On November 20th, 1981 thirty-two year old Monnita Sue Kern was found dead in Sand Springs.
At the time, Monnita worked at Victory Bar in Tulsa as a waitress. She had left Victory Bar shortly after midnight November 19th, and with her she took a bank bag containing approximately $300 and the receipts from the day. Monnita’s body would be found around 3:30 am on November 20th at a scenic overlook of the Keystone Expressway. She had been shot in the head at close range with a small caliber weapon. The bag containing the nightly deposit and receipts was missing, along with Monnita’s 1971 Ford. Oddly though, her wallet containing $100 was found with her. There were no signs of a struggle, and police believe that the couple who found Monnita weren’t very far behind the killer, as Monnita was last seen alive a scant three hours prior.
In a very odd turn of events, Monnita’s daughter would go missing in 1994. Buffy Sue Harris Mayo went missing on July 12, 1994 from her Tulsa home. Buffy was last seen alive at her home on South Utica Avenue in Tulsa. Her husband stated that she left the home at approximately one or two in the morning to go buy cigarettes. She never returned. As stated by her husband and her adoptive mother, Buffy was a sex worker and was known to disappear from time to time. . This would be considered survival sex work as Buffy was engaged in this line of work in order to make a living and survive. According to a family account online Buffy had spoken to her father just before going missing, and he stated she seemed “off” and kind of scared about something, but she didn’t say what if anything was bothering her. The only suspect is possibly her husband, however it should be stated that he did report her missing the same day she was last seen after she didn’t come home. It is believed that Buffy has met with foul play.
If you have any information regarding the murder of Monita Sue Kern, please contact the Sand Springs Police Department at 918-245-8777. Monita is pictured on the left below.
If you have any information regarding the disappearance of Buffy Sue Harris Mayo, please contact the Tulsa Police Department at 918-596-9143.