Vinson, Okla., gives some unusual statistics

Vinson is in Harmon County, which is in the extreme SW part of the state, right up against the farthest SE part of the Texas Panhandle. Except for 1930, the county has lost population in every census since 1910, Wikipedia says. That year, 11,328 people lived in the county; by the 2010 census, the population was 2,922.

Of Vinson, Wikipedia says: “Vinson is an unincorporated community in Harmon County, Oklahoma, United States. The community was named for Henry B. Vinson, townsite owner. Although it is unincorporated, Vinson has a post office, which was established on August 20, 1903. It remains operational with the ZIP code of 73571.”

http://www.unitedstateszipcodes.org/73571/ notes Vinson’s population is 87 – 82 White, 3 Black or African-American, 1 Other Race and 1 Two or More Races.

The average household size is two. Eighty-five percent of the 39 households do not have kids.

One hundred percent of the population lives in occupied housing units. Of the town’s 73 housing units, 39 are occupied. That’s 53 percent. One of the 34 listed vacant units is for sale; 2 are sold but not occupied; 6 are listed as for reactional or occasional use; and 21 are vacant for other reasons. Thirty houses are valued $24,999 or less.

Fifty percent of the working age people have fulltime jobs; six work part time; and 47 reported no earned wages.

Four years ago, three women broke into a disabled man’s house. The homeowner’s shooting hand, however, was not disabled.

“VINSON, Okla_The Harmon County Sheriff's Department and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations are investigating a shooting which happened on Thursday at a home in Vinson, Oklahoma about 20 miles west of Mangum.

“According to the OSBI, a disabled man was asleep in his home around noon when he awoke to find three women burglarizing his home. The homeowner grabbed a gun and fired at the intruders, hitting one.

“Two of the three women left the scene in a Ford Mustang but the woman who was shot died from her injuries. The two women who fled were later arrested near Elk City and booked into Beckham County Jail on first degree murder charges.

“The women have been identified as 26 year old Misty Dawn Puskaric, 37 year old Starr Michelle Timmons and 50 year old Mary Kathleen Sanders, who was the one killed at the home. All of the women were from Elk City and Sanders was a former employee of the homeowner.”

http://www.kswo.com/story/19547844/1-dead-2-arrested-after-burglary-in-vinson