Sgt. Alan Two Crow
West Point MP vanished without a trace
http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2002/09/13/whtwocro.htm
By Wayne A. Hall
Times Herald-Record
West Point -- Military Police Sgt. Alan Two-Crow was recently named West
Point's "Soldier of the Month." His immediate commander says "only a real
squared-away soldier" gets that professional salute.
The cheerful, husky Dakota Sioux from the Cheyenne River Sioux reservation
in Eagle Butte, S.D., always was on time, a trait reaching back to his
perfect attendance record at Eagle Butte High School, said his brother,
Jaime. So why would Two-Crow, 27, who had just re-enlisted, disappear all of
a sudden the night of July 14?
He was soon to be reassigned to Fort Carson, Colo., to be closer to
family. And Two-Crow recently completed an Army career-building leadership
development course at Fort Drum.
Army investigators yesterday said they don't "expect foul play," said post
spokesman Maj. Kent Cassella.
But they're stumped.
The clues are few, if any.
Two-Crow didn't use his credit cards, checkbook or ATM card in the month
after going missing, family members learned from an Army investigator, said
Maureen LaBurt, of the Native American Times, an online newspaper. Even more
puzzling, on the night he disappeared, he wasn't captured by post
surveillance cameras, family members told LaBurt.
Two-Crow and another soldier were spending the night at a friend's
quarters in the Stony Lonesome section of West Point and the pair planned to
pick up the friend's wife from an airport the next day. When the friend awoke
the next day, Two-Crow was gone. He didn't have a car registered at West
Point. None of his personal possessions were missing from his room.
Police and Army officials are searching for him high and low, including
the woods around the academy. He's listed as a missing person on the National
Crime Information Center.
From "the minute he was reported missing," said post spokesman Lt. Col.
James Whaley, until now, Two-Crow is nowhere to be found. He's listed as
AWOL, but the post says this a missing person case.
Despite assurances that all steps have been taken, the family, said
brother Jaime, "thinks the Army is just giving us a run-around, not enough
information."
Two-Crow's battalion commander at West Point, Capt. Brian Locke, said, "We're trying to assure them that everything's being done that can be done,
and my concerns are exactly the same as theirs."
"We are taking every step we can to keep them in the loop," added
Cassella, "and we understand they're upset and we're right there with them.
We are as concerned as they are because we don't think this guy was the type
to skip out on us. This guy was a good soldier."
Letters urging action on behalf of the family have come from a tribal
council member, a South Dakota state senator, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom
Daschle, Gov. George Pataki and Sen. Hillary Clinton.
"It doesn't sound to all of us that he would show
up missing," said Jaime
Two-Crow.
Anyone with information should call Army investigators at 938-3333.
Lakota tribal member missing from West Point:
Angry family members seek help from public
By Jim Kent
Eagle Butte, S.D. - He's a model soldier, an inspiration for his family and
community and a perfectionist about being on time - and it's these traits
that make the disappearance of Cheyenne River Sioux tribal member Sergeant
Alan Two Crow so bizarre. According to his sister, Desiree Howard, the
recent "Soldier of the Month" honoree was last seen by an Army "buddy" on
the evening of July 13 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.,
where he was stationed as a Military Policeman. Both men went to sleep in
the friend's apartment that night with the intention of picking up the
friend's wife from the airport the following day.
When his "buddy" (the Army won't release names) awoke, Two Crow was
nowhere to be found - and hasn't been seen since.
"We received a phone call on the night of July 16 from West Point from
one of his superiors," Howard recalled. "They said that he was due back on
duty that morning, and no one had seen him. They wanted to know if we'd
heard from him or if he was here."
Howard was surprised to learn that Two Crow was missing and noted
that such behavior wasn't like him. That, in itself, gave her and her
family cause
for concern. When she recalled her last phone conversation with her
brother, a
few days before his disappearance, her anxiety increased.
"He said that he just re-enlisted and that he was looking forward to
getting stationed in Fort Carson, Colorado," Howard remarked. "He said he
couldn't
wait to transfer because they were acting political and prejudiced toward
him
up there in West Point...some of his superiors."
The Army continued to call the Two Crow family through the week of
Alan's disappearance. Desiree, her father, Don and brother, Dansyl all
noted the attitude of the Criminal Investigators who contacted them and
repeatedly asked if the missing soldier had returned home.
"It bothered me," recalled Dansyl Two Crow. "It's just not like my brother.
They were trying to say I was hiding him and that bothered me too because I
don't think they had a right to say that."
Toni Two Crow, Alan's wife, was also contacted by U.S. Army Criminal
Investigators who failed to satisfy her concerns that everything possible
was
being done to locate her husband. Besides questioning the reliability of
their
statements that "every stone was being turned" in order to find Two Crow,
Toni
also commented on the difficulty of having phone calls returned to her by
the
Army.
"I called one Special Agent and didn't receive a call back for a week," she
commented.
Two Crow's family members also complained about un-returned phone
calls and of being "bounced" from one department to another when calling
the
Military Academy for further information on the missing soldier. Their
frustration in the matter eventually led them to seek assistance from
Cheyenne River Sioux tribal council member Bryce In The Woods and South
Dakota state senator Thomas Van Norman, who's also a Cheyenne River Sioux
tribal member. Both men have aided in forwarding letters of concern to
Senate Majority leader Tom Daschle, South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson, New
York Governor George Pataki and New York Senator Hillary Clinton asking for
help in investigating Two Crow's disappearance.
For its part, the Army insists it's doing everything it can to find the
missing
soldier as well as keep in contact with the family. Although he wouldn't
answer
specific questions about the case, West Point spokesperson Lieutenant
Colonel James Whaley admitted that Two Crow has been listed as Away Without
Leave (AWOL), but added that the family shouldn't be upset by that
classification.
"A lot of people hear that and they think of something that has negative
connotations," Whaley observed. "It's actually just the Army's way of
saying
that someone is missing. It's the category he fits into. But we're just as
upset
and concerned as the family."
Whaley noted that the Army is working with local and national authorities
in its attempts to find Two Crow, and has also listed him with the National
Crime Information Center as a missing person.
"There are indications that there's something very wrong here," he
remarked. "None of his personal possessions are missing from his room, so
that's not usually an indication of somebody going AWOL. Every indication
is, from his company commander as well as the battalion commander, that
Sergeant Two Crow was a good soldier and this comes as a great surprise to
us. So we are looking very hard and we are hoping for the very best."
Captain Brian Locke, Two Crow's company commanding officer, agreed
with Whaley.
"He was a wonderful soldier," Locke commented. "He had just been
promoted to Sergeant, had just graduated our Primary Leadership Development
Course at Fort Drumm, and had just re-enlisted. He was always where he was
supposed to be, always did the right thing, always had a smile on his face.
A really good fella', he really was. I'm very surprised by his absence."
Two Crow's wife and family are doing their best to maintain hope that the
exemplary soldier, sun dancer, basketball fan and music lover will be found
somewhere, safe and unharmed. But none of them is comfortable with the way
the investigation is being handled and each one noted that they haven't
heard from the Army in weeks. Toni Two Crows remarked that "in her heart of
hearts" she's certain that the Army is covering something up, while Desiree
Howard expressed a deep concern over her last conversation with her
brother.
"I'm worried that someone might have done something to him," she
commented. "But why would they? There's a lot of Native Americans who will
eventually hear about this and how will it make them feel about the Army
and
enlisting in it?"
Desiree Howard also wondered why the Army keeps referring to her
brother in the past tense if they actually have no clue where he is.
"I don't know, it's like they know something that we don't," she remarked.
"I just hope he's okay."
* Anyone with information regarding Sergeant Alan Two Crow is asked to
contact his family at 605.964.6656 or their local law enforcement agency.
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