Betty June Binnicker

Betty June Binnicker
Dec. 9, 1932~Mar. 24, 1944
11 yrs. old

Stinney was arrested on suspicion of murdering two girls, Betty June Binnicker, 11, and Mary Emma Thames, 7, in Alcolu, located in Clarendon County, South Carolina, on Mar. 23, 1944. Alcolu was a small, working class, mill town where whites and blacks were separated by railroad tracks. The girls had disappeared while out riding their bicycles looking for flowers. As they passed the Stinney property, they asked young George Stinney and his sister, Katherine, if they knew where to find "maypops," a type of flower. When the girls did not return, search parties were organized, with hundreds of volunteers. The bodies of the girls were found the next morning in a ditch filled with muddy water. Both had suffered severe head wounds.