Just in time for Halloween...cars full of bodies found in Oklahoma lake

The article in our local paper today mentions that, back in 1970, some speculated that the three teens might have either been part of or encountered by accident a drug deal gone bad, and that they might have been killed and they and their car dumped in the lake. This would put an altogether different light on it as their ending up in the lake would be not a hard-to-explain accident but rather an easier-to-see-how-it-happened deliberate act.

It will be interesting to see if whatever autopsies that can be performed show a cause of death other than drowning, such as a bullet hole in a skull.

 

That article mentions that foul play is still considered a possibility.

In fact, it almost has to be foul play as it's just impossible to believe that the car could have gone off a boat ramp and into the water by accident, and that, with the water so shallow, at least one of the three wouldn't have managed to escape and go for help. If all three were already dead when the car went into the water, it's easy to understand how the car could have gotten there and why no one managed to escape.

 

So it looks like no one in the 52 Chevy rolled down windows to try to get out. I'm thinking everyone was dead before the cars went down the boat ramp into the water. What are the chances of two cars going in at the same place, within a year of each other and all perishing in both cars, but no similar acccidents with or without casualties in the 10 years before or in the 43 years since (as far as we know).
Speculation back in the day mentions a possibility of a drug deal gone bad but doesn't mention if the victims in the Camaro could have been involved, or merely witnesses. But as long as we're speculating, we may never know what these people might have encountered, outlaw bikers, picked up a hitch hiker that was a serial killer,hate crime (three races were represented among the victims in the Camaro).
Maybe they were just two totally separate and unrelated unfortunant accidents.

I was talking with a buddy about this story, and how the cars ended up right next to each other at the bottom of the lake and how the two wrecks occurred only about a year apart. I originally read that the people in the 52 Chevy were believed to have disappeared in the early 60's. The most recent article indicates it may have been in '69. So my buddy wondered aloud what it would have been like to be in the Camaro as it settled to the bottom of the lake and look out the window and see another car right next to you with three dead bodies in it. Now thats creepy.

 

This whole deal is sad, weird and at some points creepy for sure. I really feel sad for the families of the victims, but I think they must be feeling at least a little bit of closure due to the fact that now they have some answers.

The whole thing is so puzzling though. I think if it was just one car it would be sad, it would be a mystery, but it wouldn't be so bizarre.

That fact that no one ever spotted not one, but two cars in only 12 feet of water is practically unbelievable.

I agree with Tedy's statements earlier about being on a lake with the water so calm and clear you could see 20 feet to the bottom. Even with the cars completely covered with silt, you would be able to make out their shapes.

I also agree with Jaunty75, that this almost certainly was foul play.
I was just discussing this story with my co worker. Have you ever seen the Myth Busters episode where they go through the scenario of a car sinking in a lake? They do it a number of times. One of the things I remember the most is that it takes a car a long time to sink, a lot longer than you would think, especially with the windows rolled up.

If either of those cars drove into the water with conscious, coherent people in them, there most certainly should have been signs of an attempt to escape. At the very least the windows on the 52 Chevy could have been rolled down since they almost certainly were manual crank and not power.

 

I think I read in one of the articles that the water in the lake is pretty murky to begin with..........

 

When the Interstate highway was being built from Jacksonville FL to Tallahassee, and parts of the old highway were being widened, they found many cars that had gone off the road into the swamp, and each had human remains in it. Some dated back to the 1920's from the license plates. They were able to identify some, from the license plates, matching them to missing persons reports, but not in all cases. Sometimes they were able to identify the occupants, but were unable to locate relatives, since so much time had passed.
How fast a car sinks, it questionable.. I remember the accident involving a famous Senator, where the passenger drowned, but he got out.

 

If I think I know who you are talking about..... it's still very questionable why the young girl didn't get out and he did to only report the accident the following morning..........

 

Back home in central illinois in a time and place far far away us kids used to swim in an abandoned gravel pit. The sides were steep in most places and went nearly straight down for maybe 30-50' in places. Amazingly it was less than a city block from the muddy Illinois river yet this large hole was crystal clear. Hence named Crystal Lake.
At one side it went down to the water just like a natural sand beach. This place became known to locals also as B.A.B. Figure it out for yourself.
I remember places we could see conveyor belts and even a few crawler tractors and large gravel trucks left when it filled with water. Amazing how deep we could see and dive to feel and look closer.
Later an area several hundred feet from the lake became a dump for heavy equipment and old trucks. Somehow a few cars ended up in the shallower part of the lake but were easy to see.

 

A guy at my dad's model airplane club lost his helicopter in the lake where thboat guys go. The guy was a scub diver and got his gear to go down and retrieve the expensive toy. There is a spot that drops off about 100 feet...his feet landed on the roof of an abondoned station wagon. He couldn't see inside and I don't know if the police were contacted. This story makes me wonder.

 

A station wagon? Okay guys, mount up. This thing may be nearly mint. If we hurry we'll get there before the lake freezes over.

 

...and he got away with murder, was able to put the past behind him, and became one of the most powerful political figures in Washington.

 

Sad and scary, isn't it?

 

Ok we're ready.