Someone Cry For the Children

Pin It

Prior to reading this book, I might be one of the few people that lives in Oklahoma that was not aware of this story.  Someone Cry For the Children is the true story about the investigation and trial of the suspect involving the brutal rape and murder of three Girl Scouts at a camp in northeastern Oklahoma in 1977.  The book, written by OSBI agents involved in the investigation, is gritty...most definitely not a book to read before you go to bed. 

I was horrified by the murder scene (and a detailed rape scene later on)...I'm telling you that this book is like reading an episode of either CSI or Criminal Minds.  Or both combined.  Only more detailed.  There were parts that, literally, turned my stomach.

This book is a solid piece of literature, detailing the ins and outs of this investigation and trial.  I felt like there was no stone left unturned, no detail left unsaid.  With that being said, are you interested in my opinion regarding the fact that this case has been left unsolved?  For, literally, longer than I've been alive... 

I don't know. 

You leave this book still unsure about whether or not Gene Leroy Hart is guilty.  There were points where you think he's most definitely guilty...other parts where you think he most definitely had to be innocent.  And after finishing the book...I don't know.  The friend who recommended this book to me, Becky AKA the other Becky, said she felt the same way.

I'll tell you what really affected me about this book though.  I remember going to Girl Scout camp as a young girl in the mid-1980s.  And I remember bunking up in a wooden-structured, screen-surrounded type of building...not the tents the girls in this book used.  And I remember the camp counselors vehemently ordering the girls in each structure to lock the door, which only locked from the inside, each night and refusing to open it for anyone (even another counselor) until the next morning when we were to come outside for breakfast.  After reading this book, I realized that this case had to be why this strict rule was enforced.  Scary stuff.

It's not often that you read a book detailing events that took place and affected events in your life.  And to not have been aware of this story at the time (my mother wasn't aware either because she lived in Dallas at the time of the murders), but to know now 20+ years later.  Freaky!

This book is extremely rare...Becky had to pay a pretty penny for it.  But, if you can find it, I highly recommend reading it.  Most especially if you're an Okie resident...and even more so if you're a northeastern Okie resident like me.