This story that I am going to tell you is one of the craziest and most absurd mysteries I have ever seen.
In 1959, 69 black adolescents (ages 13 to 17) were locked inside a dormitory at the Industrial School for Negro Boys in Wrightsville.
While they were sleeping, a mysterious fire broke out. 21 of them died, and 48 escaped by ripping the metal mesh from the windows. It is Arkansas’s worst fire record in state history.
For a variety of reasons, the guys got engaged.
Some of them were orphans or homeless. Others were there for minor offenses. Despite his mother’s assurances, a boy named William Piggee rode a white boy’s bike.
“The science of crime scene preservation existed in 1959. Yet the very morning these children were murdered, they were dismantling the entire scene with hoses and rakes and shovels. They were tearing it apart as if they were trying to cover something up.” ,” said Frank Lawrence, whose brother (Lindsey Cross) died in the fire.
The grand jury found various individuals and agencies responsible, but in the end, no criminal charges were filed.