Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainSite of the 1972 Schaefer Murders along the C-24 Canal
Port St. Lucie, FL
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages for park; underlying history is mature
Cost
Free
Oak Hammock Park is a free public city park operated by the City of Port St. Lucie.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved paths, boardwalks, mixed sand and natural surface
Equipment
Photos OK
Florida True Crime · Gerard Schaefer Case · Live Oak Folklore
Oak Hammock Park is a 100-acre city park in Port St. Lucie, Florida, along the C-24 Canal in the Treasure Coast region. The park contains live-oak hammock habitat, boardwalks, and trails maintained by the city.
The site is documented in regional press and in the Clio historical-marker database as the location associated with the murders of Collette Goodenough and Barbara Ann Wilcox, two teenagers from Iowa who disappeared while hitchhiking in 1972. Their skeletal remains were discovered at the site in January 1977 by fishermen, with nooses recovered nearby. The case was attributed to Gerard John Schaefer, a former Martin County deputy sheriff who had been convicted in 1973 for the murders of two other young women, Susan Place and Georgia Jessup, at a separate Florida location. Schaefer received two life sentences in 1973. In prison he claimed responsibility for additional killings, and he was killed by another inmate in 1995.
A southern live oak in the park became locally known as the Devil's Tree and has been the focus of folklore, attempted destruction by chainsaw and hand saw, and a 1993 Catholic exorcism after reports of cult activity in the surrounding woods. The City of Port St. Lucie has noted that the live oak most frequently photographed by visitors as 'the Devil's Tree' is not the original tree associated with the Schaefer murders.
The site receives regular paranormal-tourism visitation and is featured in Wicked City Ghost Tours' twilight programming, Mark Muncy's Florida folklore writing, and regional press including CBS12 and ClickOrlando coverage.
Sources
The Devil's Tree folklore at Oak Hammock Park developed in two phases. The first phase followed the 1977 discovery of the Goodenough and Wilcox remains: reported sounds of screaming from the surrounding woods, occasional hooded-figure sightings, and a persistent local belief that the original tree resisted attempts to cut it down. Chainsaws are said to have malfunctioned in proximity to the tree, and a two-man hand saw is said to have lost teeth on the trunk. These accounts are repeated in regional folklore writing including Mark Muncy's Florida material and the Tripping on Legends travel-log series.
The second phase followed a 1993 incident in which two boys claimed to have encountered participants in what they described as a Satanic ritual near the tree, leading to police involvement, a Catholic exorcism on the site, and the erection of a wooden cross. The cross has remained as a feature of the site and is photographed regularly.
With two trees in the park now commonly identified by visitors as the Devil's Tree — the original associated with the murders and the more accessible specimen widely photographed — the City of Port St. Lucie has clarified that the most-photographed tree is not the original. Hauntbound presents the folklore in archival framing alongside the documented criminal history of the site.
Media Appearances
Walk the boardwalk and trails through the live-oak hammock and along the C-24 Canal in Port St. Lucie. The park contains a southern live oak commonly identified by visitors as the Devil's Tree; the City of Port St. Lucie has noted that the tree most often photographed is not the original tree associated with the 1972 Schaefer murders. The history is part of the park's interpretive context.
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