Early on February 3, 1977, Lieutenant Edward Lee Worrell of the Texarkana Arkansas Police Department responded with Patrolman James ’Butch’ Clark to a burglary in progress at Howard’s Discount Center on North Stateline Avenue. As the two officers exited their patrol car they were ambushed by gunfire from a high-powered rifle. Both were struck; Lieutenant Worrell died about an hour later at a local hospital.

Investigators arrested three juveniles in connection with the incident. Fifteen-year-old John Lohbauer was identified as the shooter and had been posted as a lookout in a nearby parking lot while two companions burglarized the store to steal ammunition. The two youths were found inside the business; Lohbauer was taken into custody shortly afterward at a convenience store. Lohbauer received a life sentence for Worrell’s murder; his two accomplices received 20-year terms and were later paroled.

Did anyone in the community have contact with Lieutenant Worrell or the three teenagers around the time they were stranded in Texarkana?