[Sheri] There reached a point
when we were getting frustrated
because the manhunt started to take a long time.
And when the leaves started changing
and another season was coming
and Lori was not here,
I did go through, uh...
a real depression
that made it hard to function.
[sniffles]
[Alicia] By December of 1977,
the manhunt for Gene Leroy Hart is called off,
and a new tactic is employed.
[Christine] Lot of law enforcement believed
that Hart was still in the community,
and his family and friends were harboring him.
[Marty] The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation agent Harvey Pratt
is a Native American
and fit in with a lot of the people
in that community,
so he went undercover in... in the Locust Grove area.
[Harvey] My focus was apprehension,
you know, taking somebody into custody,
knowing that if he doesn't surrender, you know,
he's probably gonna get killed 'cause of the type of crime.
So as we got into the investigation,
we found out, supposedly, that Gene Leroy Hart
was living with, uh, this older gentleman,
but we didn't know where he lived.
[Marty] Eventually, he developed a confidential informant
who was able to identify a woman
who knew where Gene Leroy Hart was hiding out.
And Harvey Pratt approached this woman.
I said, "You need to let us take him into custody,
because we are not gonna hurt him."
I said, "There's a good chance that someone's probably gonna kill him."
You could see that she was nervous,
you know, maybe little frightened.
And that's when she told us where she thought he might be.
[Christine] Agent Pratt finally tracked down Hart
to a cabin in the Cookson Hills.
[Sheri] Ten months after Lori was murdered,
they found and captured Gene Leroy Hart.
It was certainly a very emotional time.
And after Hart was captured,
Bo and I were there that day when they arraigned him.
[Bo] It was just a very unsettling feeling
to know that we were in the same room
with the person that very possibly
could have killed our daughter.
[Sheri] I did want to make eye contact with him.
I felt like I would know
by looking at him if he did this.
But he did never look at us.
Gene Hart was charged with three counts of murder,
three counts of kidnapping, three counts of rape.
Gene Hart pled not guilty to all the charges,
and so we prepared ourselves to go to trial,
and he had a lot of supporters.
Within the context of the time,
Cherokee community members supported my uncle Gene
as someone who was representing
the struggle against injustice.
That was and is still...
a big issue for us.
[Bo] They were having community events,
chicken dinners,
and there would be a big jar there for donations
to raise money for Hart.
[reporter] Hart grew up near here.
Fourteen-hundred people in his hometown
helped raise money for his defense.
His attorneys don't feel they can find
a more sympathetic jury anywhere else.
[Sandi] My name is Sandi Garett.
I was a jurist on the Gene Hart trial.
I am a part Cherokee...
and it shocked me that I was still on there.
Being Cherokee, and having Cherokee friends,
I just thought I weren't a very good candidate,
that I had something I needed to be doing
and, uh, so I set my mind to it.
[Sheri] When we went over for the trial,
I just felt like I needed a personal journal
of our experience while we were there.
And, of course, the first one is March 19th, 1979.
"Today testimony is to begin finally,
21 months and six days after Lori was murdered.
Hart arrived and is dressed in a blue suit with a vest,
suddenly he's an ordinary-looking.
Of course, they have worked really hard to give him this new look."
[Alicia] As the trial starts, the prosecution lays out their hypothesis of events
for before, during, and after the murders took place.
[Mike] It was believed that Gene Hart created
this manipulated flashlight at the cave,
which is a premeditated tool
so he can sneak around better
not having very much light emitted out of it.
[Alicia] They said at some point Hart burglarized
Jack Shroff's farmhouse just a short distance away.
[Mike] Hart stole the black duct tape, a nylon rope.
While he was there, he left a boot mark on the floor.
[Alicia] After breaking into Shroff's farmhouse,
it's believed that Hart walks
the three-quarters of a mile to Camp Scott,
and that while the campers were eating dinner,
he burglarized the tents, stealing various items.
At that point, Gene Hart sat there just waiting for the girls to go to sleep,
just a short ways from Kiowa.
[Alicia] Once comfortable that the entire camp was asleep,
he made is way over to the Kiowa Unit tent number seven,
guided by the modified flashlight.
[Mike] Documentation stated, it appeared Gene Hart
entered the rear of the tent...
and then attacked these three children.
[thunderclap]
[Alicia] Although a murder weapon was never found,
it's believed that Hart
bludgeoned Michelle Guse and Lori Farmer to death.
[Mike] At that point, Gene Hart gets control of Denise Milner
by binding her with cord, and he put the gag on her,
but she was still alive.
[Alicia] Prosecutors are certain that Lori Farmer
and Michelle Guse are...
sexually assaulted postmortem.
[thunderclap]
Afterwards, Hart hastily gathered the little girls' bodies.
[Mike] Hart took the sleeping bag
and just crammed the child in there,
and then he just grabbed those sleeping bags
and took these three small children
roughly a 150 yards to this tree.
[Alicia] At this point, prosecutors say
Hart sexually assaults Denise
and strangles her to death.
[Mike] Hart up and leaves and went back to the cave
with all this stuff
that had been stolen from the camp.
[Sandi] Seeing and hearing what happened,
I couldn't imagine, it sounded like a... a monster.
It was such a horrific thing.
[Alicia] The prosecution presents what they believe to be
an overwhelming amount of circumstantial evidence,
including hair and semen samples
said to belong to Hart taken from the crime scene.
[Andrea] While Gene Leroy Hart was in jail,
law enforcement collected his underwear
and submitted those to the laboratory for forensic testing...
and there were sperm identified in his underwear.
[Christine] During the trial, an expert testified
that the semen that was found in Hart's underwear
was deformed.
The experts had said Hart's semen could have become deformed
due to a botched vasectomy
he had received, you know, in the mid-'60s.
[Alicia] The prosecution points out that this distinct trait
is also noted on the semen collected
by the Tulsa County medical examiner during the autopsies.
[Dick] This was a strong case.
Sure, it's all circumstantial evidence,
but my God, how many circumstances
can there be?
[Gary] In the eyes of the public,
obviously, it made him look bad initially.
And Garvin and I both just sort of took it as a challenge.
We didn't hesitate to push the limits.
And so, Garvin and I held a press conference for Gene.
[interviewer] Gene, how do you feel you may have been treated in the jail
you've been spending your time in?
My mama always told me
never to say anything ab your host.
[Gary] Overall, I think that he presented himself well.
He looked like a regular guy, um,
and not some kind of monster as he'd been portrayed.
[interviewer] Do you have, uh, a view of yourself,
and can you share that with us?
I am not a hero.
[Sheri] Whether you thought he did this or not,
he escaped from jail,
and he'd done time in prison for some horrible crimes.
To give him centerstage at a press conference seemed...
so unnecessary.
After the press conference, it's time for the defense to present their case.
The prosecution told the case was built on circumstantial evidence,
and we felt that they were having to draw a lot of conclusions.
But the pieces don't all fit.
A good example is when they tried to link Gene
to the cave in which they found the pictures.
These pictures that Gene had developed during his time granted in prison
had been in his possession when he was incarcerated in Mayes County jail in 1973
and were left there when he escaped
four years before the Girl Scouts' murders ever happened.
So it calls into question how those pictures
then became present in that cave
since they were left behind in that jail cell.
Our take from that was that the evidence had been planted.
I felt like that that was suspicious...
and going forward, I was very skeptical.
You don't want anyone lying,
especially someone from the law enforcement.
[Gary] I think after we called into question the origin of the pictures,
we were able to call into question the legitimacy
of all of the other evidence presented by the state,
and we began to poke holes in their theory.
[Alicia] The defense dissects each piece of evidence,
starting with a hair found at the scene.
[Gary] They could say that it looks exactly alike,
but you couldn't say that that meant that was his hair.
Same thing with the broken, fractured semen.
It doesn't prove any more to you
than the hair proves to you.
It looks like,
but you can't identify where it came from.
And that's because there was no acceptable DNA science in 1979.
Of course, we had to take that into consideration.
[Bettye] The things that were coming up about hair and DNA
was presented in a way to confuse the jury.
[Bo] The defense team was putting up
every conceivable straw man theory
to try to plant down in the... in the jury's mind.
[Alicia] After 26 days of an intense trial,
the jury adjourns to deliberate.
[reporter] If the jury finds Hart guilty of first-degree murder,
then under Oklahoma law, he could be sentenced added to life in prison
or death by injection.
[Sheri] Pretty early in the morning we were notified
that jury had come back with a verdict.
So we rushed over to the courthouse.
"March 30th, 1979,
09:15, the verdict is in.
It's not guilty."
It's all over now.
[Gary] You know, it was exciting, it was emotional,
and at the same time, understanding the disappointment
of not having the final conclusion
of all this for the families of those little girls.
[Dick] It broke my heart.
Those little girls didn't receive a fair trial.
[Bettye] I think after the trial,
I came out with the feeling that
the law is a game, and who plays it the best
is the one who wins.
And it's not all about justice.
[Sheri] After the verdict was read,
we went to the judge's chambers
and he just said, "In our system of justice...
sometimes guilty go free."
[Sandi] I voted not guilty.
I was really waiting for that big bang from the attorneys.
You gotta have the evidence.
And I didn't feel like they had proof.
The jurists that are saying that there was no smoking gun,
well, the only thing I'm saying about that is... is that, um...
they may not have done their job.
[Alicia] Immediately after the trial,
Gene Leroy Hart is sent back to prison
to finish serving the remaining 305 years
of his 308-year sentence
for his burglary convictions and parole violations.
[Sheri] When we left the courthouse, I said to Bo,
"I would really like to have Lori's things back."
They'd been in their possession now for two years.
And so, we went over there and they gave us the box
of Lori's things, and we came home.
[Alicia] On June 4th, 1979,
more news about Hart makes headlines,
sending shock waves around the nation.
I remember being with my mom watching TV,
when the news bulletins came across the bottom.
And I remember my mom having this reaction
and starting to cry.
[Gary] Gene Hart was in the exercise yard.
He had lifted weights and he was now jogging.
And he had a heart attack, and he died there,
in the... in the exercise yard in McAlester.
[Sheri] Well, I just assumed that one day I would get to talk to him,
and he will tell us everything he knows.
I was so shocked when he had died in prison.
[Alicia] With Hart dead,
a confession is now impossible,
and rumors begin to swirl.
[Mike] Some people believed law enforcement framed Gene Hart
during the investigation in 1977.
You know, a good example of this was, um,
the law enforcement found two foot prints in the tent.
There was this big boot, and then there was some sort of a...
Another tennis shoe type track.
And so they started thinking, "Oh, my gosh,
maybe it was more than one person."
[Alicia] Then, in 1981, Mayes County residents elected a new sheriff,
and armed with some new information,
he takes the multiple killer theory very seriously.
[Marty] A woman from Locust Grove
relayed a story that her brother
had been out with two of his friends
the night before the homicides.
And she believed all three were responsible for the Girl Scout murders.
The Sheriff of Mayes County, Paul Smith,
said that a woman told him she was coming home the morning of the homicides,
and she'd seen her brother's two friends
walking down the road from the Girl Scout area,
no shirts and no shoes on.
[Marty] Later that morning, her brother had come home...
and he was covered in blood.
He appeared to be under the influence of drugs
and he was acting nervous.
He was mumbling some stuff about "the poor little girls."
[Alicia] She then tells Paul Smith that her brother
revealed how he and these two other men
disposed off the murder weapon and any evidence.
[Mike] According to her, these three suspects,
one of 'em being her brother,
was in a Super Bee car,
and they took the shirts and the shoes that was bloody,
and the murder weapon, put it in the car...
and took the car and pushed it off into the water
down by Spring Creek.
[Mike] In 1981, Paul Smith hires a private investigator
for the sole purpose of working on this Girl Scout case.
[Alicia] For years, the private investigator looks into this lead,
and in 1984, Sheriff Paul Smith goes public
and announces in The Oklahoman
that he's investigating this lead.
[Mike] He says he has three suspects,
and he blatantly says
he's going to make some arrests.
[Alicia] But the arrests never come,
and the community is left wondering why.
[Sheri] As the years passed by,
our belief in God lifted us and carried us
in our weakest grieving times.
Our family and friends loved us
when we weren't lovable,
and I'm thankful for all those people who helped.
But I know that I needed to help other people as well.
I wanted for Lori and for her honor
there should be something good that would come.
And so, Bo and I formed
the chapter of Parents of Murdered Children in 1984, in Oklahoma.
Immediately, it just got much bigger
than I would have ever, ever guessed,
and people drove from all over Oklahoma to come.
[Alicia] During the time while the conspiracy theories
continued to cast a shadow over the case,
the OSBI decides to try a brand-new
scientific advancement that's available to them,
DNA.
[Grace] My name is Grace Helms and I'm the primary DNA analyst
who's worked on the Girl Scout case.
In 1989, DNA testing had only been around
and used in criminal courts for a few years.
In 1989, we sent a semen stain from a pillow case
that was in Michelle Guse's sleeping bag for testing.
[Alicia] After the FBI receives the semen stain sample,
they compare it to semen stain samples taken from Hart's underwear.
[Bo] When we first found out that they were doing DNA testing,
we were very encouraged
that we were going to very quicky
come to a resolution of this.
[Andrea] With the particular testing technique that was used,
there are five locations on the DNA strand
that analysts look at in an evidence sample
and then they'll look at those same locations from a known sample.
Results at the three of those locations matched Mr. Hart.
[Andrea] Because only 60% actually matched,
the whole thing is considered partial.
And so, we were not able to say that Gene Leroy Hart was the murderer.
Basically, it points to him, but it's not conclusive.
[Alicia] After the DNA falls short,
the OSBI works quietly behind the scenes
for over two decades...
until 2012, when Agent Fielding decides
to make another big push to bring this case to a close.
And at the time, I was a forensic biologist
in the biology DNA unit.
So I pulled the case file and started looking at it.
I was very surprised to realize
that only two items of evidence had been tested
when there were hundreds of items of evidence
that could have been forensically analyzed.
And so, I wanted to make sure
that everything that could be tested, we were able to test.
[Alicia] Agent Fielding begins processing hundreds of items
for eventual DNA testing.
And as she's going through this process,
she contacts the girls' families
to let them know that OSBI
is looking to test new evidence in the case.
And Sheri Farmer reveals that she may be able to help.
[Andrea] Sheri Farmer told me that when the trial was over,
she insisted in getting
all of Lori's personal items back,
she had with her at the camp,
including her blood-stained sleeping bag,
and clothing items.
I was very surprised to learn Bo and Sheri
wanted everything that could be tested, tested.
So I went to their home
and retrieved the items of evidence.
[Sheri] When Andrea Fielding came to our house
to see if we had some things here
that she and Mike can do testing on with...
one of the things that she was interested in was Lori's sleeping bag.
My mother and dad had given each of the children a sleeping bag.
And so Lori took this.
As you can see,
there were parts of it cut for doing DNA testing,
and so there's holes in this
and holes in the sleeping bag that's inside here.
[Andrea] The family stood around while I went through
items from the crime scene that belonged to Lori.
And so it was definitely difficult for the family,
but they... they all supported each other and were there for each other,
and it was an incredible thing to experience.
[Alicia] Encouraged by the renewed efforts,
the Farmers approached the new Mayes County Sheriff
hoping he might be able to investigate a different angle,
which is, namely, the three alleged suspects
that were never arrested.
[Mike] Shortly after I became Sheriff in 2013,
Bo and Sheri Farmer came to my office.
[Sheri] We met with Mike Reed,
and I said, "I just want you to take a second look, fresh eyes."
I said, "I just want you to be open
for anything to help solve the murders."
[Mike] It was pretty emotional.
I gave 'em my word I would help any way I could.
I quickly found out that OSBI ran this investigation.
So they have the original files, they have original everything.
[Alicia] Sheriff Reed contacts OSBI
to gain access to the case files
and soon, he's shocked by what he finds.
[Mike] At the time, the Paul Smith theory was still alive.
But one of the first things that I noticed was his three suspects
actually had been brought in, they had been interviewed,
they had been polygraphed.
None of that information were out there.
So I was like, "Man, there's lot of stuff here that's... We don't know."
[Alicia] Sheriff Reed digs into the investigation
that was done on the three suspects.
[Mike] In '84, OSBI tracked down these three subjects.
One of 'em says he wasn't there,
and he actually alibied one of the other suspects,
saying, "Well, he was with me drinking at the dam."
He immediately agrees to take polygraph test.
And he passes his polygraph test.
So they go to the next suspect,
the brother of the informant, and he tells them,
"No, I wasn't there, had nothin' to do with it."
[Alicia] The suspect tells the OSBI agents
that he was at home with his father
and his two brothers the night of the murders,
and he was nowhere near the Girl Scout camp.
And he agrees to take a polygraph test and he passes it.
[Alicia] At this point, the OSBI returns to Paul Smith's informant
to question her again.
[Mike] OSBI interview her.
She immediately admits that she actually didn't know
nothing about who killed the Girl Scouts
and is remorseful for lying all these years
and making this story up.
[Marty] She reported that the reason she did this
was because she was upset with her brother,
claimed that he had sexually assaulted her in the past,
and she was trying to get even with him.
[Mike] At this point, she passes the polygraph,
admitting that she made all this up.
So that whole story...
had no merit whatsoever.
[Marty] Even after she reported
that she had made the story up,
Paul Smith still believed her initial story
and he did not let go of that.
[Alicia] For years, Paul Smith clings to this theory,
even after someone in his own camp denies its validity.
[Mike] In 1988, private investigator that was hired by Paul Smith
to solely investigate the Girl Scout murders
goes to the Governor, and the State's Attorney,
OSBI agents there, and they had a big meeting about this.
And the private investigator states that he no longer believes
that these three suspects had anything to do with it
and he believes Hart committed this crime solely
and he has no other suspects.
That is Paul Smith's own investigator.
[Marty] And to this day, there are people
who don't have all the information that we have,
who believe that this is a viable story.
People say, "Well, it wasn't looked into."
But it was.
In our eyes, as Lori's Mom and Dad,
Paul Smith's theory is not plausible.
[Christine] It must be so frustrating for family members
to hear all these conspiracy theories...
to constantly have to relive the death of their daughter...
must be incredibly hurtful and... and painful.
While Sheriff Reed has debunked the Paul Smith theory,
he still cannot prove that Hart was the sole killer.
-[telephone ringing] -[Alicia] But the next break in the case comes
when Sheri receives a call out of the blue.
[Sheri] I got a call from someone who said Lori's death
greatly affected her
and she wanted to help us solve her murder.
[Sheryl] My name is Sheryl Stokes,
and Lori Farmer was my childhood friend.
When Lori was killed,
I knew I wanted to be someone that is there supporting families
when the worst happens.
I am now a senior family advocacy specialist
at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
In 2013, I told Sheri and Bo
my colleague could probably be a big help on this case.
[Sheri] She asked if we were interested,
and we both said, "Oh, of course."
[Richard] My name is Richard Leonard. I'm the program manager
at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
We decided that we would do a comprehensive case review
with folks from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit,
specific to child crimes, cold case investigators, analysts, lab experts,
to look at every facet of that investigation.
Looking at the facts about the case,
the behavioral analysts folks
gave a picture of who you would expect that offender to be.
And, obviously, Gene Hart had a criminal background
and part of that background was abduction and rape.
And in the Girl Scout case, he brought certain tools
very similar to the ones that were used in that assault at Tulsa.
Additionally, one of the things
that Gene Hart was known to do
when he went out and did burglaries was to take eye glasses,
which, to me, would be his signature.
The girls that he assaulted in Tulsa,
he took their eyeglasses as well.
And glasses were taken from Camp Scott
the night this happened.
[Alicia] During the meeting, investigators also discussed
the theory that perhaps multiple weapons
had been used in the murders.
Because the original autopsies had suggested
that each child's injuries varied.
Looking at all the autopsy photos,
it was decided that the weapon that was used was probably
a single small camp hatchet.
[Mike] When I looked at the image reports,
you can see 90-degree corners
of the bruising
that match the rectangular part of a small hatchet.
But something that you have to take into consideration
is at least one child's probably struggling,
so there is absolutely no way
you're gonna make a perfect hit.
So you're gonna have all kinds of different patterns of wounds.
[Alicia] The other piece of evidence
that skeptics have pointed to is
the presence of multiple footprints in tent seven,
which gave credence to the theory
that there was more than one person involved.
But the NCMEC experts see things differently.
[Mike] When you come to the photograph
of the footprints in the tent,
there was this big boot
and there was a small tennis shoe type track.
So let's say, you had grown guys who was out here doing this,
why has one of 'em got little small tennis shoes on?
Yeah, I don't see that.
Plus, the small tennis shoe type track
was on top of the blood and it was clean and crisp.
So that means it was that these tracks got in here after
the sleeping bags and the girls was taken out.
And when you go back and you read the interviews of the counselors,
the next move, the counselors said they actually physically
went into the tents touching each girl, counting them.
And so, it's believed that it's probably
one of the counselors that stepped in blood.
[Leonard] After three days, and at the end of looking
at the totality of the circumstances,
all of us in that case review,
um, came to a consensus of opinion...
that Gene Hart was, in fact, the person that was involved
and he acted alone.
There's nothing to suggest anyone else was involved.
We recommended the use of specific labs
outside the norm of a state lab
that could provide advanced technologies,
particularly in the area of DNA,
in order to help law enforcement
bring justice to those families.
[Alicia] Heeding the advice from the meeting's experts,
Sheriff Reed collects DNA samples
from known suspects in the case
in order to compare that to any new DNA that is discovered.
Most people that was brought up as a suspect,
like Paul Smith's suspects,
there was already blood, semen, hair
they had taken as evidence in the past.
Others was in prison or in jail,
and their DNA is in what's considered CODIS, it's a federal data base.
Once Sheriff Reed and Andrea Fielding collected enough evidence,
hundreds of samples are shipped off for DNA testing.
I think all of us felt that this is going to finally bring closure to those families.
[Sheri] I was hoping and praying
that the results would show
the person who killed Lori,
Michelle and Denise.
[Andrea] Hundreds of items of evidence have been forensically analyzed.
We found out from the testing
that pretty much everything was degraded
to a point that we didn't get anything usable.
Out of all of the evidence items,
the original semen's analysis back in 1989
and the hair, sweat from the tent
were the only profiles of someone
other than a victim or a family member
that had been obtained to-date in this case.
And both of those resulted in a partial profile consistent with Mr. Hart.
[Sheri] The results were devastating.
We all were disappointed that it was not a more conclusive answer.
[Andrea] We've tested all of the people of interest,
and all of those individuals have been excluded
form the DNA profiles that we have obtained.
But Gene Leroy Hart cannot be excluded
as being the possible perpetrator of this crime.
So it was a positive.
Absolutely, it was a positive.
And everything that I've looked at
still points to Gene Hart.
And I don't have a single other thing pointing to somebody else.
[Bo] Sheri and I definitely believe
that Gene Leroy Hart was the sole person
that committed this crime
and was the sole person
that was in that tent that night.
But Sheri and I are still open
to any information...
that might show
that he may have had an accessory
help him in some way after the fact.
If people know something and they come forward,
it will be looked into.
[Kim] You know, members of my family
supported my uncle Gene during that trial.
When I became interested in this case
as a young person and started asking questions,
I got the feeling that Gene's half-brother, my uncle Thurman,
believed that Gene was involved in some way.
But that this was not just Gene.
And I believe that he thought that for a reason,
and a valid reason.
He grew up in the area, you know,
he knew these people that lived around Camp Scott.
So, when he stated to me
that there were more people involved, I believed him.
This crime doesn't exemplify our culture or our traditions or our communities.
We don't want anyone
to have their children taken from them like that
in such a violent manner and then have it unsolved.
And we want justice for the victims.
[Bo] Over the years, Sheri developed a presence
about victims' rights.
By and large, a criminal had all the rights and victims had no rights.
[Alicia] Using all that she'd learned
as a victims' right advocate, Sheri successfully campaigns
in 2018 to have victims' rights
made part of Oklahoma State Constitution.
[Sheri] By passing Marsy's Law,
victims and victims' families
have a right to be in the courtroom.
They would have the right to have some input,
should there be a punishment phase.
And now these rights are in our state constitution.
[Alicia] In October of 2022,
Sheri and Bo are recognized
by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
[announcer] Please welcome to stage,
Lori Farmer's incredible parents,
Sheri and Bo Farmer.
Surrounded by their four surviving children
and three of their grandchildren,
the Farmers received the Hope Award
for their relentless work
advocating for victims' rights.
[Sheri] This is really for Lori and Denise and Michelle.
To our children, you have lived with imperfect parents,
who have grappled with the murder of their child,
but somehow, in the midst of all of that,
you have become amazing adults,
and we could not be more proud.
The Gala was, uh, a really special time for Bo and I.
It was far more emotional than I ever thought I was going to be.
Tonight is a testament to the... the impact that they've had
and the ripple effects that their work has had for
um, many, many people.
And, uh, it's a... a very special event tonight.
[Kali] I really enjoyed seeing my parents being honored
'cause I know all the hours they've spent
helping other victims.
There's not a day that goes by
that we don't see a picture of Lori or talk about her.
As I've gotten older, I think I have felt the void more now.
It's not just that my sister's not here,
but who she would've married
and their children and their children.
[Bo] Lori, Denise and Michelle
are still just largely recognized
as three Girl Scouts that were murdered.
Those three girls deserve...
much more.
[Bettye] Over 40 years is a long time to wait
for something to be resolved and...
at one time, I guess I thought
that I would live long enough to see that happen,
but now I don't know.
Even if it does,
it won't ever be over for us, the parents.
[Christine] Denise Milner's mother, Bettye,
and Bo and Sheri Farmer
are the only surviving parents,
and have stayed in contact over the years.
I hope that for the families there's more advances
in, uh, DNA technology that they could possibly find undisputed proof
they are so desperately seeking.
The summer of '77 was the last summer girls attended Camp Scott.
And eventually, the Girl Scout counsel sold the property in 1988,
and today, it's a hunting ground.
[Alicia] Although it's been almost five decades since the night of the murders,
the tree where the girls were found still remains.
And Lori's parents have come here
to mourn one last time.
Gonna put a rose for Michelle...
and a rose for Denise...
[sniffles]
...and a rose for Lori.
[sighs deeply]
These girls are not forgotten.
-[Bo] Never ever. -[Sheri sniffles]
Closure will not be a part of our lives.
Our pathway has always been justice for Lori
and to help other people,
and we've tried to do both of those.