What Happened To Sandra Cheskey, The Sole Survivor Of The 1973 Gitchie Manitou Massacre?
On November 17, 1973, perhaps the most gruesome crime in Iowa history took place (via Oxygen). Five teenagers from nearby Sioux Falls, South Dakota, had driven across the border to Iowa's Gitchie Manitou State Preserve to smoke some cannabis, play the guitar, and generally enjoy some peace and quiet in the outdoors. Unfortunately for the four boys and one girl, they happened to be in the same place where three violent brothers, bent on raising some hell, happened to be. When the dust had settled, the four boys had been murdered, and the surviving girl had been kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and then inexplicably set free by her captors.
The sole survivor, Sandra Cheskey, was instrumental in bringing the murderers and her assailant to justice. Though she helped put the Fryer brothers behind bars, she also had to live with the trauma inflicted on her as an adolescent. Further still, the sexual assault victim became something of a pariah around town in the months following the crime (via Des Moines Register).
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
The Crime
Stewart Baade, 18; Mike Hadrath, 15; Dana Baade, 14; Roger Essem, 17; and his 13-year-old girlfriend, Sandra Cheskey, drove the 20 or so miles from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and across the border into Iowa, not knowing that for four of them, it would be the last night of their lives. As the Argus Leader reports, the five of them brought a guitar and some marijuana and intended to spend the night doing what teenagers do (at the time, Gitchie Manitou State Preserve was a popular destination for teens and adults keen to party).
Meanwhile, brothers Allen Fryer, 29, David Fryer, 24, and James Fryer, 21, all local hellraisers, had come to the park for reasons that remain elusive (some reports suggested that they were around to poach deer). However, when they came upon the teens, they (the men) said that they were drug agents and were going to confiscate the teens' pot. The men then shot the four boys — their wounds indicated that they were shot by shotguns at close range (via Oxygen) — and then James abducted Sandra, took her to another location, and sexually assaulted her.
The next day, the men planned to kill Sandra, but inexplicably, James instead took her home and warned her not to tell anyone.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
The Aftermath
Sandra Cheskey overcame her fears and did report what had happened to her and her companions, according to the Argus Leader. It took about 10 days, but eventually, she was able to lead police to the house where she'd been assaulted. In a remarkable coincidence, Allen Fryer drove by at the time — in the very same truck in which he'd abducted Sandra. The three men were eventually put away for their crimes.
Sandra, unfortunately, was victimized twice. According to the Des Moines Register, she became a pariah in town. She walked with her head down while judgmental parents wondered aloud why she was with boys years older than her, and smoking marijuana no less. The local teens were told not to associate with her. "Ashamed, alone ... I felt all of that," she told the outlet decades later. She was offered no help and no trauma counseling.
What happened in the intervening decades is unclear. She married at the age of 26, and by 2013, she had begun speaking publicly again about the ordeal. By this point, she was an aunt, a mother, and a grandmother. "Sandra inspires those around her to also find their inner strength and move beyond tragedy and limitations," wrote Patty Dee for KKRC.