joan gay croft

Joan Gay Croft was a four-year-old girl from Woodward, Oklahoma who disappeared in the aftermath of a tornado in which her mother and other family members were killed. Her father, Olin Croft, was one of the wealthiest men in Woodward and very proud of his family. He was critically injured in the tornado and taken to a hospital in Oklahoma City. Joan Gay and her sister, Geri, were slightly injured--Joan Gay with a splinter the size of a pencil having been pierced clean through her knee and Geri with cuts and bruises. They were taken to a local hospital whose basement was being used as a temporary shelter. Their aunt checked on them during the night. In the morning she returned and Geri told her that some men had taken Joan Gay away. She was never seen again. Three other girls, ages approximately 12, 4, and 8 months, were killed in the tornado and never identified. They are buried in the Woodward cemetery. It is possible that they were from another community hundreds of miles away that was hit by the tornado, picked up, carried in the funnel, and dropped in Woodward. Over the years, several women have contacted authorities believing themselves or someone to be Joan Gay.