COMMENTARY: Read Someone Cry for the Children

They died 30 years ago.

On a stromy night in June 1977, three little Girl Scouts — Doris Denise Milner, 10; Michelle Guse, 9; and Lori Farmer, 8 — were raped and killed at a Girl Scout Camp in Locust Grove.

And the resulting investigation, hunt and subsequent trial of the principal suspect in the case, Gene Leroy Hart, polarized a state and shocked a nation.

Hart, a convicted rapist and escaped felon was recaptured, tried and later acquitted of the girl’s murders. He died shortly thereafter in prison.

And today, the case — though unofficially closed — remains unsolved.

Many of the principals are no longer around; the trail is cold and Hart is dead.

But the story of this sordid part of Oklahoma history is detailed in the book “Someone Cry for the Children.”

Written in 1981 by Michael and Dick Wilkerson (who were, at the time, investigators for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation) the book tells the story of the Girl Scout murders and the pursuit of Gene Leroy Hart.

And it’s a sad, spooky tale.

Now, granted, usually book reviews are written for recently released books. But with 2007 being the 30th anniversary of the case and the possibility new DNA testing providing conclusive evidence of Hart’s guilt or innocence, it seems appropriate to recommend this book.

Keep in mind, though, the book is written from the view of an investigator and though filled with details, it doesn’t paint a balanced image of Hart, his attorneys or their case.

But that’s understandable.

Because the Wilkerson brothers were thrust in the center of a hurricane and they did their best to discover the truth.

Since then things have changed.

Then-governor David Boren is now OU president Boren and Dick Wilkerson went from being deputy director of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, to a Oklahoma State Senator, to a law enforcement instructor at East Central University, and nonfiction writer.

His brother Michael Wilkerson also left the OSBI and went into private practice.

And the families of Doris Denise Milner, Michelle Guse and Lori Farmer tried to live their lives without their little girls.

Maybe that’s why this book is so powerful.

The Wilkerson brothers never forgot the fact there were three little girls at the center of this story.

The public around Pryor and Locust Grove did.

It’s ironic that even today, people in that area still get into arguments about whether or not Gene Leroy Hart killed three Girl Scouts.

But what they don’t bother to discuss is what would our state have been like had those little girls not been killed.

They don’t mention how they were raped, bound and killed.

They don’t talk about how their families still grieve.

No, you won’t hear too many people talk about the little Girl Scouts, the horrible way they died or their families — the tears for them no longer flow.

And that’s why its time to read this book, once again.

“Someone Cry for the Children” is still in print and available through Amazon.com