believe he was a victim of CIA/FBI experiments.

originally posted by: Xcalibur254
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I've never heard of this case.

Looks like they got a partial DNA match to Hart in 1989. However, DNA testing being what it was at that time all that could really conclude is that it came from a small group of Native American men.

I just finished the entire documentary that I posted and there's some seriously messed up stuff in it. For example, Leroy Hart went to see a medicine man before allegedly committing these crimes (allegedly since he was acquitted) and put a curse on the "wonder dogs" that were brought to sniff him out. One by one over a short period of time, each dog died, the last by running in front of a vehicle. While on the scent of Hart's trail, the dogs all stopped at the same time once the got to a field because the scent disappeared. The medicine man, at the end, says he put some type of curse on the killer so he'll die and I think it was 2 months later that Hart dropped dead of a heart attack in prison.

The two pregnant women he kidnapped and raped said they could hear guttural noises as he raped and sodomized them. Man, that's some creepy # right there. I looked up guttural noises and I don't know how accurate this is, but here's what I found. If this is what he did during his crimes (because remember the counselor heard what she described as guttural noises, too) then there was definitely something otherworldly taking over his body IMO.

a reply to: REDMORGAN

Thank you, I'm about to check that out.

originally posted by: TexasTruth
I’m watching the doc now, I’ve been on a tear of these lately.

Not bad, it has the man in black Johnny Cash narrating it!

I’ve been watching JCS, criminal psychology channel where it show the interrogation technics used on murder suspects. It fascinating. Watched a bunch of old Charles Manson stuff too. I truly believe he was a victim of CIA/FBI experiments.

I love stuff like that. I'll tune into stuff like this all the time, that's why I couldn't believe I'd never heard of the Camp Scott murders before. The documentary is an hour and a half, but it was worth the time.

So.....reading a bit on this subject and from what I have read, they did DNA testing and he had a 1 in 7700 match to possibly being at the scene, but not conclusive enough to say he is the killer.

For me, 1 in 7700 is pretty good odds along with all the other evidence that appears to point to him, such as a photo and newspaper found in a cave where he is believed to have been hiding.

originally posted by: LSU2018

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
a reply to: LSU2018

Interesting story. Will definitely try to find more on it. I love unsolved case stuff.

On another note....you were browsing old summer camp ads? May I ask what for?

Because I was thinking about putting a couple of my boys in a summer camp and realized that none I pulled up were close to what they were in the 80's so I was checking the 'tube to find an old ad for comparison. That, and I always reminisce about how great things were when I was a kid. Plus the summer camp prices are outrageous, cheapest I could find was $3,800 for 2 weeks, PER kid.

Yeah...I loved summer camp as a kid, but they are like putting your kids in college these days. Some I looked at for mine went up to $14k per kid. It's ridiculous.

What happened to the days when they just has a lake, a blob, a mud pit and you ran around playing Indian with your friends? Archery and riflery and whatnot....ahh.....those were the days.

a reply to: LSU2018

If you go through local churces you may find something cheaper.

We found a real nice Episcopal one that accepts all or no faiths, even trans kids(no conversion therapy, settle down now...) My wife and daughter have attended a few years each.

$600, half down on registration.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

Panty raids and visiting nearby camps will bring criminal charges these days? LOL

a reply to: TexasTruth

Rob Zombie did a documentary about Manson,not long ago.

In it,the basically debunk the helter skelter theory presented in court.

It's on youtube...i think it's called "The Final Word".


But,this case is chilling.

The part about the "wonder dogs" chilled me to my bones.

Great post LSU2018

a reply to: LSU2018

I'm sorry OP I can't do this. Got thru the first paragraph scrolled
down to the pics and that's it I'm done.

SnF

originally posted by: Butterfinger
a reply to: Vasa Croe

Panty raids and visiting nearby camps will bring criminal charges these days? LOL

Ha....yep. can't imagine they have camp dances anymore either, nor dodge ball or anything else that made camp awesome.

Likely have to have all kinds of vegan and allergy options and everyone sits around their campfires to talk about their feelings on the day.

I have fond memories of the giant mud pit we used to play in at my old camp.....and having a dip with one of my counselors when I was 15. Even was a CIT for a couple years......ahhh....the good old days!

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
So.....reading a bit on this subject and from what I have read, they did DNA testing and he had a 1 in 7700 match to possibly being at the scene, but not conclusive enough to say he is the killer.

For me, 1 in 7700 is pretty good odds along with all the other evidence that appears to point to him, such as a photo and newspaper found in a cave where he is believed to have been hiding.

It wasn't until after I made this thread that I realized how sinister the story got. Running his DNA removed 99.22% of Native Americans because he had that extremely rare (I'm guessing) strand. Plus what you mentioned about the paper, then the NA officer did the ritual with the filterless cigarette and cedar wood to help find this guy, only to realize Hart had done the same thing. All, ALLLLL evidence pointed directly at him... From the newspaper to the flashlight to the guttural noises to the hair to the DNA to the sperm found in those poor little girls, and he was STILL acquitted only to die shortly thereafter of a heart attack after the medicine doctor cursed the real killer.

Lumineri is deep into this stuff due to her Native American roots, I'd love to see what she says about the rituals performed by medicine doctors, cigarettes, and cedar wood. I mean, the tracking hounds (renowned for tracking scents down) lost this guy's scent like he'd faded into the air, heat radar couldn't find him, he was practically invisible.