CO CO - Roger Ellison, 17, Cedaredge, 10 Feb 1981 #2

[MindHunter13]

Or they did NOT have permission to be on that particular property.

VERY IMPORTANT DETAIL!! Great observation SpartyGirl

 

[Mom24]

So I went back re-read the article regarding the two poachers and there were a few important details:
The poachers were hunting deer.
What they claimed to see was Roger, with his hands tied behind his back, being led into the forest. They heard a two gunshots later.
The dying poacher did report this to the Delta County Sheriff's Dept Bill Blair.
Investigative officer Dave Duncan confirmed that the poacher did pass a polygraph and the poachers identified a man. The man identified has been rumored to have been involved by many people and had left the area.
The area where the poachers saw this happen was northwest of Cedaredge.
The initial story broke Sept 16th of 1998 in the Montrose Daily Press.
Ed Marah(y) of Cedaredge Police was the initial lead investigator and he said a lead pointed to Roger's burial at the Taylor Funeral Home.

 

[Mom24]

With the way the hunting is in Colorado, the poachers may have been violating the hunting rules by the date and the location. The state is cut into Game Management Units (GMU) with each area having it's own hunting seasons. Cedaredge is right on the edge of two GMU's.

 

[Mom24]

HuntScore: Deer Hunting in Colorado's GMU 411 - Mesa and Delta Counties If you scroll down you can see a map. Cedaredge in on the edge of two GMU's.

 

[rosesfromangels]

So I went back re-read the article regarding the two poachers and there were a few important details:
The poachers were hunting deer.
What they claimed to see was Roger, with his hands tied behind his back, being led into the forest. They heard a two gunshots later.
The dying poacher did report this to the Delta County Sheriff's Dept Bill Blair.
Investigative officer Dave Duncan confirmed that the poacher did pass a polygraph and the poachers identified a man. The man identified has been rumored to have been involved by many people and had left the area.
The area where the poachers saw this happen was northwest of Cedaredge.
The initial story broke Sept 16th of 1998 in the Montrose Daily Press.
Ed Marah(y) of Cedaredge Police was the initial lead investigator and he said a lead pointed to Roger's burial at the Taylor Funeral Home.

The funeral home lead may be valid, but I would think a murder victim would be disposed of at a funeral home via cremation.

 

[Mom24]

So if this poacher was from Montrose County and died between Sept 1998 to Dec 1998, he was one of 22 men. Oddly the Montrose paper was the only one I found that carried the story at the time.

 

[Waterdog]

Came back to say, my husband said a hunter will hunt in any weather...

 

[Waterdog]

The funeral home lead may be valid, but I would think a murder victim would be disposed of at a funeral home via cremation.

So essentially, no body, no proof of murder, no justice.

 

[Waterdog]

Thanks, Spartygirl. I was thinking that too. None of it is a good enough reason in my
minc not to call the police. Unless, who they saw was a policeman. How can someone in this small town have so much power to keep someone from doing the right thing? I know I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t!

*good enough reason in my opinion* ahhh, I was posting on the fly. #dangtypos

 

[rosesfromangels]

So essentially, no body, no proof of murder, no justice.

I wouldn’t give up on a confession.

 

[Waterdog]

Did anyone else go missing or die who was from the area at that time?

I don’t think it matters what law the poachers were breaking, whether they were hunting without a license, or on private property... I want to know when.

So I went back re-read the article regarding the two poachers and there were a few important details:
The poachers were hunting deer.
What they claimed to see was Roger, with his hands tied behind his back, being led into the forest. They heard a two gunshots later.
The dying poacher did report this to the Delta County Sheriff's Dept Bill Blair.
Investigative officer Dave Duncan confirmed that the poacher did pass a polygraph and the poachers identified a man. The man identified has been rumored to have been involved by many people and had left the area.
The area where the poachers saw this happen was northwest of Cedaredge.
The initial story broke Sept 16th of 1998 in the Montrose Daily Press.
Ed Marah(y) of Cedaredge Police was the initial lead investigator and he said a lead pointed to Roger's burial at the Taylor Funeral Home.

So this man was interviewed? Did the dying poacher ID Roger as the tied up man being lead into the woods?

Who was the lead who tipped off Roger being buried at the funeral home? Why do they say buried and not cremated? What is their connection to the man seen in the woods leading Roger by gun point? Do they know WHY he was supposedly killed? Do police have these answers in his file already but aren’t revealing anything without a body or confession or until he magically shows up? Because otherwise they can’t prosecute anyone?

I don’t feel like anyone in this town was on the up and up, not even Roger.

 

[Waterdog]

I wouldn’t give up on a confession.

That’s under proof of murder. But I guess someone could confess without it being true.

 

[Waterdog]

With the way the hunting is in Colorado, the poachers may have been violating the hunting rules by the date and the location. The state is cut into Game Management Units (GMU) with each area having it's own hunting seasons. Cedaredge is right on the edge of two GMU's.

I looked at present day pricing for licenses Not only is February not hunting season for any type but a license to hunt moose is over $2500 for non residents. Wow. For residents deer licenses are not that expensive, though. I think they simply were hunting on private property. If it’s true about what they saw then illegal hunting isn’t the reason why he didn’t speak of it sooner, IMO.

 

[Mom24]

I looked at present day pricing for licenses Not only is February not hunting season for any type but a license to hunt moose is over $2500 for non residents. Wow. For residents deer licenses are not that expensive, though. I think they simply were hunting on private property. If it’s true about what they saw then illegal hunting isn’t the reason why he didn’t speak of it sooner, IMO.

What was odd was that the police obviously took this story seriously but did nothing. They refused to release to the press who the poachers were and who the poachers identified, but did say that the person the poachers identified was the man townspeople had rumored was involved. I wish I knew who the townspeople had rumored was their POI. I would guess if it were Pash they would have phrased it differently, so I'm guessing LE was saying it's not Pash. There's got to be some way to find out who the townspeople thought this was. It was also interesting that the poacher gave his statement to the Delta County Sheriff instead of the Cedaredge PD.

 

[Mom24]

Did anyone else go missing or die who was from the area at that time?

I don’t think it matters what law the poachers were breaking, whether they were hunting without a license, or on private property... I want to know when.

So this man was interviewed? Did the dying poacher ID Roger as the tied up man being lead into the woods?

Who was the lead who tipped off Roger being buried at the funeral home? Why do they say buried and not cremated? What is their connection to the man seen in the woods leading Roger by gun point? Do they know WHY he was supposedly killed? Do police have these answers in his file already but aren’t revealing anything without a body or confession or until he magically shows up? Because otherwise they can’t prosecute anyone?

I don’t feel like anyone in this town was on the up and up, not even Roger.

The article stated that both poachers identified Roger. The article said that Cedaredge LE felt that Roger had been buried at the Taylor Funeral Home, but it didn't expound on why. We do know the man the poachers identified with the gun had left the area by 1998. I know that's a 12 year span, but it's detail.

 

[Waterdog]

The article stated that both poachers identified Roger. The article said that Cedaredge LE felt that Roger had been buried at the Taylor Funeral Home, but it didn't expound on why. We do know the man the poachers identified with the gun had left the area by 1998. I know that's a 12 year span, but it's detail.

I’m sorry if I missed it but did LE ever interview the identified man? Or could they not find him since he left the area??
There’s a huge disconnect in this case! If they felt he was buried at the funeral home look into the funeral home! It’s like the LE has no budget for the investigation. They couldn’t start tearing up buildings. Idk.

 

[Waterdog]

What was odd was that the police obviously took this story seriously but did nothing. They refused to release to the press who the poachers were and who the poachers identified, but did say that the person the poachers identified was the man townspeople had rumored was involved. I wish I knew who the townspeople had rumored was their POI. I would guess if it were Pash they would have phrased it differently, so I'm guessing LE was saying it's not Pash. There's got to be some way to find out who the townspeople thought this was. It was also interesting that the poacher gave his statement to the Delta County Sheriff instead of the Cedaredge PD.

Maybe jurisdiction. Perhaps the property where it happened was in county. Or perhaps because they felt that the Cedaredge police wouldn’t do anything. ?

 

[rosesfromangels]

The article stated that both poachers identified Roger. The article said that Cedaredge LE felt that Roger had been buried at the Taylor Funeral Home, but it didn't expound on why. We do know the man the poachers identified with the gun had left the area by 1998. I know that's a 12 year span, but it's detail.

This is certainly an interesting case, and seems to have enough solid clues that one would have expected an arrest. When I hear of cases like this, it makes me wonder what has been preventing a vigorous approach to the investigation. The unexplained arrests or (seeming) unwillingness to literally dig deeper, remind me of the Cleashindra Hall case. There was suspicion she had been buried where remodeling was underway (if I remember correctly), but that was never pursued.
When I see a lack of vigorous pursuit in a murder case, it makes me wonder why....

This case seems *very* solvable, despite the lapse in time.

 

[Mom24]

This is certainly an interesting case, and seems to have enough solid clues that one would have expected an arrest. When I hear of cases like this, it makes me wonder what has been preventing a vigorous approach to the investigation. The unexplained arrests or (seeming) unwillingness to literally dig deeper, remind me of the Cleashindra Hall case. There was suspicion she had been buried where remodeling was underway (if I remember correctly), but that was never pursued.
When I see a lack of vigorous pursuit in a murder case, it makes me wonder why....

This case seems *very* solvable, despite the lapse in time.

I think they took a vigorous approach, but I also think that at that time there was less of a reaction from LE when things like this would happen so when they did start to investigate it became harder to put the pieces together. Like any investigation, I'm sure there are a lot of things LE has that we aren't aware of and they're just waiting for that one little piece to finish the puzzle.

 

[pamelado2]

Just adding a few missing facts
member of Powderhorn Racing Club
Lived with his parents in Eckert, CO
youngest of 5 children
48 hours was the wait time to report a missing person
Mother- Evelyn (died Feb 9, 1992)
Father- Ernest (died Aug. 21, 1981)
Sister - Rebecca - (died Nov. 30, 2017)

Oh my word that's heartbreaking! I just finished reading these 2 threads and saw the posts by his sister.