Cold Case Files Part 2, 8-8-19

The Camden News presents today the second installment of “Cold Case Files,” a new series that the paper will run online only on Thursdays.

Each case 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 first case that we have delved into covers information and interviews after the murder of the Rev. Lee Otis Fort who was killed in February of 1987 outside of the church he pastored, Macedonia Baptist Church.

The case of the murder of Fort will be outlined through the replication of pages from the files of the CPD.

The first installment of the case showed that Fort had a brush with death before the February incident.

The case file shows that Fort 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.

The investigation into this murder began in 1987, and the case has not been solved.

Yet.

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 interview will be posted in an upcoming issue of this series.

This week’s installment begins the replication of pages and pages of interviews with people over a period of time after Fort’s murder. The interviewing of persons shown in the following pages does not automatically mean the person was a suspect and had anything to do with Fort’s murder. The Camden News is simply reprinting the information so that ‘new eyes’ can look at the evidence and, hopefully, shed new light on the case.

This series 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.

NOTE: These pages are from reports that are 32 years old, and some are grainy.

https://www.camdenarknews.com/galleries/26960/album/

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