Camp Scott: The Evidence That Arrived Too Late (2026)

Episode guide

Camp Scott was supposed to be a first night of summer camp for Lori Lee Farmer, Michele Heather Guse, and Doris Denise Milner. Instead, the three girls were murdered near Locust Grove, Oklahoma, on June 13, 1977.

This episode follows the case from the early investigation and the ten-month manhunt for Gene Leroy Hart through Hart’s 1979 acquittal and the later DNA testing that strongly suggested his involvement without producing a complete profile or a new conviction.

The central question is not simply whether investigators believe they know who was responsible. It is what the evidence can actually establish, and where the legal record still stops.

What the episode separates

Confirmed record: the girls’ identities, the camp’s location, Hart’s arrest, his acquittal, his death on unrelated charges, and the later partial-profile DNA testing. 1
Investigative conclusion: Mayes County Sheriff Mike Reed said the modern testing excluded other people considered in the case and left Hart as the only suspect who could not be excluded. 2
Legal boundary: the public reporting describes the DNA as officially inconclusive because no full profile was developed, and Hart was acquitted before the modern testing became public. 1

Why Camp Scott remains unresolved

A partial DNA profile can narrow a suspect field without identifying one person to the standard required for a criminal conviction. Camp Scott therefore holds two records at once: investigators’ strong belief that Hart was responsible, and a courtroom record that contains no murder conviction.

The episode also examines how a rural crime scene, a long manhunt, community fundraising, and decades of changing forensic technology shaped what could still be learned from old evidence. The story avoids graphic detail and keeps the focus on the victims, the evidentiary record, and the questions that remain open.

Recent status

A 2025 review by The Cold Cases reported no new suspect or arrest connected to the case and described the 2022 DNA findings as the central modern development. That is secondary reporting, not a new law-enforcement announcement, so the episode presents it as a status check rather than a fresh official resolution. 3

For historical trial context, the episode also draws on Tulsa World’s reporting on the evidence presented against Hart and the 1979 proceedings. 4