Authorities aren’t talking about two recent deaths on the Wind River Indian Reservation that unofficial sources are calling homicides, and it remains unclear if murder suspects are at large in Fremont County.
Saturday morning at 5:43, Fremont County dispatch took a report of either a stabbing or a gunshot and both the ambulance and the Fremont County Coroner were called to respond to the scene.
The FBI, which oversees felony-level crimes on the Wind River Indian Reservation, confirmed in a Monday statement there was a March 25 “death,” and the Bureau of Indian Affairs is investigating the incident and the FBI Denver office has offered assistance.
“No further information is available from FBI Denver at this time,” the statement reads.
A Bureau of Indian Affairs spokesperson declined to comment, directing Cowboy State Daily to the FBI.
Fremont County Coroner Erin Ivie also declined to comment.
No recent homicide charges have been publicly filed in the U.S. District Court for Wyoming.
A Second Death
The other possible homicide stems from a decedent found beaten on or about March 20 on the Wind River Indian Reservation, according to two unofficial sources.
The Wind River Indian Reservation has the poorest police transparency in Wyoming, due largely to the non-transparency policy of the BIA and the fact that federal public records systems generally yield less information than Wyoming public records laws do.
The reservation for most purposes is under federal, not state, jurisdiction – a fact that also can allow harsher penalty options for American Indians who are charged with crimes on the reservation.
Many federal statutes carry harsher penalties than Wyoming statutes.
