Do you know who killed Peggy? Peggy Gaytan, a 55-year-old woman, was working her shift at a Shell gas station at 36th Street and Harvard Avenue in Tulsa, Oklahoma, just three days before Christmas in 2011. In what authorities believe was a botched robbery attempt, she was shot and killed on December 22nd. The incident left her friends, family, and the local community in shock and mourning for the woman they described as a beautiful person who was like a sister to her friends and adored her granddaughter.
For years,
the case remained unsolved, becoming a painful cold case for the Tulsa Police Department and the Gaytan family. Investigators followed leads that even took them to Colorado, but no arrests were made. Despite the passage of time, friends and family held onto hope for justice, holding vigils and creating memorials at the gas station where she was killed to ensure she was not forgotten. Their persistence was a testament to the impact she had on those who knew her.
A significant break in the case came in May 2020, over eight years after the murder, when Tulsa Police arrested 27-year-old Patrick Hamstard and charged him with Peggy Gaytan's murder. Authorities also revealed that a second suspect in the case had died. The arrest brought a wave of relief and a sense of impending closure to a community that had long awaited answers. It seemed as though the book was finally closing on a painful chapter for the Gaytan family.
However, the path to justice took another unexpected turn. In September 2020, the charges against Patrick Hamstard were dismissed after a witness reportedly refused to testify. With no new developments to allow for the reinstatement of charges, Peggy Gaytan's murder once again became an unsolved case. Despite this setback, her loved ones continue to hold out hope that those responsible will one day be held accountable, and they continue to fight to keep her memory alive.
