Cold Case Files: No justice for over 26 years for the family of a murdered Adair County Cherokee Nation carpenter

Larry Joe Ridge

On a cold December evening in 1999, a vehicle fire reported near a rural church in Adair County turned out to be the scene of a brutal homicide that remains unsolved more than 26 years later.

Larry Joe Ridge, a 50-year-old carpenter employed by the Cherokee Nation, was found dead in the passenger seat of his burned-out car on Bethel Road, approximately two miles southeast of Stilwell.

According to investigators and cold case records, Ridge was last seen alive on December 28, 1999, driving alone in the area where he was working. The following evening, around 9 p.m. on December 29, authorities responded to reports of a fire. Initial reports suggested a church was burning, but responders instead discovered a vehicle engulfed in flames on a gravel road.

Once the fire was extinguished, investigators found Ridge’s body in the front passenger seat. Dental records were ultimately used to confirm his identity. An autopsy determined that Ridge had suffered blunt force trauma to the head prior to the car being set on fire. The fire was ruled an attempt to conceal the crime.

Ridge, a member of the Cherokee Nation, was described by those who knew him as a hardworking family man. At the time of his death, he was actively employed in the community where he was later found

.No arrests have ever been made in connection with his murder. The case remains an open cold case with the Adair County Sheriff’s Office and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI)

.The circumstances surrounding Ridge’s death -- the blunt force trauma followed by arson -- suggest the killer or killers may have had a personal connection to the victim or the remote location. Bethel Road, a rural gravel road in the hills of eastern Oklahoma, sees limited traffic, leading investigators to believe the perpetrator was familiar with the area.

Despite the passage of more than two decades, family and advocates continue to seek justice. Oklahoma Cold Cases, a nonprofit dedicated to unsolved homicides and missing persons in the state, has highlighted Ridge’s case in an effort to generate new leads.

Anyone with information about the murder of Larry Joe Ridge is urged to contact the Adair County Sheriff’s Office or the OSBI Cold Case Unit. Tips can also be submitted through Oklahoma Cold Cases

.Even after 26 years, the hope for answers remains for those who knew and loved Larry Joe Ridge --a hardworking Cherokee Nation carpenter whose life was violently taken and whose killer has never been brought to justice.