This is the second in a series on the death of Custer resident Meshell Will and the investigation into her death.
Angie (not her real name) thought it was strange when Meshell Will and her male companion left the Brookside Motel in Keystone that the room had been thoroughly cleaned.
“The beds were made and the room was spotless,” she said.
It was so unusual, she added, that the maids even made mention of it on their maid sheets.
“I may not be an investigator,” she said, “but all signs would lead me to think that he killed her there. I don’t know if they have come up with more information of what happened to her after I last saw her, but I will say she was not in a state to where she could’ve walked herself out of the motel.”
As the acting manager at the motel on duty that fateful night, Angie believes she was the last person — other than the person who killed her — to talk to Meshell. Angie was not aware that she was dead until a few weeks later.
“I saw her the last night she had texted her sister that she was coming to Keystone. Their last stop that I am aware of was at the motel in Keystone,” she said. “The power went off in their room and I had them moved to a hot tub suite. That’s why I remember her.”
The thought haunts her and she waits to hear that someone has been arrested and charged with her murder.
“What makes me the most upset is the police know the last person she was with. They know where she was last seen. They know everything,” she said. “They kept saying they were waiting on a cause of death, but that was a year ago. There is no reason they should not have made even a person of interest report by now. It’s very upsetting.”
Even more upsetting is the belief that her own life is in danger.
“That’s a top reason I don’t work at the motel any more,” she said.
“There is so much more the police know and I am shocked they have not made an arrest,” she added. “I think they goofed up somewhere and are trying to figure out how to fix it. They know I know who the last person was and he’s free and in Custer. I don’t like it.”
In four days, on Aug. 31, it will have been a calendar year since Will’s decomposing corpse was found just off Iron Mountain Road by a tourist who was taking pictures in the area near mile post 54, in a wooded area between the higher and lower part of the road near one of the road’s famous “pigtail”?��bridges.
And although law enforcement officials still don’t know who or what was responsible for Will’s death, they remain steadfast in the search to find those answers, and say until they have those answers, the search won’t stop.
“It is still considered an active, open investigation,” said Corey Brubakken, captain of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office. His office, along with the South Dakota Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI), is heading up the investigation into Will’s death.
Will’s death has never been officially ruled a homicide, although last year Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom said the investigation was being treated as criminal.
In addition, a cause of death has never been identified. Brubakken said determining the cause of death is “a component of the investigation,”?��due to the condition of Will’s body when it was discovered.
“Until we get a resolution to it, it will always be an active case,”?��Brubakken said. “Until there is accountability in regard to what happened to Miss Will, we will continue to investigate. It’s not going to go away.”
Brubakken said investigators are constantly working to drum up and investigate more leads. As they receive new information, they investigate it and also talk with other people they have already interviewed in regard to the case. He said the investigation is not focused on any one person.
“Our job is to look at everything. You have to determine what is fact and what isn’t fact,”?��he said. “Our investigation examines everything. It takes time. Unfortunately, that’s the reality of the situation sometimes.”
The decision whether or not to prosecute a person or persons for the crimes will eventually fall to Pennington County states attorney Mark Vargo, since Will’s body was found in Pennington County. Some people have questioned why the Custer County States Attorney Office has not charged anyone with a crime regarding the case, but it is not within the county’s jurisdiction.
“While Custer County has a direct interest in seeing this case successfully prosecuted in the future, we do not have any control over the anticipated prosecution,” said Custer County states attorney Tracy Kelley. “I?��can tell you that law enforcement continues to actively investigate the case with the goal of providing a case for prosecution to the Pennington County State’s Attorney’s Office.”
It’s a state’s attorney’s office responsibility to charge an individual with a crime, not the police department.
Vargo said investigators continue to communicate information about the case to his office, but declined to guess when or if any charges would be filed.
“I don’t really like guess-work much,”?��he said. “We do try to stay in communication (with investigators) so if something happens, we’re ready to go. We are always actively involved in any case, both of this magnitude and duration.”
Amanda Dillon, Will’s sister, remembers her last communication with her. Will, 38, sent a text to Dillon saying she was heading to Keystone and would talk to her later. She never heard from her again.
Dillon said law enforcement has kept her in the loop on the investigation’s progress, but she hasn’t heard about any new leads they are pursuing for a few months.
“There is nothing really new. We all have the same information,” she said. “I know they are trying and it’s still open.”
Dillon said her sister’s remains, post-autopsy, were sent to Sturgis, where she was cremated. The ashes were then sent to Will’s mother in Wisconsin, which are now the centerpiece of a memorial set up in the home that includes candles and a picture of her late daughter.
In the year that has passed, Dillon said she is still working to come to terms with her sister’s death, having finally erased her number from her cell phone, but still finding herself wondering what she is doing and longing to talk to her.
“I?��don’t have anything to remember her by except for old photos,”?��she said. “I miss her.”
Dillon said she does take comfort in the fact that her sister was at least found, so she doesn’t have to wonder where the body is and if she is still suffering.
“Knowing she was found and did pass is a relief in a way — to know she isn’t being harmed anymore,” she said.
Because her sister was new in town and didn’t know many people, Dillon initially thought the question of who did what to her sister would be solved quickly. Dillon knows someone was with her sister during whatever happened because her sister did not drive and had no driver’s license. To get where she ended up, someone had to have driven her there.
“Meshell hadn’t been here long, so I thought the list of potential suspects would be down,”?��she said.
And despite her desire to find out how her sister died and who caused the death, she added that she doesn’t want to see the wrong person accused or have someone go to jail who isn’t responsible for her sister’s death.
“Meshell has died and there is nothing we can do about that. In the same respect, I would like to have closure,” she said. “But you can’t do anything until you have the proof to accuse somebody. Let’s try not to make the mistake of hurting someone else in the process.”
Dillon has heard many theories about what happened to her sister, as well as theories on who is responsible. She knows some of the theories couldn’t be true, while others have been dispelled. She is quick to point out that her sister was never with someone who is abusive, but did have a wild side and a quick temper, and fears she may have met someone who had the same traits.
“She got with the wrong person at the wrong time,”?��Dillon said. “The ‘what ifs’ and ‘could bes’ drive you crazy. It doesn’t help the situation.”
Dillon is convinced someone killed her sister and worries that the person or persons responsible may never pay for what they did.
“I don’t know if we’re ever going to know who killed her,” she said.?��“I?��really don’t.”
If investigators have their way, however, that question will be answered — eventually. Brubakken said it’s impossible to say when the questions regarding Will’s death will be answered, but promised those answers will continue to be sought by law enforcement.
“What I can tell you with certainty is that we will continue to investigate this case until the individual or individuals responsible, if that is the case, are held accountable,”?��he said. “I am adamant when I say this is not going away.”
That’s good news for Will’s friends and relatives. Angie, who saw her only briefly at the motel, also continues to hope that there is a break in the case. Still, the wait is upsetting for her.
“I would like to call and ask what is going on,” she said. “It has been too long. Really. Almost a year of fear and wonder. It’s not right.”
Not to mention seeing justice done for Will.
“My heart aches for her,” she said.
Originally Posted by bowieluva
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But unrelated to Meshell I suspect. She was waaay too old for these creeps.
