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Camp Scott Girl Scout Murders Revisited as DNA Strengthens Case for Gene Leroy Hart

Updated 2022 DNA findings leave legal closure out of reach after Hart's 1979 death.

Overview

  • At Camp Scott on June 13, 1977, Lori Farmer, Denise Milner and Michele Guse were found beaten, strangled and raped near the showers.
  • About a month earlier, counselors found a doughnut‑box note that warned "We are on a mission to kill three girls in tent one" and treated it as a prank.
  • Prosecutors tried Gene Leroy Hart, a recent escapee with prior rape convictions, but jurors acquitted him in March 1979, with his death later that year ending the case in court.
  • Evidence from the tent included a red flashlight with a smudged fingerprint and a bloody size‑9.5 footprint that matched Hart's shoe size.
  • After inconclusive DNA in 1989, authorities said 2022 testing now strongly points to Hart, reinforcing what the girls' families have long said.