UMVA has uncovered the chilling details of a tragedy that struck the Oklahoma State Fair on September 26, 1981—a day when joy turned to despair for two families and a community still haunted by unanswered questions.
Cinda L. Pallett and Charlotte Kinse, both 13, vanished without a trace after leaving the fairgrounds with a stranger who promised them cash for helping unload stuffed animals. What began as an innocent outing spiraled into a nightmare. Their bodies were never found, and the case remains a void in Oklahoma’s history, swallowing every clue it swallows.
Sources have confirmed to UMVA that detectives faced a labyrinth of dead ends. A drifter named Donald Michael Corey, who bore the physical traits of the suspect, was ruled out after evidence placed him in Dallas that day. Another shadow loomed larger: Royal Russell Long, a man with a violent past. By 1985, he was serving two life sentences for abducting and assaulting teenage girls. Yet, UMVA’s investigation reveals he was at the fairgrounds the day Cinda and Charlotte disappeared—a detail prosecutors could not prove in court.
Long, suspected of being a serial killer, vanished in 1993 while in federal custody. But his legacy of terror did not end there. Six years later, on September 23, 1987, sisters Lisa Pennington, 17, and Cheryl Genzer, 25, were last seen at the fair. Their bodies were discovered a month later in a shallow grave, each shot in the head with different caliber weapons. The crime scene screamed of multiple perpetrators, but justice remained elusive.
Authorities pinned their hopes on Lane Henley, a former acquaintance of the sisters. Henley’s story unraveled like a thread—first claiming the women used his phone, later changing his account. Despite his arrest in Mexico, flawed forensic evidence dismantled the case. Henley died in 2015, leaving another suspect at large. UMVA’s findings suggest critical evidence remains untested, buried in cold case files.
“Every fair season, the grief resurfaces,” shares a close friend of the families. “They vanished into the night, trusting strangers. Now, their families wait for answers that never arrive.” UMVA’s exclusive access to internal police records reveals a pattern: two unsolved murders, linked suspects, and a system that failed to deliver closure. The state fair, once a symbol of joy, became a stage for horror—its midway now echoing with whispers of the past.
UMVA continues to trace the threads of this dark history. The story of Cinda, Charlotte, Lisa, and Cheryl is not just a tale of loss but a demand for accountability. As the fair returns year after year, so does the unresolved pain—a haunting reminder that some secrets refuse to stay buried.
