WY - Three girls, ages 13-15, found dead, Wind River Reservation, 3 June 2008

[becklynn]

I feel offended by the comments. I guess having some Indian in me makes me defensive. I would imagine with 3 girls dead on a reservation the details of their deaths would be slow coming. If the FBI is involved why is no one blaming them for the lack of info? Sorry but these people, including my mom, have gotten a raw deal. To me the story that is important is that 3 young girls are dead. Who would do such a thing?

 

[kahskye]

RIVERTON -- Winter Rose Thomas had just graduated from the eighth grade -- and she was a good kid, a close relative said Thursday.

Winter Rose Thomas was one of three teenage girls found dead on the Wind River Indian Reservation Wednesday, in a rental home in the Beaver Creek housing development just south of here.

The other two were Alexis Gardner and Alex Whiteplume, a tribal spokesman said. The girls were ages 13, 14 and 15, authorities said, and all three were members of the Northern Arapaho Tribe.

http://www.trib.com/articles/2008/06/06/news/wyoming/3207eec8d6702b23872574600009457a.txt

From reading that article, I noticed this is almost implying it was suicide:

Friends, relatives and community members had heard several rumors about a possible teenage get-together that ended in tragedy, Lonebear said. But as of Thursday none of the relatives of the victims knew for sure what really happened.

"There are a lot of young people out here, but there aren't any recreational facilities, or organizations or activities for them," Lonebear said. "We can finger-point and place blame, but that doesn't solve anything. What we need to recognize, here, is we need to pay attention to our children."

"Normal teenage peer pressure, and the drive to "fit in," can cause good kids to congregate in the unsupervised locations, he said, and they sometimes make bad decisions."

 

[SewingDeb]

I feel offended by the comments. I guess having some Indian in me makes me defensive. I would imagine with 3 girls dead on a reservation the details of their deaths would be slow coming. If the FBI is involved why is no one blaming them for the lack of info? Sorry but these people, including my mom, have gotten a raw deal. To me the story that is important is that 3 young girls are dead. Who would do such a thing?

I hope none of my comments have offended you. My fiance is half Indian and Members of his family on the maternal side are full blooded so I can understand what you are saying about them getting a raw deal.

 

[Mygirlsadie]

Becklynn I hope my comments didn't upset you. I NEVER meant to be disrespectful at all..just had a few questions about things I have heard over the years.

I feel offended by the comments. I guess having some Indian in me makes me defensive. I would imagine with 3 girls dead on a reservation the details of their deaths would be slow coming. If the FBI is involved why is no one blaming them for the lack of info? Sorry but these people, including my mom, have gotten a raw deal. To me the story that is important is that 3 young girls are dead. Who would do such a thing?

 

[meggilyweggily]

From reading that article, I noticed this is almost implying it was suicide

I took it more as implying an accidental drug and/or alcohol induced death. It wouldn't be uncommon at all. My own brother passed out in a cornfield on a below freezing night after drinking half a bottle of vodka at age 14. If the sheriff's dogs hadn't found him he would probably have died.

 

[luckyducky]

That is sad. I thought it was only Canada where they would be considered only "Indian" girls.

Deb I live in Canada and that is so untrue- our First Nations people are very respected and valued here.

 

[gardenmom]

No more news? In light of the murder of the two girls in OK, there is a possibility this was murder.
It could be suicide, murder, accidently overdose... I'm leaning towards the first two.

 

[SewingDeb]

Deb I live in Canada and that is so untrue- our First Nations people are very respected and valued here.

That makes me so happy to hear that because I have read articles at links posted on another forum that lead me to believe otherwise. One quoted a Canadian judge as instructing the jury in a murder case to remember that "she was just a squaw".

Those links also went to numerous sites for missing First Nations women where they imply that there was no investigation because of who they are.

I am really relieved and hope the poster who posted the links has a bias rather than that being a widespread prejudice in Canada.

 

[luckyducky]

Deb - I would really like to see the source of that quote and when it was made. I watch the news and read newspapers daily and have for over 30 years and have never heard of this. Believe me if a judge ever said anything so rude and outlandish that there would be such a public outcry it would be all over the news here and I really don't believe he would have a job long.

 

[SewingDeb]

I'm looking for it Luckyducky. It was posted several years ago but it really struck me that in this age such a statement would be made in court.

In the meantime, here's some reading:
http://www.missingnativewomen.org/

and this

http://www.missingpeople.net/feds_to_announce_new_missing_wom.htm

 

[luckyducky]

Thanks for the links Deb- I have seen these and many more. Violence against First Nations women and for that matter women in general seems to be a worldwide epidemic. There are a lot of sick and twisted men out there who are on the prowl for vulnerable victims. We try and teach our kids at a young age to not place themselves at risk and to stay safe, but that isn't even enough sometimes. I did find this though which tells us that it isn't just happening in Canada - http://www.indianlaw.org/node/225

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Has there been any additional news on this case?

 

[SeriouslySearching]

It sounds like it is possible it was a teenage party so it could be drug related.

The FBI, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Fremont County coroner's office were still investigating the incident Thursday, and the cause of death for the girls was still unknown, officials said. Results of the preliminary autopsies, which were performed Thursday morning at McKee Medical Center in Loveland, Colo., should be available today or Saturday.

Friends, relatives and community members had heard several rumors about a possible teenage get-together that ended in tragedy, Lonebear said. But as of Thursday none of the relatives of the victims knew for sure what really happened.

"There are a lot of young people out here, but there aren't any recreational facilities, or organizations or activities for them," Lonebear said. "We can finger-point and place blame, but that doesn't solve anything. What we need to recognize, here, is we need to pay attention to our children."

Many of the houses in the Beaver Creak community are monitored by adults including Winter Rose's guardian, Jenkins, who have strict rules about behavior and what goes on inside their homes, Lonebear said. But other places, right nearby, are lacking the presence of responsible adults.

http://www.northernarapaho.com/node/120

 

[SewingDeb]

Thanks LuckyDucky and Seriously Searching.

It sounds like this is probably a drug overdose case. I guess toxocology reports will take a few weeks.

 

[Busylady]

Monday, June 9, 2008 4:38 PM MDT

LANDER -- A Fremont County official said today that preliminary results from autopsies of three teenage girls were "inconclusive," and investigators are still uncertain about what caused the recent tragedy near here.

Alexis Gardner, Alex Whiteplume and Winter Rose Thomas, all between the ages of 13 and 15, were found dead in a rental home last week in the Beaver Creek housing development on the Wind River Indian Reservation, just south of Riverton.

http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2008/06/09/news/breaking/doc484db0bec8c9a102245931.txt

 

[becklynn]

Monday, June 9, 2008 4:38 PM MDT

LANDER -- A Fremont County official said today that preliminary results from autopsies of three teenage girls were "inconclusive," and investigators are still uncertain about what caused the recent tragedy near here.

Alexis Gardner, Alex Whiteplume and Winter Rose Thomas, all between the ages of 13 and 15, were found dead in a rental home last week in the Beaver Creek housing development on the Wind River Indian Reservation, just south of Riverton.

http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2008/06/09/news/breaking/doc484db0bec8c9a102245931.txt

I guess at least they did not have any traumatic injuries. Very likely a chemical or drug killed them.
Young people are so naive they do things without thinking of the consequences. I hope their families will cope and remember the good times of their lives.

 

[wfgodot]

Mystery lingers, answers few in girls' reservation deaths

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/23/wyoming.reservation.deaths/index.html

Newly posted article on CNN.com examines the mysterious deaths of the three girls and the paucity of answers almost a year and a half later.

 

[MeoW333]

Mystery lingers, answers few in girls' reservation deaths

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/23/wyoming.reservation.deaths/index.html

Newly posted article on CNN.com examines the mysterious deaths of the three girls and the paucity of answers almost a year and a half later.

Thank you for the link, wfgodot, i am glad to read that the coroner is ruling the deaths of the girls as homicides.

"The girls' families say two teenage boys from the reservation were arrested in connection with the deaths. Later, the families were told that the boys struck plea deals with prosecutors -- effectively preventing details of the deaths from coming out during a trial.
Because the case involves juveniles, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Cheyenne won't confirm that arrests or prosecutions took place. A U.S. District Court judge in Cheyenne sealed the case dockets, so CNN was unable to confirm the families' claims that the boys were sentenced as juveniles to less than two years."
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/23/wyoming.reservation.deaths/index.html

This story is very sad any way you look at it.
The federal govt needs to start keeping the promises they always make.

The young people need something to do on the reservation so they don't end up in trouble. A youth center would be the least they could do.

More from article:

"The elderly woman who rents the three-bedroom home, a prefabricated structure with drink bottles, plastic bags and dog droppings scattered about the lawn, confirmed that the girls were inside for at least 24 hours before she called police.
She said her grandson told her the girls were sleeping in his bedroom.
"I didn't go in there. I just opened the door and looked in. I seen them and they were laying down," the woman said, sitting at a kitchen table cluttered with jars of medicine and cooking spices. "I didn't check to see if they were breathing."

A lot of these children involved seemed to be taken care of by grandparents. For some reason the parents do not have custody of them, and these are the children who need even more support.
It would be great if the Federal Govt could do something for the youth, not just on this reservation, on all of them.
Offer them more programs, more events to do, places to go to, so that they can stay away from bad things.

 

[gaia227]

I had not even heard about this until I saw the story on CNN. I worked for 2 summers in Yellowstone Nat'l Park and visited the Wind River Reservation numerous times. It is an absolutely gorgeous part of the country to begin with and then add in the majesty of seeing the tee-pee's dotting the landscape I felt like I was in a painting while simultaneously feeling like I had been transported back in time. The people on the reservation were always very welcoming.

It is interesting the deaths were ruled a homicide. How is the coroner certain the girls did not willing snort or shoot up the methadone?

 

[wfgodot]

I'm in Oklahoma, in a small town in which nine tribes are headquartered, and federal/BIA policy, when it intersects with tribal politics, can be labyrinthine---it sounds like that's what happened in this case with the federal involvement and, in effect, the cover-up. And on the reservation, I suspect, as in this case, the confusion and secrecy can be doubly frustrating.