On a night in February of 1987, a minister is found shot to death in the parking lot of a church, the church where he serves as the pastor. Prior to this incident, the reverend was leaving the church at around 11:45 p.m. in December of 1986 when four rifle shots came from a wooded area north of the church.
One shot struck him in the left shoulder, but he survived, only to be shot to death a few weeks later and, again, the shooting occurred at the church.
This sounds like the plot of a movie - an old film noir. But it describes an event that occurred in 1987 that resulted in the death of the Rev. Lee Otis Fort who was killed outside of the church he pastored, Macedonia Baptist Church. The investigation into this murder began in 1987, and the case has not been solved.
The Camden News begins a Cold Case Files series that starts today with the Fort case and will run each Thursday - but only in our online Replica edition.
This series will run over a course of several weeks and will feature cold-case files from the Camden Police Department and the Ouachita County Sheriff’s Department.
Between the cold cases from the CPD and the OCSD, the Camden News will feature a missing persons case.The case of the murder of Fort will be outlined through the replication of pages from the files of the CPD.
The Camden News attempted to locate members of Fort’s family to interview them, but no one could be located. If a member of the family is found, the person will be interviewed - if he or she is willing to do so - and the information posted in an upcoming issue of this series.
The Camden News also wants to stress that this series is not a game, but an attempt to bring closure to those affected by the murder, and justice for the victim. Anyone with information about this case can call the CPD at 870-836-5755.
Today, the series begins with the replication of a 1987 newspaper article. NOTE: These pages are from reports that are 32 years old, and some are grainy.
https://www.camdenarknews.com/galleries/26939/album/