Gitchie Girl: The Survivor's Inside Story of the Mass Murders that Shocked the Heartland Read Online Free Page A

lazy afternoons at the nearby swimming pool and neighborhood games of kick-the-can at night. She was close with her friends, and all of them were looking forward to starting eighth grade that fall at the junior high, which was within walking distance of Sandra’s house. Life was finally good again.
    Then out of nowhere, Lolo gathered the children to inform them that due to a job change they would be moving from Minnesota to a tiny town in South Dakota. The kids had never heard of Tea, South Dakota. Despite well-worded protests—none of them wanted to get sent away for causing a problem—the moving van was packed and they were on their way. The children, now in their teens, except for Sandra who would turn thirteen in a couple of months, were crushed over leaving familiar friends.

Chapter 3
Summer 1973
    The family settled into a large farmhouse outside the small town of Tea, South Dakota. Sandra and her brothers often walked the half mile into town for something to do throughout the remainder of the summer. Sandra quickly met several friends, including a girl named Debbie who lived just down the road. Even though Debbie was three years older than Sandra, the two were drawn to each other through their love of animals, music, and watching movies. Debbie had a sister as well and sometimes, due to the proximity of their houses, the three girls all hung out together with Sandra’s brothers. They were a bubbly group and would spend hours together talking, laughing, and making batch after batch of Kool-Aid to quench their thirst in the hot, waning days of summer.
    One Friday night before Sandra started school in nearby Harrisburg, she was watching The Brady Bunch while sitting cross-legged on the couch with a bowl of buttered popcorn on her lap that she was eating one piece at a time. The television was cranked up louder than necessary, as it usually was, to account for the noise that came from having a houseful of kids.
    Ring ring. “I’ve got it!” she yelled, jumping off the couch and half dropping the popcorn bowl onto the coffee table, where it spun nearly to the edge. “It’s for me,” she yelled again before answering the phone. If one of her brothers answered, they would jokingly hold the phone out of her reach or say something embarrassing to the person on the other end before giving her the phone.
    “Hey, Debbie!” It was her good friend who lived down the road, and the two talked every day.
    “You’re watching The Brady Bunch , aren’t you?” she asked.
    Sandra laughed. “Yes, so why did you call now?”
    “I knew you’d be home! Listen to this song. I just heard it for the first time this morning.” Debbie held the receiver to the radio and turned up the volume so Sandra could hear it.
    “I heard that song this morning, too! My brother kept turning the volume up really loud and when I’d tell him to turn it down, he’d turn it down so far I couldn’t hear it!” They both laughed while Sandra tried to stretch the phone cord from the kitchen far enough into the living room to grab her popcorn before one of her brothers took it. The cord was so twisted and kinked that she nearly pulled it loose, all because she didn’t want to set the phone down and interrupt Debbie.
    “Please go to the Starlight with me tomorrow, Sandra. It won’t be fun without you.” The Starlight was a drive-in movie theater in the nearby city of Sioux Falls that was a popular summer attraction where kids hung out with friends or went to meet new ones. Sandra hesitated just slightly. There really was nothing better to do, but she barely had enough money to go.
    “Pleeeeease. I never meet boys unless you’re with.” Debbie laughed again. It was true. Besides her exotic French-Indian features, Sandra had skin that glowed satiny tan, especially so when amplified by the summer sun. She possessed curves that could pass for a high school student, which attracted the stares of many boys and the jealousy of many girls. The