OKLAHOMA COLD CASE: WHO KILLED LAURA LONG???

Early in the Summer in July of 1977, Laura Long left her home that was a few miles outside of Claremore, Oklahoma and drove into town to put gas in her car.  She was to meet up with friends to attend church.  Her mother watched her drive away unaware this would be the last time she saw her daughter alive.  

Laura was seen by many who knew her, driving her car up and down the main drag in town, Will Rogers Boulevard, honking and waving at people she knew.  My sister and I were there that day.  We passed Laura and waved at her having no clue it would be the last time we saw her.  Her mom became very concerned as the evening wore on and she didn't returned home.  Where could Laura be?  Who should she call?  Should she go searching for her on her own?     

Pat Riley Reeder former managing editor of the Claremore Daily Progress Newspaper said Laura's parents came to her and asked her to put in the local paper that Laura was missing.  Pat asked them if they had been to the Police and FBI.  She told them to wait 24 hours to see if Laura eventually came home.  Sad to say, she never came home.  Before the 24 hours were up, Pat says, they knew Laura was dead.  Pat was broken hearted and took crime scene photos of the body for law enforcement...including some of the first photographs capturing the crime scene where Laura's body was found.  Pat said, "I saw the body in the ditch, and the investigators said it probably was Laura." Pat was very sure the body was Laura.  Her death was too much for her family.  The incident ended in the break-up of her parent's marriage.  Her mother nearly lost her mind, and felt a little to blame. To make matters worse, Reeder felt that there were problems with the investigation from the start.  She believes the case was handled poorly.  Roger's County Sheriffs investigators say they eliminated numerous people as suspects at the time Laura went missing.  One suspect was a young man I knew.  He was asked to come and look at the body to see if it was Laura.  Her loved ones waited years with no signs of any solution to the case.  

On July 10, 1977, a nude female body was found in a ditch along a country road off of State Highway 66 near Claremore, Oklahoma.  What brought the body to be located was the smell the witnesses smelled driving down that country road.  After an investigation by  Sheriff Scott Walton and the Sheriffs Department the body was  identified as as 18 year old Laura Long.  She had been missing for 10 days.  Her body was identified by her dental records.  Her body had been stripped naked, sexually assaulted and found face down in the ditch.  The Medical Examiner determined the cause of death to be suffocation......  

April 29, 1998, CBS News Tulsa, Oklahoma reminded the public about this long forgotten case of the Murder of 18 year old Laura Long.  The article was entitled, "Who Killed Laura Long?"  For 21 years this case had gone cold, despite of hundreds of hours of investigation, interviews and tips.  The Claremore Police never arrested anyone.  In 1998, the Police Department decided to reopen this cold case, after reading the article, Who Killed Laura Long?  Someone anonymously wrote 3 letters to investigators pointing a finger at a man who lived near by.  He was a former Claremore resident, who had moved over a hour away from Claremore.  He claimed he was innocent.  He took a lie detector test and failed.  Flunking such a test has no weight in a court of law.  No one was ever arrested for her murder.  Intent on solving the cold case, the FBI at that time was in the process of conducting DNA testing on the clothes Laura was wearing that day (where were her clothes found?),  to see if the DNA on her clothes matched a suspect's DNA.  No match was ever made.  So again the case went cold.


2 NEWS, Oklahoma posted at 3:17 PM, June 15, 2023 by Sharon Phillips

CLAREMORE, OKLA. ---- Inked within yellowed, old newspapers, lies the story of a beautiful 18-year-old girl named Laura Long.  This case dates back to 1977 that involves a brutal, murder and sexual assault that left a community devasted and a marriage destroyed.

Laura was reported missing on a Sunday night.  Her car was later found at the Ne-Mar Shopping Center with her purse and keys still inside.  "Actually, again it was odors that brought people's attention to her and to law enforcement that led to the discovery of her body," Roger's County Sheriff Scott Walton said.  "Her body was found at a location outside of Claremore, partially decomposed, partially nude and there was evidence of sexual assault."

Pat Riley Reeder is the former managing editor of the Claremore Daily Progress.  She told 2 News she has seen things that people should never have to see and this case is one she has never been able to forget.  "This one bothered me so much," she said.  I will always remember it because her parents came to me and wanted me to put in the Claremore Progress that she was missing.  I asked them if they had been to the police and the FBI.  They said yes and that they wanted them to wait 24 hours.  I said, "well, lets wait and let's see."  Before the 24 hours were up, we knew she was dead."

Brokenhearted, Reeder told herself she would never deny a parent's request again.  At that time, not only did she work for the newspaper, but also took crime scene photos for law enforcement ...including some of the first photographs capturing the crime scene of where Laura Long's body was found.  "I saw the body in the ditch, and they said it was probably Laura," Reeder said.  "I knew that it was, and I felt really sure that it was." 

Not only did the community lose a beautiful girl with her whole life ahead of her, Reeder says her death was simply too much for her family.  "This situation ended in the breakup for her parent's marriage.  Her mother nearly lost her mind and I think I felt a little to blame.  I don't know what else it would be."  

To make matters worse, Reeder felt there were problems with the investigation from the start.  "From the time they came to me until after her body was found, all through this, I thought it was all handled very poorly," Reeder added.

A few years back I was told her murderer had been found, and an arrest was to be made, but her killer died before he could be prosecuted.  How true that information is,  I will never know.  Her disappearance and murder stays with me.  Was there something I could have done different to save her life?  Someone I personally know was interviewed and taken to view her body.  Here it is 2026, and the case has never been solved.  Will the Long family ever see closure?  Who did this horrible crime?  When will they be put behind bars?  I truly Pray to God the case will be solved some day soon. 

 

Connie Johnston James




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