Bodies Of OK Teens Missing For 40 Years Found In Lake

The mystery surrounding three Oklahoma teens who went missing more than 40 years ago has been solved.

On Nov. 20, 1970, 16-year-old Jimmy Allen Williams of Sayre picked up his friends Thomas Michael Rios, 18, and Leah Gail Johnson, 18, in his new, bright-blue 1969 Camaro and headed to a high school football game in Elk City, according to the Washington Post. The three teens were last seen at a bowling alley by friends. What happened to them remained a mystery until 2014, when law enforcement officials were testing sonar equipment at Foss Lake, a recreation area about 20 miles away from where the football game was held.

The sonar equipment found two vehicles submerged in the lake. Williams’ Camaro was in just 12 feet of water, about 50 feet from the end of a boat ramp. Alongside it was a 1950s Chevrolet that was connected to an unrelated missing persons case from 1969. It had the bodies of Cleburn Hammack, 42, John Alva Porter, 69, and Nora Marie Duncan, 58, inside.

Gary Williams, Jimmy’s brother, was 12 when his brother disappeared. He had no idea that each time he took his boat out on Foss Lake, his brother’s body was beneath him.

“I could have touched the top of their car. I was that close to them,” he told The Associated Press. “That’s an unbelievable thought to know they were that close all this time and took nearly 40 years to realize it.”

Williams’ body was found with brown cowboy boots, a Sayre bank card, and a 1972 gold colored Sayre High Eagles ring.

The state medical examiner’s office concluded in an autopsy report that all the victims likely drowned, and listed the deaths as accidental.

David Spitzer, publisher of the Sayre Record, told The Associated Press that residents of Sayre had suspected foul play.

“I think the kids were frightened by it, and we didn’t talk about it much,” said Gayla Splinter, who lived in nearby Erick when the teens went missing. “It’s always been a mystery.”

Williams’ mother baked him a cake each year on his birthday in case he came home, according to The Telegraph. His parents died before the car was found in the lake.

Pearl Guzman, Rios’ mother, also did not live to learn what happened to her son. She passed away years before his body was found, after remaining in Sayre and constantly searching for him.

“Mom didn’t ever want to leave Sayre because she told us if Thomas came back, he’d be looking for us,” Lucia VanZandt, Rios’ sister, told The Associated Press. “Since we didn’t have a body to lay to rest, it was just like he vanished.”

Williams’ brother told The Oklahoman that his family now has some closure, but there are still unanswered questions about the deaths — such as the Camaro being found backward in the lake, which suggests it may not have been an accident.

“I think they came across some bad people,” he said. “I think it was foul play, but I’ll never be able to prove that.”

A police official who requested anonymity also has doubts over the accidental death determinations.

“Just a year apart — and right beside each other,” he said of the two cars being found in the lake. “What do you think?”

Sources: The Washington Post, Associated Press via The Washington Times, Associated Press via CBS News, The Oklahoman, The Telegraph / Photo credit: Anuradha Ratnaweera/Flickr