Dakotas Double Death

[LilMissKryssy]

I'm sure there's an older thread on this but I couldnt readily find it so I just started this one lol

Given that I live in Buffalo, NY and we just had that insane blizzard in November where we couldn't leave our homes for a week and and the national guard had to come help and we now are experiencing temperatures with wind chill factors at -20 tonight plus another lake effect snow storm with blizzard like conditions from tonight until Saturday ugh , I began thinking about this case.

When I first watched this case as a kid in the 90s it seemed super creepy and mysterious but now as an adult I just think that they both tragically died due to exposure on the night of their accident. I'm sure their intoxication didn't help their judgment combined with the possible disorientation from the accident. I don't think there was a killer out lurking around in the early am hours in negatives temperatures. (believe me its BITTER COLD lol).

Does anyone else see it that way?

[justins5256]

Yes, I think my reaction to it was similar to yours. As a kid, it blew my mind and I thought it was so bizarre. As an adult, I think they all had one too many and got in to an accident, become disoriented, tried to leave the scene, and perished in the snow. And, I don't mean this in a negative way, but they both seemed pretty big. I could see them falling though the ice especially if there were thin patches. The ice would have then refroze over night.

The only thing that is really weird is that the lead officer believed there was foul play and was pushing for a new investigation, IIRC. That is pretty different if you think about it. I can't recall another UM segment where that was the case. I always wondered if maybe he was trying to do it as a CYA type move because it would be pretty embarrassing to do an "exhaustive" search only to ave the bodies discovered a few feet away from where the accident happened.

[LooksLikeCRicci]

I thought the case was creepy as a kid, too.

As a grownup who works with intoxicated people all the live long day, I just now think the case is sad. Alcohol sucks.

[WishfulDreamer]

I think this case was just an accident. I think that both of them were completely disoriented and shaken by the accident (as well as intoxicated). I don't think they meant to leave their best friend trapped in a car. They likely wandered away from the wreckage and fell through the ice. Arnold might have even been thrown from the car considering he wasn't in there according to Tracy when she and Ruby were yelling for help. I doubt there was any foul play here. I know it haunts the investigator, and he's probably troubled that they didn't find the bodies when they were so close by despite an extensive search. It's just a sad case all around.

[Necco]

Sheriffs in Charles Mix County are elected.

Poking around online, I've seen evidence that there has been some accusations of targeting Native Americans by the Sheriff's Department. Due to the weirdness involved, it is possible this investigation was kept open as a peace offering to the Yankton Reservation.

Just a thought.

[LilMissKryssy]

Glad I'm not the only one!

Necco, that is very interesting! It could be a possibility.

I know the investigator couldn't get over the fact that they didn't find the bodies sooner but in those bitter temperatures the ice they fell through would've frozen up very quickly after they died from exposure. Secondly, it's -12 out right now and being outside even in a jacket, hat, gloves and ugg boots..it's so bitter cold it takes your breathe away. Being intoxicated only makes you more prone to hyperthermia.

Also, the corner concluded they both died of exposure. The investigator agreed they could've died from exposure "but not at that site". Does he really think it's logical that on a bitter cold night in the negatives temperatures a killer is just hanging out and kidnaps 2 young adults both who appeared to weigh close to 200 pounds each? Then somehow kill them by exposure later on at another location then bring them back to the original location? I mean it sounds ridiculous. Just because one body appears slightly more decomposed means nothing. One of their bodies could've been exposed at the surface longer which would expose to body to the warner air which would speed up decomposition during the spring thaw. I also think some friends of theirs claiming to see them were just mistaken about the date. Alcohol abuse is a huge issue on native reservations (much higher than the national average). However, it's bizarre that the cousins father let them drive off on a wintery night knowing they were highly intoxicated. He should've forbide them to drive anywhere. Just sad and tragic.

[LilMissKryssy]

Originally Posted by LooksLikeCRicci

I thought the case was creepy as a kid, too.

As a grownup who works with intoxicated people all the live long day, I just now think the case is sad. Alcohol sucks.

Very much agree! Alcohol does suck. So many senseless deaths. Had a elementary school classmate die at 21 after a night of hard binge drinking because he went behind the bar to relieve himself but the bar was at the edge of a steep canal. He climbed over the guardrail and slipped and fell to his death. I couldn't imagine how sad it is to see it on a daily basis. Nothing good ever comes from being "wasted"

[Necco]

It should also be noted that the Yankton Reservation is home to a subgroup of Dakota Indians. The Dakota are a subgroup of the Sioux. Both the Yankton and the Pine Ridge Reservations were once part of the Great Sioux Reservation.

So, Pine Ridge is where a lot of the American Indian Movement stuff went down in the 1970s, including the conviction of Leonard Peltier for killing two federal agents and the murder of activist Anna Mae Aquash. (bear with me, I swear I'm going someplace with this.)

When Anna Mae Aquash's body was found, her cause of death was ruled to be exposure, but the FBI cut off her hands and sent them to Washington "to ID the body" Shortly after her burial as a Jane Doe she was IDed, exhumed and found to have been shot in the head execution style.

Fast forward to 1992, the year of Ruby and Arnold's car accident and 1995, the year Unsolved Mysteries presented the case. There was a resurgence of interest in what happened at Pine Ridge. Pressure was being placed on law enforcement from a lot of different directions.

A documentary called The Incident at Oglala was made in 1992.
Rage Against the Machine released a song called Freedom which had a video that was about Leonard Peltier.
Buffy St Marie released a song called "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" in 1992 that was very quickly covered by the Indigo Girls.
In 1991, the judge that presided over Leonard Peltier's 1986 appeal hearing expressed serious concerns about the appeal.
In 1993, Leonard Peltier was denied parole.



So, what I'm saying is, I can understand why the folks on the reservation weren't too keen to except the "they died of exposure" line AND why law enforcement might want to have played nice on this case in an effort to make some good will between them and the tribe. "Look how much we care about the Indians, we're even going on Unsolved Mysteries to get try and get them justice"

[TheCars1986]

I've always theorized that the investigator didn't want to admit that he might have missed the bodies, so he came up with the theory that the bodies were put there.

[RobinW]

Yeah, I've always had mixed feelings about this sheriff in this case. On one hand, he did seem genuinely passionate about solving the case, which was a far cry from many UM cases where LE callously disregard a victim's family by writing off a suspicious death as an accident or suicide and move on. On the other hand, if he was wrong, it's pretty cruel to string the victim's families along and prevent them from getting closure by making them believe there's some imaginary killer out there to find.

[justins5256]

Originally Posted by Necco

So, what I'm saying is, I can understand why the folks on the reservation weren't too keen to except the "they died of exposure" line AND why law enforcement might want to have played nice on this case in an effort to make some good will between them and the tribe. "Look how much we care about the Indians, we're even going on Unsolved Mysteries to get try and get them justice"

Thanks for posting this and your earlier post. It confirms suspicions we have had about the department's motivation for handling the case in this manner. I honestly had not conducted the research, so had no idea this was all going on. It really helps put things in to a better perspective though, doesn't it? Thanks again.

[asmitty]

I agree with many here that this case was mind boggling when I was young in the 90s but became clearer as I got older.

I currently live about 100 miles from where this incident happened, and I've experienced the kinds of weather conditions the area has to offer. I've even been to Lake Andes, although I do not know exactly where this incident occurred. In bitter winter conditions here in SD, I can easily believe that they fell threw the ice and died from exposure. However, there is one issue that I've never been able to reconcile with the exposure angle. The main issue I have with the They Died by falling through the ice story is the weather data that I've been able to gather from that location and time. I obtained weather data from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) for the month of December 1992 when this incident occurred. The data was collected at the weather station in Pickstown, SD which is 7 miles from Lake Andes. In the seven days surrounding this incident, the daily high temps ranged from 26-48 degrees Farenheit. The daily low temps ranged from 16-29 degrees Farenheit. While 16 degrees is low, that was the lowest temperature and didn't happen until over 3 days after the accident. The accident happened early morning on December 12th. The overnight low for that night/morning was 25 degrees Farenheit. The previous day (December 11th) was the warmest day in that seven day period with a high of 48 degrees Farenheit. The day of the accident (December 12th) reached a high of 37 degrees Farenheit. While those temperatures are not necessarily "warm" they are not the kind of bone chilling cold that we often see in South Dakota. Additionally, it was far to warm on the 11th for the ice to have frozen enough for a car to land on it the way the reenactment showed. at a low temp of 25 degrees after a high of 48 that day, you'd be talking about a thin layer of ice on top. And it certainly wouldn't have been cold enough for them to fall through and then have the ice re-freeze before the search the next day (especially since the 12th had a high of 37 degrees). Given the temperatures reported for that area by the NCDC, why wasn't the overturned car submerged in water if the water in the ditch was deep enough to hide two bodies from authorities. It wasn't cold enough to allow a car to stay on top of a layer of ice even if the top of the ditch was frozen. However, if the water was deep enough to completely submerge two bodies, I doubt it would have been frozen at all. The daily high temps had been in the 40s for the previous four days according to the NCDC. According to the UM segment, when rescue workers arrived on the scene, " the ice underneath the car was frozen solid, they feared that Arnold and Ruby had wandered off and fallen through the ice at another location." This just does not reconcile with the temperatures recorded for that area on that date and the amount of water that would have been present in the ditch for two full grown adults to have fallen through the ice.

As a side note, I re-pulled the weather data from the NCDC this morning to make this post and I'd be happy to share the PDF with anyone who wants to see it.

[MegtheEgg86]

Thanks for your research and insight, asmitty. That's some pretty interesting information.

It's been a VERY long time since I last watched this one, but I always wanted to know more about Arnold and Ruby, personally. Who were their friends and associates? What kind of things did they like to do? What were their habits? I seem to remember the segment didn't go into great depth about much of that.

Necco brings up an interesting point re: the Sioux Nation, The Incident at Oglala (I would encourage everyone to see it if you haven't, regardless of whether you feel Peltier was framed or not), and the sheriff's department.

[Necco]

I knew eventually my love of obscure documentaries, Unsolved Mysteries, rap metal, and folk rock would someday come in handy.

In all seriousness, this case illustrates the epidemic of alcoholism and lack of opportunity rampant in some Native communities.

If my math is vaguely correct, their baby should be about 24. I wonder how baby and cousin Tracy are today.

[WishfulDreamer]

Originally Posted by MegtheEgg86

It's been a VERY long time since I last watched this one, but I always wanted to know more about Arnold and Ruby, personally. Who were their friends and associates? What kind of things did they like to do? What were their habits? I seem to remember the segment didn't go into great depth about much of that.

We really don't learn much about them. They fell in love in high school and struggled after having a child together because they were still so young. We know they were close to Tracy, who was their best friend, and that they liked to drive around. They also, unfortunately, liked to drink and I think that's the cause of the accident and this whole tragedy. I also wanted to know more about them besides being the young parents they were.

As Necco said, alcoholism is rampant in a lot of Native American communities. It looks like they were exposed young, considering they were all underage, and perhaps it was normal for them to drive and drink. I found it strange that Tracy's father didn't admonish them for it, but at least he discouraged them from taking the little girl with them. I'm going to make a guess that drinking/driving on the reservation was not such a rare thing.