Terror at Lake Eucha - Part One
NO NEW LEADS IN MISSING TEENS CASE
TULSA, Oklahoma - One year after two Tulsa teenagers went missing, state and local investigators say there are no new leads in the case. Scott Fisher, 18, and James Lee, 17, had told friends and family they were going to spend the weekend of August 20th hiking and camping in the woods near Lake Eucha. They were last seen the morning of the 20th in a convenience store outside of Locust Grove. Witnesses, including the store clerk, say nothing appeared odd or unusual about the boys.
A team of police and rescuers were dispatched to search the lake and surrounding areas after the boys failed to return home or check in on the following Monday. Authorities found Fisher’s car abandoned and burned on the side of a dead-end road off of Highway 10, near the site of the abandoned Eucha Falls amusement park. Despite the apparent car fire, police found no evidence of either a car accident or foul play, and the search and rescue team found no trace of either boy.
“All we have is speculation at this point,” said rescue team leader Jeff Tatum on day three of the search. “The most likely scenario is that the boys’ car over heated and caught fire, leaving them stranded, so they went in search of help. It’s easy to get turned around in these woods, even for experienced hikers, and unfortunately nature can be a dangerous thing. But if those boys are in these woods or in this lake, we’ll find them.”
Spokespeople for both the Delaware County Sheriff’s office and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation say they have not ruled out the possibility of criminal activity in this case. However, with no new leads and no witnesses coming forward, hope of solving this case, and of providing closure to the missing boys’ families, remains slim.
***
“The article doesn’t mention which road they found the car on?”
“No. And my mom could only remember it was a rural numbered road.” Melanie Fisher tucked the newspaper clipping back into the folder she held in her lap, and pulled out a computer print-out. “This map shows the amusement park. According to it, we should be close.”
“Assuming the roads haven’t been changed or moved since that was printed.” Her boyfriend, Shane Campbell, tapped some icons on the dashboard GPS. “When did they shut this place down?”
“Early seventies. I compared it with Google Maps. The major roads haven’t changed.”
A moment passed in silence as the wind whipped Melanie’s auburn hair out of her ponytail and into her face. She reached to roll up the window when he said, “Tell me again why we’re doing this.”
She looked at him, not bothering to hide her frustration. “You read the article. They’re giving up.”
“That’s not what it said.”
“That’s what they meant. They don’t have anything to go on. Why would they keep looking?”
“And you think we’ll find something? At least a hundred people combed the woods for your brother. The police inspected every inch of every square mile in a fifty-mile radius. What do you think we’re going to find that they didn’t?”
“I don’t know.” She frowned down at the folder in her lap, stuffed full of every news clipping and Internet article she had ever come across even remotely related to Scott’s disappearance. “But I have to try. Wouldn’t you, if it was your little brother?”
Shane sighed. “Yeah, I guess so.” He glanced at her with eyes full of patience and compassion.
Melanie’s heart swelled a little. Shane had been her rock throughout every step of this ordeal, and put up with her irritable moods all along the way. She softened, and smiled. “Thanks.”
“For what?”
“For bringing me out here, despite your reservations. And for being so sweet.”
He grinned a bashful grin, revealing a single dimple in his left cheek, and looked back at the road. “Hey.” He sat up a little straighter and turned serious. “I think this might be it.”
He slowed the car as they passed a billboard advertising a local boat marina, and made a right turn onto a gravel road marked with a Dead End sign. Melanie compared the old map to the GPS. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”
Tires crunched on gravel as the car rolled carefully down the road. Melanie watched the GPS tick off their progress as they drove one mile. Then two. At the third mile the gravel thinned and grass enveloped the road. The car stopped and Melanie got out.
“Mel, wait!” Shane called, but she kept walking, approaching a steep embankment leading down to a rocky creek, an offshoot of the nearby lake.
“I think we can cross this,” she shouted to him as he retrieved their packs from the trunk. He slung his over his broad shoulders before slamming the trunk shut and coming over to join her.
He peered down the embankment as she shrugged into her backpack. “Yeah, but do we want to?”
“Yep. Look.” She pointed to the woods beyond the creek. On the other side, the road picked up again, more of a dirt trail than an actual road. It disappeared into the woods, passing under a metal archway covered in vines and growth. A faded red light-up sign, long-dead and rusted, sat on top. Under all of the greenery that had claimed it, she could make out an E, a C and an F.
“That’s kind of creepy.”
“That’s where we’re going.” She started down the slope, but he grabbed her arm and held her back.
“Hang on. We need to go over the ground rules.”
Melanie sighed. “Shane—”
“Hey. Scott was an experienced hiker, and look what happened to him. If we do this, we’re going to do it safely. Okay?” Impatient to get going, she forced herself to nod and waited for him to give his safety spiel. “Now, stay close to me. It could be dangerous for us to get separated. If you do get separated, there’s a whistle in your pack, and a signal mirror in case our phones don’t work. Do you need me to show you how to use it?”
“No, you already showed me.”
“Okay. Stay close. No more taking off without me.” With that, he started down the embankment.
It was steep, and the grass gave way to mud and gravel about halfway down. They held onto each other to steady themselves as they crossed the shallow creek. The climb up the embankment on the other side was a lot easier.
As they drew closer to the sign, Melanie could see where part of the red glass covering the F had been broken, exposing empty light sockets. A bird had built its nest inside the hole.
Shane paused beneath the old sign marking the entrance to the abandoned park. “So we’re going in there, huh?”
She nodded. “Scottie was always fascinated with this place. I remember when we were little he used to always badger Mom and Dad to take us back here.”
“You mean your parents brought you here when you were kids? I thought this place shut down in the seventies.”
“It did. We’ve never been here. He must have dreamed about it. For a long time he was absolutely convinced we’d been here. He even had his favorite ride, a roller coaster called the Pistol Whip.”
“Charming.”
Melanie let out a small laugh. “Anyway, I have a feeling this is where he and Jimmy were headed.” She stared up at the sign. As she did, a strange feeling of familiarity came over her, and the sign flashed in her mind’s eye in all its bright red, lit up glory.
“Mel? You coming?” She blinked at Shane, who had moved ahead of her on the trail. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” She shook off the weird feeling of deja vu. “I’m fine. Let’s go.”
They walked along the path. “Eucha Falls,” Shane mused. “Why does that sound so familiar?”
“Other than the fact we’ve been talking about it?” He gave her a look that said, “Get serious.” Melanie smiled. “Maybe because it always comes up whenever the local news does a nostalgia piece about all the state’s old amusement parks.”
“Yeah, but it’s something else. I mean, I’ve heard that name in relation to something else. I just can’t remember what. So what happened here, anyway? Why’d it close?”
“I think one of the rides caught fire. Some kids got killed.”
“Yikes.” Shane stopped walking. Melanie stopped beside him. They had reached a clearing that had once been the midway. Patches of broken pavement peeked out here and there among thick grass and weeds. Pylons that she guessed had once held up a skyway ride jutted out of the ground, rusted and overgrown with vines. Those were the only remaining traces of the old park. “What’d they do with all the rides?”
“I don’t know. I think some of them got moved to other parks. I remember them saying the Round-Up ride at Bell’s came from here.”
“Huh. I like that ride.” He shifted the weight of his backpack and looked around. “Well, where do you want to start?”
“I don’t know. I guess just keep your eyes open for anything out of place.” She really didn’t know what she hoped to find. Shane was right—so many people, both professional investigators and volunteers, had already gone over this whole region with a fine tooth comb. But it was still possible they missed something. Unlikely, but possible. And she owed it to her brother to try.
They made their way along the edge, sifting through plant growth and scanning trees for anything out of place. Any sign her brother and his friend had been there.
As they reached the far side, Melanie heard a faint but unmistakable strain of organ music. She stopped in her tracks and seized Shane by the wrist. “Do you hear that?”
He gave her a quizzical look as he cocked his ear to listen, but it was already gone. “What, the cicadas?”
“I could swear I heard music. It seemed to come from over there.” She pointed toward the center of the midway.
“We’re probably not the only hikers out here. Maybe you heard someone’s phone going off.”
“Do we even get reception out here?”
Shane pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the screen. “Nope. Could’ve been an mp3 player.”
She gave him a skeptical look. “Coming from over there?” Again, she pointed at the center of the midway.
He shrugged. “Sound bounces off of trees. It can play tricks on you out here.”
“Still,” she said, eyes scanning the area, “it was weird. It sounded like…” Her voice trailed off as she noticed light glinting off of something in the center of the clearing.
“Like what?”
“Carnival music. What’s that?” She walked toward the object. Whatever it was, it was small. They had to cover several yards before she could make it out.
“Is that a camera?” Shane asked.
“A digital video camera.” She knelt in front of it. “Scottie had one like it.” It looked as though someone had placed it there, carefully, pointing at them as though to film them. But the recording light was off. “Where the hell did it come from?”
“Maybe whoever had the phone or mp3 player you heard dropped it.” He cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted, “Hello! Hey out there! You dropped your camera!”
“I don’t think it was dropped. It looks like somebody deliberately placed it here.”
“Huh. Hope we’re not screwing up somebody’s film project.”
“It’s not recording anything.” Melanie picked up the camera and turned it on. “Battery’s still good.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m seeing what’s on it. If somebody lost it maybe we can find out who they are and get it back to them.” She hit the playback button. A moment later, she gasped, and sprang to her feet.
“What is it?” Shane peered over her shoulder at the screen. “Oh my God. Is that Scott?”
They watched the tiny screen in stunned amazement as her brother traipsed across the same grounds where they stood. He appeared to be talking to his friend, Jimmy, who apparently held the camera. “How the hell did they miss this?” asked Shane.
“Because it wasn’t here before. Look at it. It’s in too good a shape to have been lying here this whole time. Somebody put it here for us to find.”
He stared down at her as the implications dawned on him. Then he frantically scanned the tree line. “Hey!” he shouted. “Who’s out there? Where did you get this?”
“Hello?” Melanie also shouted. “We just want to ask you some questions!”
“No, forget it. I don’t like this. We need to get out of here.”
“No! This is a huge clue. We need to keep looking.”
“Mel, think about it. What if somebody did something to Scott and Jimmy? What if that same somebody is the one who left this camera here?” A chill went down Melanie’s spine. Her gaze darted around at the tree line as she drew closer to Shane. “We need to go. Let’s get back to the car, and then we’ll take this to the sheriff.”
“No, I want to watch it first.”
“You can watch it on the way to the sheriff’s office.”
“I want to take it home and make a backup copy. I don’t trust the sheriff’s office or the state police not to screw it up.”
“Fine. Let’s go.”
Thanks for reading this free preview! The rest of this story is available to read with a paid subscription. Upgrade below, or click here to buy the ebook!
Great start. I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes!