DEAD BODIES AT BARKER RANCH?

 

With all the renewed interest in finding dead bodies at the MANSON Gang's Death Valley hideout, AKA the Barker Ranch, it's probably time to address this now timely issue. The very idea of old bones buried at the Family's desert retreat, should the Battle of Armageddon begin, is nothing new, but the development of forensic technology enabling the discovery of decades old grave sites is almost frightening.

But what may be the real call to action here is societies' newly developed concern for victims of foul play. Remember, the word "closure" wasn't even spoken publicly back in the late 60's, and the attitude of law enforcement toward teenage runaways was one of ambivalence at best. The recent March 15, 2008 Associated Press article mentions that two young girls had fled the gang's Barker Ranch hideout in fear for their own lives, only to be arrested for their bravery.

The fact of the matter is, at that time, when most of America was divided over the War in Vietnam, law enforcement on the home front viewed the younger generation as mostly criminals, and hardly ever as victims. Thus, at the time of the notorious Manson Gang's capture, no thought was even given to the possibility of hostages or bodies at the hideout. To illustrate this picture more clearly, one only needs to read the prosecutor's account of his investigating trip to the Barker Ranch in late November of 1969. Mr. Bugliosi looked inside the long passenger bus, and says:

"At least a foot of clothing was piled on the floor. I later learned that wherever the Family stayed, they kept a community clothing pile. When an item was needed, they'd root through the pile until they found it. I got down on my hands and knees and began rooting too. I was looking for two things in particular: clothing with bloodstains, and boots." "And when Joe Granado applied the benzidine test to the clothing, the results were uniformly negative."

Then Bugliosi also writes:

"I had all the clothing taken back to L.A. anyway, hoping SID might come up with something in the lab."

Now, looking for clothing with bloodstains that might have been warn at the Tate or LaBianca crime scenes is a good thing, but there seems to be no other reason for examining the Family's clothes. More significantly, there seems to be no mention of searching for any evidence of people being held against their will or being murdered at Barker's. Considering that the two girls mentioned above, complained to the Highway Patrol that they had fled the hideout in fear for their own lives, one would think that the cops and especially Bugliosi would, at least, consider that the Barker Ranch might contain some evidence of foul play.

What makes this whole scenario even more bizarre is the fact that the "clothes" never made it back to the SID lab. When Craig and I arrived, a short time later, with Clem, Gypsy and Kevin, the "clothes" were strewn outside of the bus. You can actually see them going through all the "clothes" in my new movie "Inside the MANSON Gang.”

Compounding this lack of concern for potential victims was my discovery of a hand written "help" note left behind by a possible hostage. After our trip, with members of the Family to their Death Valley hideout, Craig and I alone, later made another trip to Barker's, but this time with a dune buggy up the more difficult Golar Wash canyon. The other difference was, this time, the scorching desert heat was fast approaching. Also, this time we could do some investigating on our own, without the watchful eyes of the Manson Family. Strange as it seems now, there are only two things I remember about the abandoned Ranch from that trip.

After entering an old out building, (can be seen as Gypsy points it out in the new Manson Gang film) I found a piece of paper with handwriting on it. I took it back outside and read it. It was a note, apparently written by a daughter in hopes that it may find its way home to her mother. Somewhat desperate in its tone, I realized that the game of making a movie about the Manson Gang, wasn't a game anymore. Many thoughts were now crossing my mind, as Craig and I had a bite to eat. Also exhausted, after lunch we decided to take a nap on the ranch house front porch.

It must have been a hour or so later, when we awoke to the most God awful smell that anyone could possibly have imagined. The next thing we realized, was that it must have been at least 120 degrees, and we were in the shade. I'm sure that the troubling note found earlier had played some tricks on my mind, but without any question, we understood that the horrible smell could only be coming from a dead body. Craig quickly fired up the dune buggy and I, almost in a panic mode, returned the note to its original resting place. With breakneck speed two young filmmakers got the Hell out of there.

Considering many previous events, I eventually consulted with an attorney, who strongly suggested that he should contact Vincent Bugliosi. I sat there as he made a phone call to the prosecutor who, at that time, made it clear that he was not interested in seeing my film or even talking with me. Maybe now, the recent events concerning the infamous Barker Ranch could help trigger investigations relating to the thousands of missing teenagers of the wild and crazy 60's.

Robert Hendrickson

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