OSBI hopes for IDs today on bodies found at campground
(Oklahoma City-AP) -- The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation hopes to have the identities and cause of death today on two bodies found in an eastern Oklahoma campground.
O-S-B-I spokeswoman Jessica Brown says the bodies of a man and woman were found Friday by a hiker in the Winding Stair campground in LeFlore County. The campground is at Winding Stair Mountains in the Ouachita National Forest.
Brown says the bodies are at the state Medical Examiner's office in Tulsa to determine the cause of death and positive identification. She says investigators are not releasing information about the condition of the bodies.
Brown says the two apparently registered for the campsite last Tuesday and a tent and car were found at the site.
I have to wonder if foul play isn't involved with their withholding the condition of the bodies. Sometimes that just indicates a suspicious manner in which a person or persons committed a homicide.
Of course you can't rule out anything at this point and so we will wait to see if a bigfoot was involved.
Thanks for sharing the report, I'll try to follow it and see what comes of it.
I'm just thankful I wasn't the one hiking that trail that day. That's something I hope I never stumble upon while trekking the woods.
The discovery of two bodies in the Ouachita National Forest has some questioning the safety of camping in the area.
But US Forestry officials call it an "unfortunate and isolated" incident but say campers have nothing to fear.
The Winding Stair Mountain National Recreational area, where the bodies were found, remains closed and is expected to be closed until the investigation is complete.
Tuesday people were still camping throughout the Forest.
US Forestry officials say it's safe here but to reassure people they have beefed up patrols.
James and Wanda McMillan set up camp Friday morning and later they heard about the murders but say it didn't scare them off, they too believe this is an isolated incident.
"We feel comfortable because we come here often and this particular park here usually there people that are here not just like probably like they were up there just one group," says James McMillan.
US Forestry officials say no matter where you camp, you should always be aware of the people and your surroundings.
OSBI Says Dead Campers Were Homicide Victims
Identification Not Yet Available
POSTED: 9:41 a.m. CDT July 16, 2003
UPDATED: 7:36 p.m. CDT July 16, 2003
OKLAHOMA CITY -- No suspects have been identified in the shooting deaths of a Texas couple at a campground, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said.
OSBI spokeswoman Jessica Brown said investigators are looking for "people of interest" in the deaths of the husband and wife from Hurst.
The bodies of Charles Chick, 47, Shirley Chick, 50, of Hurst, Texas, were found Friday at the Winding Stair campground in the Ouachita National Forest.
The couple was shot several times with a small caliber handgun, authorities said.
The two registered at the campground three days earlier and their tent and car were found at the site.
Brown said investigators have found people who may be able to provide leads but are not calling them suspects.
Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press.
This message has been edited by Arkansan from IP address 208.189.4.97 on Jul 17, 2003 10:25 AM
I don't know of any bigfoot creatures that carry firearms and shoot people.
But that story is still frightening in that it is so close to me. I am hoping it is some kind of revenge or personal vendetta thing and we don't just have someone in the area commiting random killings.
I am fairly sure that is not the case as majority of killings are linked in some manner by familiarity and have a motive. But until we know for sure, it would be wise to be more alert and onguard.
I just hate to hear of anything like this happening anytime, but especially out in the woods. I'm sure it will keep some people from enjoying the outdoors. You folks just keep a heads up and be careful.
Yeah, I am with Jaylee on this it is spooky. I hope they find out who done it before long. It will probably keep a lot out that would have normally gone camping.
This message has been edited by Arkansan from IP address 208.189.4.97 on Jul 17, 2003 4:09 PM
mentioned some escaped prisoners were in the area. I sure hope they have been caught. This tragedy is a good example why I feel it's a good idea to camp armed, no matter what your stance on the kill - no kill debate. (I'm not trying to stir anything up and will understand if this post does not make it)
Trent
I didn't know about the escaped prisoners. That just makes it worse!
I'm with you, I believe it is necessary to be armed when camping, but that's just me. Some would disagree, but that's their opinion and we don't have to agree on everything.
Why didnt they release the condition of the bodies at the time of the 1st report?They could have said a Texas couple was found shot to death there.But no they waited for autopsy reports is why I think may be a cover up!Do you really think the headlines would read like this?"Texas couple was found tore to bits by some unknown entity or person"Think about it.
I think if they had been torn to bits by something, the headlines would have likely read it had been done by black bears as that would be the best cover story in that case.
But like everybody on this thread has said, if you have to camping, go armed. Or better yet, be like me and never go camping! No way am I going camping in midsummer out in the Texas swamps full of spiders, snakes, mosquitos, gnats and maybe human murderers. :( My hat is off to the real researchers who are willing to take the risk and endure the discomfort.
Suspect An Ex-Prison Guard
By Marcus Blair
TIMES RECORD • MBLAIR@SWTIMES.COM
POTEAU — A man suspected of ambushing and killing a couple at a remote campground was once a prison guard, officials said.
LeFlore County authorities and prison officials confirmed Tuesday that Edward Leon Fields, 36, of Wister worked about three years as a guard at Jim E. Hamilton Correctional Center near Hodgen.
Additional details about his employment will not be available until today, said an employee of the public relations division of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
Fields was arrested Friday evening at Kenco Plastics in Poteau, where he worked. He is suspected of killing Charles and Shirley Chick of Hurst, Texas, at a campground in the Winding Stair Mountains.
A hiker found the couple shot to death on July 11. Analysts with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation removed .22-caliber bullets from the bodies and determined that six fibers found at the campground were made of burlap, according to an affidavit filed in federal court.
A LeFlore County woman told police she had been friends with Fields for four years and they lived together until June, according to the affidavit. Since then, Fields has been living in campgrounds around Wister Lake and Talimena Drive, the woman told police.
During the time they lived together, Fields showed the woman a .22-caliber rifle with a scope and a camouflage suit made of rope-like material, the affidavit states.
In June, Fields and the woman went shopping and Fields bought .22-caliber bullets and burlap bags. When she asked the purpose of the items, Fields told the woman, “you don’t want to know,” and then cut the burlap bags into strips and tied them around the rifle.
Last week, Fields called the woman and told her he was going to commit suicide because he had “done something real bad,” the affidavit states. Fields told the woman he had “snuck up on some people in their car” before putting on the camouflage suit, sneaking toward them and watching them.
When agents arrested Fields, they found a camouflage suit known as a “gilly suit” lying in the back of Fields’ pickup, the affidavit states.
A rifle believed to be the murder weapon was found inside the pickup, the affidavit states.
FBI spokesman Gary Johnson said investigators “have a pretty good idea” about a motive for the killings, but he declined to elaborate. Johnson said Fields, 36, didn’t know the victims.
The case may be presented to a grand jury next week.
The Chicks were avid campers and had been married about 20 years, a friend told the Dallas Morning News. Charles Chick, 47, worked for Lockheed-Martin and Shirley Chick, 50, was a freelance computer programmer.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT.
This message has been edited by Arkansan from IP address 208.189.4.113 on Jul 24, 2003 3:07 PM
That is scary. This is the part that got me the most...
"During the time they lived together, Fields showed the woman a .22-caliber rifle with a scope and a camouflage suit made of rope-like material, the affidavit states.
In June, Fields and the woman went shopping and Fields bought .22-caliber bullets and burlap bags. When she asked the purpose of the items, Fields told the woman, “you don’t want to know,” and then cut the burlap bags into strips and tied them around the rifle."
This means the guy not only was staking out the forest around the campgrounds, but in full camouflage as well. He is one spooky guy. I hate to hear he was an ex-correctional officer too, that gives the rest of us ex-correctional officers a bad name.
To think, I have been up around those campgrounds a few times in the past month, even had a picnic there with the kids! Now I am totally creeped out.
People have many misconceptions about the many wild creatures found in the forest, including our hairy friend Bigfoot.
People are far more dangerous, especially those carrying a weapon than an encounter with a Bigfoot. Rarely do wild animals kill people, but everyday hundreds of individuals are violently killed everyday in the U.S.A., especially in the larger cities.
Myself, I've spent countless hours in the outdoors here in the PNW running into bears, cougars, lynx and other large animals and have never been attacked or threatened. Give me an encounter with any wild animal any time.
If a husband or roommate showed me firearms and told me I didn't want to know what he was fixing to do with them, I'd be outa there before you could see my dust. And report him to our local sheriff as well. So my question is, why didn't the woman who was living in the same house with him do that? Very weird. If that same woman had seen a Bigfoot, she would most likely have run screaming. Yet the Bigfoot would have been far less dangerous.
get people that make those whacky creepy statements "help" even if it is going to put them under the microscope. He gives all gun owners(not just ex-correction officers) a bad name. But please don't think wild animal attacks don't happen either. If we use annedotal evidence(I've never been attacked it in x many years) then most of us would also conclude that humans weren't dangerous. I hear enough stories of both cougar and wild dog attacks here in Colorado to make me cautious. We also have a huge bear population and there have been food shortages due to the recent drought conditions(luckily that may be ending). As the wild and human populations meet the chance of encounters go up and with that the chance of a "misunderstanding". We are often perceived as either a threat or a food source and that causes the animal to ignore their fear of us. I'm not arguing against your point that humans are much more dangerous, just that you should be aware of all possible threats and prepare yourself accordingly.
Trent
But I don't figure on going deep into the woods or swamps, above all not by myself, where there is any chance of encountered a large, carnivous wild animal. In fact, in this neck of the woods, the largest predator is the coyote. Certainly bears and cougars can be dangerous--but there are none around here. I'm more afraid of a rabid skunk as a lot of skunks around here develop rabies.
Bats are also carriers of the rabies virus and whenever handled by someone, you should wear a pair of gloves so that if the little devils bite and draw blood, there's less of a chance to get infected. Those rabies shots for weeks afterwards are no fun from what I hear.
