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SD, West Point Officials Answer Questions on Death of Sgt Two Crow
by Ishgooda
Native News Online
http://nativenewsonline.org/
EAGLE BUTTE, SD-- Yesterday evening at the Super 8 Motel in Eagle Butte South Dakota, military officials Brian Locke and Col Ann Horner answered questions on the death of Sgt Alan Two Crow an MP at WestPoint whose disappearance in July sparked a furor in Indian Country when civilians conducting their own search in September found his decomposing body on a slope on the West Point base following a supposedly thorough search by officials in July.
Results of the autopsy conducted in New York were consistent with an accidental death. The family who stated they had been harassed by the military and accused of hiding information as to his whereabouts remained unconvinced and requested a second autopsy in South Dakota. The information available at this time on the results of this autopsy is inconclusive.
Sgt. Alan Two Crow's father and family were present during this "briefing." The question and answer session which lasted six hours raised more questions than it answered.
The terrain in which his body was found is a slope, not a steep ravine. An individual involved in the successful search believed a toboggan on snow would have had difficulty gaining enough downhill momentum to result in the injuries the sergeant sustained.
The investigation is ongoing and far from closed.
CHRONOLOGY: MISSING WEST POINT SERGEANT..NO DISCERNIBLE
INVESTIGATION
From NDN-AIM list
Sgt. Alan Two Crow went missing from West Point US Military academy the morning of July 14, 2002 between the hours of 12:30 am and 1:00 am.
On 8/24 there was an article in the Oklahoma Indian Times about a missing soldier from West Point US Military Academy in New York. The missing soldier was Sgt. Alan Two Crow of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of South Dakota. Living less than 30 minutes away, MaureenLaBurt was shocked to learn of this disappearance from an Oklahoma newspaper when there had been no coverage on the case locally in the media. Area police who were long-time friends were asked if they had heard about it; they hadn't. Contacting Carter Camp he suggested she call the family.
She called, and what she discovered was appalling. The little contact they had from the West Point investigators was hostile and accusatory, as if the family had conspired to cover up Alan's whereabouts. The investigator, S.A. Lorrie Dinsmore, had communicated with Alan's ex-wife, stating that the rest of the family had been hostile. Most of Lorrie's communications with Alan's ex-wife, Toni Gurule, was puzzling. She had asked if the investigators would be able to get onto the reservation to look for leads, clues or perhaps Alan himself. She indicated she thought it would be safer if the agents met the family in a nearby town instead of going to their home on the rez.
The family had been told that all efforts above and beyond what any other agency would do had been done in their investigation and that all local police had been notified. When asked by the ex-wife if hospitals had been notified or flyers passed out locally, she was told that they did not discuss their investigation while it was on-going, and if outsiders and politicians did not stop interfering and calling them, they would be unable to pursue the investigation with any speed. In light of that, they made no contact with people from the West Point area that Maureen and Carter had intended to contact in hopes their investigation would prove that they were making the necessary effort. She contacted local police departments, including the New York State Park police on September 5th since West Point is surrounded by thousands of acres of park land (Bear Mountain, Harriman, Palisades and Sterling Forest state parks are all within the area). The Park Police sergeant on duty advised that he had heard nothing about it and was only able to locate the missing persons report on Sgt. Two Crow when she gave him the name and he checked the National missing person's computer system. She asked if she could send him information and a flyer; he indicated that they could not actively pursue a search unless it came to them via official channels per proper protocol, in this case from West Point, but he would take it as a civilian request and post the info in the barracks in order to bring awareness to their staff. The flyer was faxed to him immediately on 9/5. Sgt. Dinsmore, in the same correspondence to the ex-wife where she indicated that efforts above and beyond were being taken, then went on to say that all they could do was put him into the general missing persons system. How is that above and beyond anything? In checking the internet repeatedly and regularly for anything on Sgt. Two Crow's disappearance, she found that West Point had released in their own newsletter that Sgt. Two Crow was missing. This was dated 8/23. This was forwarded then to Toni Gurule who contacted S.A. Dinsmore to ask why it had taken approx. 6 weeks for West Point to issue a missing persons notice, at which time she was advised it had to go through proper channels and be approved prior to release.
Maureen contacted by the Rockland Journal and the Times Herald Record requesting they cover the story on 8/24.
West Points' official press release and media kit was web posted on 8/26 and the NYS police also posted information on their site based on this.
The family and ex-wife continued to be frustrated in their attempts to obtain any information and were treated without compassion or respect for their feelings and concerns. Letters were written to West Point and New York politicians pleading for assistance from the CRST council, Rep. Thomas J. Van Norman, Governor William Janklow, Sen.Tom Daschle and Congressman Thune, and all were advised that their letters were to be directed to West Point's CID investigators, the very agency that had been non-responsive and hostile toward the family.
Toni Gurule advised S.A. Dinsmore on 9/5 that she was aware from our own investigation that no flyers had been posted nor had area police departments been advised and suggested that perhaps more effort may be necessary .
On 9/6 S.A. Dinsmore responded that she would no longer communicate with Toni, since she was the ex-wife and had become 'hostile' for having suggested that more effort might be needed. She also asked about "Sitting Bull" which is a strange question since Chief Sitting Bull was murdered and it came without reference.
On 9/6 in conversation with West Point media representatives, Wayne Hall of the Times Herald Record was asked why he hadn't covered the story and if he would. Up to this point Wayne had known nothing of Sgt. Two Crow's disappearance.
All the information shared with the reporters focused solely on the possibility that Two Crow had voluntarily gone AWOL and what the consequences might be for such a crime, including the possibility of even the death penalty, as this is considered "war time" service.
Further conversation between Maureen and Carter resulted in a decision to write the reporter about what had been learned from the family and local cops. Fortunately, Wayne was intrigued by the angle of the West Point media person steering this article solely toward the angle of Two Crow as AWOL and, within 3 days had contacted the family and had written another article to the mysterious disappearance of Two Crow. This story was then picked up and reprinted by a number of other NY papers. While awaiting more information on the case, Wayne gave assurances that he would make an effort to keep the story alive in hopes of giving the family some peace of mind that despite West Point's apparent lack of effort and disregard for their concern, there were people here with compassion who would do what they could to help. This hope came to the family when it seemed to them that all hope was lost having been stonewalled in every attempt to find any information about Alan. The investigators indicated that there was no need to be in contact with them since there was nothing new.
West Point's media department had advised Wayne Hall that the FBI had searched the entire area thoroughly for 3 days with dogs and that flyers were distributed locally and all police departments were notified. Again, we found this to be untrue.
Some time about 2 weeks ago Maureen was contacted by Tom Van Norman who asked her to share what she knew of the investigation efforts locally. Eric Milland, a Bronx resident, had contacted Tom Van Norman after reading the news article asking if there was any way he could assist. Van Norman gave him her number. He called Maureen this past Monday requesting a meeting to discuss the situation stating he had already gone to West Point last weekend. They met on Wednesday afternoon and she gave him copies of flyers prepared and distributed at local pow-wows. Eric made copies and returned to the towns surrounding the West Point area to make inquiries and distribute flyers while inspecting the area terrain for any clue where Two Crow could be since the FBI and CID had completely ruled out the possibility his being on-base after their thorough search. Eric asked if she would go into the area with him this weekend. Already suspicious, she called and e-mailed Carter with her concern about going into something like 65,000 acres of woods alone, at which point Carter said the investigation was taking too long, the family suffering too much and too long and fuck their request not to contact people and she should go ahead and contact an old high-school friend's husband who had worked on West Point to see if he had heard anything and would go along with Eric and her. So she called ; much to her surprise, learned he still worked in a civilian job on West Point, knew Two Crow and the other guys involved and was sure that he was dead and likely the body was in the area. He also shared rumors that Two Crow had been drinking heavily that night with a group and was last seen by a man rumored to be the husband of a woman Two Crow had been involved with. She was too stunned to speak or listen further, called Carter and then Van Norman whom she told to contact Charlie right away. He called him and obtained the information. It seemed to Charlie that the family was present as well as many others while he spoke with Van Norman on speaker phone. Van Norman shared with him that Eric also had been in the area locally hoping for some information or clues.
Toni had also e-mailed Maureen quite distressed that CID out of Denver had gone through some motions of pretending they could say they've investigated by grilling her over a 4-hour period asking the same questions she has answered multiple times. When she attempted to ask them for information, they informed her they were well aware that she had a 'communication problem' with the investigators at West Point. She felt that their attitude toward her was threatening and intimidating and their true motive was retaliation for her having questioned the military's (lack of) investigation. The investigators seemed intent upon proving Alan was AWOL rather than looking for information that would help to locate him.
S.A. Lorrie Dinsmore was TDY, bringing any hope that the investigation might have any chance of being handled in any professional manner to a complete halt. Based upon Carter's advice, when Eric called Maureen yesterday morning to set a time to meet, she called Charlie who was out crabbing on a boat, urging him to come in and meet up with her and Eric. Eric arrived with his girlfriend Laurie and 15-year old pet dog. They drove up to meet with Charlie. Maureen stayed back and they decided to keep in touch by cell phone in case of difficulties, such as getting lost, located any signs or the body or were detained or harrassed by West Point officials, Charlie's wife and Maureen remained available to call for legal assistance or notify others should the search be fruitful. An hour into their search, they lost contact with one another. Two and a half hours into the search, her cell phone rang with a call from Charlie's wife Trish say they had found a body. Familiar with the area, the events of that night and the rumors, Charlie felt it most likely that Two Crow would have met his fate at a most direct route between the barracks where they had been drinking and his own. On a steep deer path as Eric was attempting to backtrack back up the hill, he saw something to his side that caught his eye. At first he thought it was a trash bag.
Upon further inspection, he saw that what he was looking at was a pair of white Reebok sneakers. He approached closer and saw the body. He ran like a greyhound to get Charlie.
Charlie attempted to call the Military Police but was unable to get through. He found someone who's West Point personnel and asked that he contact the MP's; he too was unable to get through. Charlie then called 9-1-1 and reached the New York State Police who in turn contacted West Point. They were on West Point property. The body was located on a steep path between the 2 barracks as stated, a short distance from a playground.
The NY State Police were the first to respond. This was between 6:30 and 7:00 pm. Then West Point officials began to pour in, all making calls to others, they secured the location and sent the 3 as well as the geriatric dog back to the MP station where they were requested to remain until they had given their statements.
Tom Van Norman contacted Maureen around 12:30 a.m. and she told him the sketchy informationknown at that time and he requested she call him at his home at 4:00 am EST when he would be there since he was on the road and wanted to have the details from the others as well. It was approximately 2:40 a.m. when Charlie, Eric, Laurie and the dog returned to Charlie's home. Maureen returned home by 3:15 am and arrived at 3:45 am. At 4:00 am she Carter called but got no answer--he was on the phone already with Charlie.
At 8:00 am this morning she was awakened by a phone call from Toni Gurule, crying hysterically and vomitting as she had just received a call from Captain Locke at West Point who stated he had tried to notify the family but was unable to reach them to let them know a body had been found. Toni was alone at home in Colorado and unable to awaken any of her friends in the area but was desperate for any information. Maureen told her she did believe it was Alan since there were no other missing persons reported and he was found in an area consistent with where he most likely would have travelled that night. She did not share with her any gross details of the stage of decomposition being consistent with the time period over which he had been missing. Tom Van Norman had indicated last night that he didn't feel it appropriate until the complete forensic investigation had confirmed details, as a public official following procedure and protocol, he would not be discussing this with the family until sthen. Because Capt. Locke was notifying the family before this confirmation, Maureen immediately called Van Norman so that he could personally get word to the family rather than their hearing such news over the phone immediately after being awakened, and then called Charlie who called West Point officials who indicated there was quite a bit of trouble that would be coming down for the failed efforts in any investigation when US intelligence agencies failed to find in 2-1/2 months what it took a small group of outsiders to find in 2-1/2 hours based upon 'encouragement' from Carter to answer the pleas of a desperate family in South Dakota. Maureen is in complete agreement that there has to be an outside investigation of these events and the policy since they certainly can't be entrusted to investigate themselves or to disclose the facts, which will make them look borderline incompetent.
Charlie called (trying to right this with the phone and constant news and stuff is interesting!)…he got word (rumor has it…) that ID was on Two Crow. Forensics pretty much a formality at this point. Damned formal for incompetents.
As Carter indicated, ruling out foul play right now would just show more of their inability to properly investigate, especially in light of the circumstances and well-known rumors.
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