All evidence points to murder
Karen Silkwood, a 28-year-old chemical technician at a nuclear facility in Oklahoma, left a union meeting carrying a binder of documents.
The dossier detailed corporate malpractices leading to plutonium contamination of workers, including herself, at the facility.
Silkwood had decided to go public with the story. She got into her car and headed alone for Oklahoma City, about 30 miles away, to meet with a New York Times reporter, and a union official. It was November 13, 1974.
RUN OFF THE ROAD
Her body was found in her car later that evening. The car had run off the road and struck a culvert on the side of the highway.
The binder of documents was missing.
The crash was ruled an accident but to this day it is suspected that she crashed and died when her car was rammed from behind by another vehicle.
Damage to the rear of Silkwood’s Honda had not been there before the accident, said her family and friends. They also said that Karen had received death threats before the “accident.”
Silkwood’s family sued the company, Kerr-McGee, for her plutonium contamination. The company settled out of court for $1.38 million, while not admitting liability.
The Silkwood story was chronicled in the 1983 movie ‘Silkwood’ starring Meryl Streep.
