Bobbie Lynn still fought back,
jerking open the door of the truck, determined to escape into the night. But Sells had a gun. He shot her in the head and she fell from the
truck into the dirt on the side of the lonely road.
jerking open the door of the truck, determined to escape into the night. But Sells had a gun. He shot her in the head and she fell from the
truck into the dirt on the side of the lonely road.
Now, it was time to clean up the
scene before daybreak revealed his crime.
He’d been here before. He knew what he had to do. He grabbed her yellow duffle bag and black
purse and threw them as far as he could.
In flight, the purse disgorged cosmetics and a public library card. The pair of earrings she wore caught his
eye. Like a heartless magpie scavenging
bright treasure, he plucked them from her earlobes and slid them in his pocket. excerpt from THROUGH THE WINDOW
scene before daybreak revealed his crime.
He’d been here before. He knew what he had to do. He grabbed her yellow duffle bag and black
purse and threw them as far as he could.
In flight, the purse disgorged cosmetics and a public library card. The pair of earrings she wore caught his
eye. Like a heartless magpie scavenging
bright treasure, he plucked them from her earlobes and slid them in his pocket. excerpt from THROUGH THE WINDOW
In writing my book about the crimes and victims of Tommy Lynn Sells, I learned of the many tragedies striking the family of 14-year-old Bobbie Lynn Wofford. The final blow fell on this day, thirteen years ago.
In 1998, Bobbie Lynn’s brother Ricky was riding in a friend’s car when he was thrown into the windshield. The resulting injuries severely altered his facial features. Two months later, Ricky went to a ball game with his brother Michael. Their father Fred dropped them off at the high school and disappeared. For two weeks, no one knew what happened to Fred Wofford. Finally, he was found in his vehicle, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head.
Then Michael was in an automobile accident, breaking his ribs, fracturing his collarbone and puncturing his lungs. Throughout it all, Susan Wofford clung to the one bright spot in her life, her daughter, Bobbie Lynn.
In July, 1999, Bobbie Lynn’s luminous presence was extinguished. She left her home in Kingfisher,Oklahoma, telling her mother she was going to the lake for to spend the 4th of July weekend with the family of one of her friends. Instead, she went with off with other teenagers that her mother did not trust. Those companions dumped Bobbie Lynn at a convenience store in the middle of the night on July 5.
Bobbie Lynn was afraid to call her mother to come pick her up because she knew she’d get in trouble. Instead, she accepted a ride from a man in the parking lot, serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells. Susan had no idea what became of her daughter for four long months. Finally, hunters found the young girl’s body on November 4, 1999.
Susan was grateful to have Bobbie Lynn returned home for burial but she still had questions. Some were forthcoming when Tommy Lynn Sells confessed to the girl’s murder. Agent Steve Tanio of the Oklahoma Bureau of Investigation was awarded the Agent of the Year Award in February 2002 for the resolution of that case among others.
However, Sells was not charged with the crime because of political wrangling between the district attorney’s office and law enforcement. So the case technically remains open, thirteen years cold, and a mother still waits for answers.