The Springfield 3…Sherill Levitt, Suzie Streeter, and Stacy McCall. It haunts me. I am close to the same age as the girls. I think about graduation night and parties. They were supposed to stay the night with a school friend who had also graduated that night. They had gone to her house but the friends house was full of family members who had come for the graduation. This girls mother heard them in the hall. She heard Suzie say “Follow me to my house” and Stacy replied “Okay I will”. It was 2am. At 9am the friend and her boyfriend arrive at Susie’s house, they were concerned because Suzie and Stacy were supposed to meet up at the friends house to go to ‘White Water’ in Branson. When they didn’t show the friend drove over to Susie’s house. They find the door unlocked, an outdoor porch light shade has been broken and the family dog is seemingly upset. There is no one at home but their cars are all still in the driveway. While the friend is there the phone rings and she answers and it is an obscene call. She hangs up and it happens again. The friend and boyfriend innocently sweep up the broken glass because the friend was barefooted. They leave and go to a different water park. As the day proceeds several people will enter the house innocently contaminating the crime scene. Stacy’s mother who has been calling all day and getting no reply eventually reports the three missing. 16 hours have passed. While at the Levitt home looking for the girls Stacy’s mother checks the voicemail and hears a ‘strange message’. Somehow it is deleted. LE has never disclosed, that I know of, what was said in that voicemail.
Every year I hope for a break. There is one guy in prison who says he knows what happened and even though he is in prison in TX he did live in Springfield at the time of the disappearance. Yet he says nothing of import. Just dangling that carrot.
I think the girls came home and something terrible was happening in Sherill Levitts room. LE know the girls got home and at least started getting ready for bed. They found the makeup remover pads where the girls removed their makeup. They found a Coke can half full next to a burnt down cigarette. Suzie and Stacy smoked. They found the clothes Stacy had been wearing neatly folded and laid on the bed. The TV was on but just showed snow. Suzie’s car was not parked in its regular place. According to a friend she always parked in the garage and was a ‘creature of habit’. She obviously took good care of her car.
So total speculation here…Did the girls call Sherill and tell her they were coming home that night? I don’t think so. They planned to stay at the friends and it was only after they got to her house and saw there were tons of relatives there and probably no place to comfortably sleep (these are teen age girls after all they don’t want to sleep on the living room couch with a bunch of people they don’t know parading around come morning) that they decide to go back to Suzies house. We know this because they told the friend and the friends mother heard them discuss it. Why didn’t they go back to Stacy’s house? My speculation is that Suzie was the only child in the home with a single mother so they could probably do whatever they wanted like smoke cigarettes, play TV late and usual teen age stuff. I believe that Sherill probably wasn’t too strict. So they pull up and Suzie does not park in the garage…why? Was there perhaps a vehicle already parked in the garage? Did Sherill have boyfriends over from time to time when Suzie was out? I could see Suzie and Stacy coming in at 2:15am and seeing a car parked in the garage that they probably didn’t know whose was and laughing and saying something like “Ooo moms caught this time she didn’t know we would be back”. So they think nothing about going inside. Maybe they’re curious as to who moms boyfriend is. They just don’t know it’s NOT a boyfriend but a killer. Probably a rapist too. Maybe that was his initial intention.
So one of them gets a Coke out of the fridge. They probably make some noise. The killer had to hear their cars pull up. He has not killed Sherill at this point and tells her to be quiet for the life of her daughter. They go upstairs to Suzies room and start to get ready for bed. They turn on TV and put a video tape in the VCR to watch. Where is the family dog? Unknown. Probably running around the house. Maybe it has come into Suzies room. One of them lights a cigarette. They have removed their makeup. Then something happens. Maybe Sherill started fighting this guy. Yelling for the girls to run. He must have had a gun. Somehow one man got control of three people. It probably wouldn’t be hard. Hold the gun on mother and tell the girls he will blow her away if they don’t do what he wants.
At some point all the women’s pocket books were put together in Suzies room. Why? Who knows. Maybe he was looking for something. He didn’t take her money. $800 was still in Sherills purse…the deposit from her salon. How did he know the daughter wouldn’t be there that night? I have always thought that Sherill knew the killer. Maybe not well. Maybe just an acquaintance or a neighbor or a man who came into her salon. Someone she told that Suzie would be gone for the night with friends. He most likely drove there and parked in the driveway. There was no sign of forced entry. I would say he knocked the lamp off the light on purpose maybe to get Sherill to open the door to see what the noise was. Maybe he did it quietly then knocked on the door and when Sherill tried to turn on the light it didn’t work but she opened the door anyway. Maybe the door was unlocked.
I read somewhere that a woman thought she saw Sherill that morning at 7am driving a green van. It was never verified. It could have been her easily. He couldn’t have driven them…he had to control 3 people. Why didn’t he kill them there in the home? Why did he want their bodies hidden? Maybe he kept them alive for awhile. Horrible to think about. So where are their bodies?
It haunts me.
Sorry if too long…
TLDR - The Springfield Three missing and no bodies found for 30+years and no good suspects.
Every year I hope for a break. There is one guy in prison who says he knows what happened and even though he is in prison in TX he did live in Springfield at the time of the disappearance. Yet he says nothing of import. Just dangling that carrot.
I think the girls came home and something terrible was happening in Sherill Levitts room. LE know the girls got home and at least started getting ready for bed. They found the makeup remover pads where the girls removed their makeup. They found a Coke can half full next to a burnt down cigarette. Suzie and Stacy smoked. They found the clothes Stacy had been wearing neatly folded and laid on the bed. The TV was on but just showed snow. Suzie’s car was not parked in its regular place. According to a friend she always parked in the garage and was a ‘creature of habit’. She obviously took good care of her car.
So total speculation here…Did the girls call Sherill and tell her they were coming home that night? I don’t think so. They planned to stay at the friends and it was only after they got to her house and saw there were tons of relatives there and probably no place to comfortably sleep (these are teen age girls after all they don’t want to sleep on the living room couch with a bunch of people they don’t know parading around come morning) that they decide to go back to Suzies house. We know this because they told the friend and the friends mother heard them discuss it. Why didn’t they go back to Stacy’s house? My speculation is that Suzie was the only child in the home with a single mother so they could probably do whatever they wanted like smoke cigarettes, play TV late and usual teen age stuff. I believe that Sherill probably wasn’t too strict. So they pull up and Suzie does not park in the garage…why? Was there perhaps a vehicle already parked in the garage? Did Sherill have boyfriends over from time to time when Suzie was out? I could see Suzie and Stacy coming in at 2:15am and seeing a car parked in the garage that they probably didn’t know whose was and laughing and saying something like “Ooo moms caught this time she didn’t know we would be back”. So they think nothing about going inside. Maybe they’re curious as to who moms boyfriend is. They just don’t know it’s NOT a boyfriend but a killer. Probably a rapist too. Maybe that was his initial intention.
So one of them gets a Coke out of the fridge. They probably make some noise. The killer had to hear their cars pull up. He has not killed Sherill at this point and tells her to be quiet for the life of her daughter. They go upstairs to Suzies room and start to get ready for bed. They turn on TV and put a video tape in the VCR to watch. Where is the family dog? Unknown. Probably running around the house. Maybe it has come into Suzies room. One of them lights a cigarette. They have removed their makeup. Then something happens. Maybe Sherill started fighting this guy. Yelling for the girls to run. He must have had a gun. Somehow one man got control of three people. It probably wouldn’t be hard. Hold the gun on mother and tell the girls he will blow her away if they don’t do what he wants.
At some point all the women’s pocket books were put together in Suzies room. Why? Who knows. Maybe he was looking for something. He didn’t take her money. $800 was still in Sherills purse…the deposit from her salon. How did he know the daughter wouldn’t be there that night? I have always thought that Sherill knew the killer. Maybe not well. Maybe just an acquaintance or a neighbor or a man who came into her salon. Someone she told that Suzie would be gone for the night with friends. He most likely drove there and parked in the driveway. There was no sign of forced entry. I would say he knocked the lamp off the light on purpose maybe to get Sherill to open the door to see what the noise was. Maybe he did it quietly then knocked on the door and when Sherill tried to turn on the light it didn’t work but she opened the door anyway. Maybe the door was unlocked.
I read somewhere that a woman thought she saw Sherill that morning at 7am driving a green van. It was never verified. It could have been her easily. He couldn’t have driven them…he had to control 3 people. Why didn’t he kill them there in the home? Why did he want their bodies hidden? Maybe he kept them alive for awhile. Horrible to think about. So where are their bodies?
It haunts me.
Sorry if too long…
TLDR - The Springfield Three missing and no bodies found for 30+years and no good suspects.
