Russell Turcotte
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17 Oct 2002 update
From: "Hunter Gray"
Friends:
E-Mails -- short and trenchant -- to North Dakota Governor John Hoeven are
needed just as soon as possible -- asking him to ensure that the Grand
Forks, N.D. Police Department and other authorities in that general setting
cooperate and help substantially and fully with the forthcoming Search for
Russell Turcotte. We have been involved in this tragic situation early-on.
The Gov's address is at the conclusion of this letter.
As you may know from our posts, the Search in the Grand Forks region for
the 19 year old Turtle Mountain Chippewa youth, Russ Turcotte, missing
mysteriously since a Grand Forks night in mid-July, will be occurring this
coming weekend, October 19 and October 20. A volunteer search team, headed
by Mr Tim Miller, is coming up from Texas to coordinate the horseback and
motor vehicular project. Local volunteers will be involved. Grand Forks, of
course, is the small city setting where, more than a year ago, three Turtle
Mountain Indian men were murdered. Those cases are still unsolved. The
Mayor of Grand Forks has, to our knowledge, answered no e-mails on any of
this at all.
But, in response to e-mails and other communications from around the United
States and abroad expressing concern, North Dakota Governor John Hoeven's
office -- which has been friendly -- recently called Grand Forks
authorities and asked them to substantially assist the Search. The Turcotte
family was given to understand that that would be the case. They gathered
the Grand Forks police would provide two search centers, try to open up the
fairgrounds for the horses, and would otherwise assist. Now, as per this of
today [10/15] from a member of the Turcotte family, the Grand Forks Police
Department may be -- for whatever reason -- backing away:
"Hello Again,
I have a little bad news. I just talked to Tim Miller. At this time the
only thing the GF police are giving us are 6 cell phones and the
topographical maps. He is hopeful other resources will become available
when we actually get there. . ." [Ms. Maggie Heagy]
Honorable John Hoeven
Governor
State of North Dakota Governor@state.nd.us
State Capitol
Bismarck, North Dakota 58505
Further information on all of this in on our large website at
http://www.hunterbear.org/NATIVE%20AMERICAN%20COMMISSION%20PAGE%204.htm
Other pages in that immediate Native American Commission section of our
website discuss the situation involving the three unsolved Grand Forks
Native murders of September 2001 -- in which we've been quite involved from
the very beginning.
This is the letter just received today from Russ' aunt, Ms. Flo Turcotte:
Hello Hunter,
I thought I would forward this to you just to keep you updated. I received
this from my sister, in Houston, just a few minutes ago. I am so frustrated
with the Grand Forks PD once again! Hopefully once Mr. Miller gets to
Grand Forks, he'll be able to resolve this issue. thanks to you and
everyone that has stepped forward to assist us, and the other families,
with your help in trying to resolve the situations.
Until we talk again,
Flo
--------------------------------------------------
Hunter Gray [Hunterbear] [Formerly John R. Salter, Jr. Professor [Ret.]
and former Chair, American Indian Studies, University of North Dakota, Grand
Forks; and the 1989 recipient of the annual North Dakota Martin Luther
King, Jr. Award -- given by the State King Commission and Governor George
Sinner
www.hunterbear.org
Protected by NaŽshdoŽiŽbaŽiŽ
and Ohkwari'
Search for Russ Turcotte: Up-date: e-mails [and good thoughts] make helluva difference
Date: Wed, 09 Oct 2002 15:27:37 -0400
To: NatNews@yahoogroups.com
From: Senior Staff
Subject: Search for Russ Turcotte: Up-date: e-mails [and good thoughts] make helluva difference
"Hunter Gray"
Note by Hunterbear:
Officials in North Dakota are now much more responsive -- thanks to a very
great many of you! E-mails and good thoughts work out.
But first: The horseback and vehicular search for Russ Turcotte -- the 19
year old Turtle Mountain Chippewa missing since July in the general Grand
Forks, North Dakota region -- is set for the weekend of October 19 and 20.
It's being managed by Tim Miller's Texas EquuSearch Mounted Search and
Recovery from Houston [a not-for-profit volunteer group]. There are various
forms of assistance needed by the Search that local and broadly regional
sources could provide. These needs are indicated on this website page of
mine:
http://www.hunterbear.org/NATIVE%20AMERICAN%20COMMISSION%20PAGE%204.htm
This is a special page devoted to the whole Russ Turcotte situation and it's
updated very frequently.
Very early on indeed, we began posting on the [still unsolved] September
2001 murders of three Turtle Mountain Chippewa men at Grand Forks -- and
then the tragic Forks disappearance in July of Russ Turcotte of the same
tribe. The small city of Grand Forks is not in good shape in any sense --
having never really recovered from the massive April '97 Flood. Its city
officials were not responsive to our concerns regarding these matters and
North Dakota Governor John Hoeven's office was friendly but vague.
This last September 28, I posted very widely an extensive Appeal which
focused on Russ Turcotte's disappearance and the forthcoming Search and, of
course, brought in the whole matter of the three unsolved Native murders. I
asked that people e-mail concerns to the Mayor of Grand Forks and the Gov's office -- and a whole lot of people did just that.
Couple of days ago, I received an encouraging letter from the Gov's
office -- indicating great concern about Russ' disappearance and indicating
it would be in fast touch with Grand Forks. It did just that. And today,
from several Turcotte family members, came these indications of a much
changed attitude in the Forks:
Good Morning Hunter, [from Ms. Flo Turcotte]
I wanted to send this information on to you so would be updated. It seems
that the efforts of Everyone has made an impact. Without a doubt in my
mind, you and your family's generous efforts have assisted our family in
achieving this step in our search process. If there is anything at all
that I can do to reciprocate, all you have to do is ask.
Until we talk again,
Flo [Turcotte]
===========================
And from Ms. Tammy Miller:
Boozhoo Hunter,
Here is an email I've just received from my Aunt in Houston. I am
forwarding it to you to keep you in the loop of things. Thank you a million
times.
Tammy
===========================
Hello Family, [from Ms. Maggie Heagy]
I just talked to Tim Miller. He spoke with the police in Grand Forks>yesterday. They received a call from the Governor's office and was "asked"
to give us whatever we need to conduct this search. (I do believe everyone
writing their letters really had an impact!) They will be providing TWO
search center's. Police will be present to assist. They are looking into
opening up the fairground so there will be accomodations for the horses.
Tim thinks this will become very large and may even get national attention.
Thanks everyone! Yahoo!!
--------------------------------------
We'll certainly keep you all posted.
In Solidarity / Nialetch
Hunter Gray [Hunterbear]
www.hunterbear.org
Protected by NaŽshdoŽiŽbaŽiŽ
and Ohkwari'
Russell Turcotte's ominous N.D. disappearance: More
again, what's happening
29 Sept 2002 update from Hunter Gray
Subj: [NativeNews] Russell Turcotte's ominous N.D. disappearance: More again, what's happening
Date: 9/28/2002 8:45:24 PM Mountain Standard Time
From: senior-staff@nativenewsonline.org (Senior Staff)
"Hunter Gray"
Note by Hunterbear:
We need a few minutes of your help.
When I posted an interim update the other day on the tragic disappearance of
19 year old Native youth, Russell Turcotte, at Grand Forks N.D., I received
in three days numerous off-list indications of very strong empathetic
interest in his situation. Some of these came from "older" people -- and
many from those in his general age range. Here is more detailed information
on the situation and what we-all are right now doing on a number of fronts.
I have just finished a long talk with my youngest son, Peter -- a key editor
on the state-wide newspaper at Lincoln, NE. Understandably tied up totally
until now with the hideous Norfolk bank tragedy and its ramifications, he is
assisting us in the matter of media contacts in the North Dakota/Montana
setting -- where he has himself worked as reporter and editor.
Please feel very free to forward this material to the Four Directions. It is
one of the quick and helpful things we're now requesting of you!
===============================
"Boozhoo Hunter, Migwetch. For all, your response. . . your concern, and
your help. I have also received a copy of the messages sent between you and>my mom . . . (Your response stirred the emotions in her to such an>extent she phoned me in tears.)" -- from a member of the Turcotte family.>PHOTO: http://www.nmco.org/gallery/ma/images/turcotte-russell.jpg
Our contacts with family members of Russell Turcotte -- the 19 year old
Native youth who disappeared in mid-July -- are broadening substantially and
quickly. Russell was last seen at Grand Forks, N.D. where the three>relatively contemporary still-unsolved murders of a year ago are all Native>men -- and, like Russell, members of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Nation in>northern North Dakota: Jerome Decoteau, Robert Belgarde, Damian Belgarde.
Mr. Decoteau, who I knew, was beaten to death in his Grand Forks
apartment -- and the Belgardes, father and son, were found shot to death
just south of Grand Forks. The murders occurred in the same immediate time
period and we see them as very probably related.
Law enforcement responses to the three murders -- and to the disappearance
of Russell Turcotte -- have been laconic. Local media coverage has been
virtually nil.
The Turcotte family is understandably desperate. Among the questions, the>big one -- what has happened to Russell? And the other, why does the Grand>Forks Police Department [and related law enforcement agencies] consider this>a Montana matter -- when the young man disappeared in Grand Forks
jurisdiction?
Lots of very heavy questions about all of these things.
The family of the youth is now planning a major horseback search in the
broad Grand Forks regional area -- via an out-of-state team -- in
mid-October.
As a small city, Grand Forks -- home town of Leonard Peltier -- has been
coming apart badly since the horrific flood of April 1997. It's a town I
know well since we lived there for a number of years, during which -- among
other things -- I was a full prof [and sometime chair] of Indian Studies at
UND, a founder and head of the Mayor's Committee on Police Policy in the
1980s and, in the 1990s, chair of the city's Community Relations
Committee -- continuing in that capacity well after I retired from UND in
1994. We returned to the Mountain West in the late summer of '97 and live
in Idaho.
Russell Turcotte, living in Eastern Montana, had gone briefly into the
Midwest and, via hitch-hike on Highway 2, was returning from his last stop
at Brainerd, Minnesota. At Grand Forks at night, and tired of thumbing, he
called his mother for train-ticket money. He did this from a Mini-Mart on
Gateway Drive -- in the Forks and right on Highway 2 -- and a routine
surveillance camera in the store documents his presence. His mother
immediately wired $100.00 via Western Union, available for pickup when WU
opened next morning. But the train to Montana and westward -- which I've
taken many times -- passes through Grand Forks at 5 a.m.
It's possible that Russell, recognizing that he couldn't get the travel
funds from WU until after the train had left town, decided not to wait
another day and night -- and hooked a ride that July 12 night westward from
Grand Forks -- on Highway 2 -- toward Montana. The $100.00 was never picked
up at Western Union next morning.
There are two Mini-Marts on that side of Grand Forks. My oldest son, John,
now in the Fargo area and a writer, worked at the "other" Mini-Mart for a
long time. That one is about half a mile south of that on Gateway where>Russell was last seen. Although the one John was at is also off the
Interstate [I-29], it's not a highway crossroads like the one at Gateway>where Highway 2 and I-29 intersect. John's Mini-Mart drew a large number of
UND people -- was much a favorite with Native students -- and had few
highway travelers.
On the other hand, the Gateway Drive Mini-Mart -- at I-29 and Highway 2 --
always draws a large number of highway people of all kinds, attracted also
by the very close-by MacDonald's.
These are two different situations, sociologically.
The family of Russell Turcotte has scheduled the search by the horseback
team for the Grand Forks region on October 19 and 20.
They have asked our advice on possible target locations and related matters.
In part, this is what we've suggested:
John and I talked extensively. At one point, eight years or so ago, he
lived in the very small, dying town of Niagara -- about 40 miles or so west
of Grand Forks on Highway 2 -- making the trip into the Forks and back each
day. He knows the lay of that land. It is our feeling that a promising
search area would be on or around Highway 2 -- again, the road to Montana.
Specifically, we're thinking of the area west of Grand Forks Air Force Base
and beyond.
The Air Force Base lies 13 miles west of Grand Forks on Highway 2. That>short stretch, even at night, is very heavily traveled. But, again, what>we're suggesting is the Highway 2 country west of the Base for some many
miles. There, things are hillier, rougher, stretches of timber. A family
connection motoring along the highway recently saw a bear in that general
setting.
And at night, that's a very lonely stretch. Very lonely indeed.
This is a point again, when e-mails to the Governor of North Dakota and the
Mayor of Grand Forks would be very useful. The responses of some time back
from the Gov's office were friendly but vague. The Mayor hasn't even
bothered to respond. But messages mentioning all of these things -- the
three unsolved murders and very much Russell's disappearance -- would now be
extremely timely. Expressions of concern and requests for tangible action
and specific information would certainly be most appropriate.
The officials:
Honorable John Hoeven
Governor>BR?
State of North Dakota
Governor@state.nd.us
State Capitol
Bismarck, North Dakota 58505
Honorable Michael Brown
Mayor
City of Grand Forks
Grand Forks, North Dakota 58201
mbrown@grandforksgov.com
Both the Governor and the Mayor are getting a copy of this.
Our large social justice website, Lair of Hunterbear, is at
www.hunterbear.org
Material relating to the Indian murders and Russell's disappearance is much
included therein -- in the three
page section of our Socialist Party USA Native American Commission which
starts at
http://www.hunterbear.org/native_american_commission_page.htm.
Russell Turcotte [with photos] is listed on Missing Persons Gallery at
http://www.nmco.org/gallery/ma/turcotte-russell.html
Thanks so very much for whatever you can do.
In Solidarity -
Hunter Gray [Hunterbear] [formerly John Salter, Jr.] Micmac / St. Francis
Abenaki / St. Regis Mohawk
www.hunterbear.org
Protected by NaŽshdoŽiŽbaŽiŽ
and Ohkwari'
Note by Hunterbear: Interim Update on the ND Indian killings and the
Russell Turcotte disappearance
From Native News Online
From: "Hunter Gray"
Note by Hunterbear: Interim Update on the ND Indian killings and the
Russell Turcotte disappearance. Much more soon -- one way or the other.
For professional identification purposes, I am a retired full professor
[and former chair] of the Indian Studies Department at University of
North Dakota where I taught, among other things, Federal Indian
Law for many years. I now live in Idaho.
I have just received this sad note from Tammy Miller, cousin of 19 year old
Russell Turcotte, Turtle Mountain Chippewa, who disappeared on July 12, 2002
at Grand Forks, North Dakota -- scene one year ago of the still unsolved
murders of the three Turtle Mountain men: Jerome DeCoteau and Robert and
Damian Belgarde. Ms. Miller has seen the material concerning Russell's
disappearance that we have on our social justice website -- along with
considerable information on the three killings of a year ago. Our website,
Lair of Hunterbear, is at www.hunterbear.org The material relating to the
Indian murders and Russell's disappearance is much included in the three
pages of our
Socialist Party USA Native American Commission which start at
http://www.hunterbear.org/native_american_commission_page.htm.
From Ms. Tammy Miller to Hunterbear:
I just discovered the article regarding my cousin, Russ Turcotte. I was
pleasantly surprised, but more so, I am thankful. The search is continuing
only because our family is insistent. The ceremonies that have been held
have not enlightened us any more than the awareness we previously had. The
police and "authorities" have not continued an aggressive search.
Therefore, much time has passed and little has been accomplished. We will
press on.
For your time and consideration.......
GAYE NI-MAMOOYAWENDAM
(Also I am thankful) *Ojibwa*
[Tammy Miller]
This is our recent update on the Grand Forks situation -- posted on our
website with much other material on the three murders and this young man's
ominous disappearance. We see the three murders as linked and, obviously,
the mysterious situation involving Russell Turcotte raises the most serious
speculation.
LATEST ON THE NATIVE MURDERS AT GRAND FORKS -- and the Turcotte
disappearance -- [9/21/02]: A year has passed and no arrests have been made
in the murders of Jerome DeCoteau and Robert and Damian Belgarde. Russell
Turcotte, who disappeared at Grand Forks on the night of July 12 2002, has
not been found. In mid-August 2002, a veteran Grand Forks police officer
passed information to me through a good mutual friend: arrests might not be
far off in the Belgarde case but authorities had found nothing to work with
in the DeCoteau murder. And then -- in a shocker -- he said he was totally
unaware of the Turcotte disappearance and no other Grand Forks officers he
knew had mentioned it. [Media in Grand Forks have said virtually nothing
about Russell Turcotte's disappearance, giving only the vague impression
that it's a Montana situation -- home of the young man. But the 19 year old
disappeared at Grand Forks!] The police officer, well-placed and
dependable, indicated he'd push the matter locally.
Hunterbear
================================
As a town, Grand Forks -- which never really recovered from the horrific
flood of April, '97 -- appears to be coming apart badly. The crime rate is
high, racism continues to rise, and most city officials are singularly
unresponsive and uncommunicative. It's a thoroughly deplorable situation.
State government officials have not really been communicative. On the three
murders, their statements have consistently made reference to various
investigations in various jurisdictions -- and little more. The Feds
have been totally silent. Russell Turcotte's Grand Forks
disappearance -- through some bizarre alchemy -- is viewed
as a Montana matter.
We will keep at this. Creative media approaches and sensible
confrontations are now much in the works. As I have been
from the outset, I'll be very deeply involved.
Russell Turcotte [with photo] is listed on Missing Persons Gallery at
http://www.nmco.org/gallery/ma/turcotte-russell.html
Fraternally / In Solidarity -
Hunter Gray [Hunterbear] [formerly John Salter, Jr.]
Micmac / St Francis Abenaki / St Regis Mohawk
[Pocatello, Idaho]
www.hunterbear.org
Protected by NaŽshdoŽiŽbaŽiŽ
and Ohkwari'
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