SAYRE, Okla. – News about the cars at the bottom of Foss Lake spread rapidly through the small town of Sayre.
The disappearance of three teenagers has been a mystery looming over the town for more than four decades.
Much of the talk on Tuesday at Sayre’s only grocery store, Pucketts Food, centered around the discoveries at Foss Lake.
“Everybody’s just talking about it you know can’t believe you know after so many years we’re finding these vehicles you know in a lake,” said Mandy Dunlap, an employee at Pucketts.
You don’t have to be an old timer to know about the case.
“I wasn’t around at that time you know. I’m a lot younger. But you know I’ve heard about it. I’ve heard about it for years,” said Dunlap.
“I’m glad they found them. They’ve been wondering about them for years,” said Sayre resident, Wilmer Teakell.
But those who were around in 1970 remember the fear all parents felt.
“They were you know really sad about it naturally because you just wonder all the time you know if something’s happened to them,” said Sayre resident, Dora Woods.
“It was a big ordeal you know I mean they just disappeared, no traces of them,” said Sayre resident, Wilna Plummer. “All these years, they weren’t very far from home.”
Plummer says she knew Jimmy Williams’ parents and grieved with them.
The teens last made headlines in the local paper four years ago when the community held a candlelight vigil for them.
A community that now feels they may have some of the answers.
“I was real glad. To me, that’s a closure,” said Plummer.
Jimmy Williams’ brother, Gary Williams, said while authorities cannot yet positively identify the remains, he is positive it is his brother.
He says the discovery was God’s timing and that a lot of people have been praying for this for a long time.
