Cold Case Files: Killing in Tahlequah tavern from 1960 one of Oklahoma's longest-running unsolved mysteries

On the evening of October 31, 1960, as families across America celebrated Halloween with costumes and candy, a brutal crime unfolded in the quiet college town of Tahlequah, the heart of Cherokee County and home to the Cherokee Nation.

Charlene Marie Springer Reynolds, a 40-year-old woman born on February 15, 1920, was working her shift at the Red Oak Tavern, a local establishment where she served drinks and interacted with patrons. What should have been a routine night ended in unimaginable violence.

Sometime during or after her work hours, Charlene was attacked inside or near the tavern. Her assailant struck her repeatedly in the head with a cast iron skillet, inflicting severe blunt force trauma, then stabbed her six times.She was found dead from the combined injuries.

The savage nature of the assault--bludgeoning followed by multiple stabbings--suggested rage, desperation, or a deeply personal motive, yet investigators at the time could not pinpoint a clear suspect.

The murder shocked the small community.

Tahlequah in 1960 was a place where people knew their neighbors, and violent crime of this magnitude was rare. Local law enforcement assisted by state authorities launched an investigation, but leads dried up quickly.

No weapon was recovered beyond the skillet believed to be from the tavern itself, and no eyewitness accounts or forensic evidence of the era provided a breakthrough. The case went cold within months.

Decades later, Charlene's killing remains one of Oklahoma's oldest documented unsolved homicides.

Her grave rests in Greenleaf Cemetery in Tahlequah, a quiet reminder of a life cut short and justice delayed

.In the years since, advances in DNA technology, genetic genealogy, and renewed public interest have solved many long-dormant cases across the state. Yet Charlene's file has seen no public updates indicating new evidence or arrests. Advocacy groups and online communities continue to share her details in hopes that someone with knowledge--perhaps a long-ago witness, a family member with old information, or even a conscience-stricken individual--will come forward

.The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation's Cold Case Unit, along with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office and Tahlequah Police Department, keep such files active. Authorities urge anyone with information, no matter how seemingly insignificant, to contact them: the OSBI at tips@osbi.ok.gov or 1-800-522-8017, or local agencies directly.

More than 65 years after that fateful Halloween night, Charlene Marie Springer Reynolds' murder stands as a stark example of how time can erode evidence and memory, but not the need for answers.

Her family, friends, and the community that once knew her deserve resolution. Until then, the case remains open--a silent plea for truth in a town that has changed in countless ways, yet still carries the weight of this unsolved tragedy.