Opal James was a park ranger seized during a violent escape and later found dead. In late June 1977 two escaped convicts, Paul Ruiz and Earl Van Denton, broke out of an Oklahoma prison and entered Logan County, Arkansas. On June 29, 1977 they shot and killed town marshal Marvin Ritchie, abducted rangers Opal James and David Small, and used James’s knowledge of remote terrain to navigate wooded backroads.

David Small survived being shot and later identified Ruiz and Van Denton. James’s body was found two days after his abduction in a wooded area of Montgomery County; he had been killed by a single gunshot to the head and the stolen Corps of Engineers truck was abandoned nearby. Ruiz and Van Denton were captured in Portland, Oregon, on July 8, 1977, extradited to Arkansas, convicted of the murders, and ultimately sentenced to death.