LA PLATA COUNTY, Colo. (KRQE) – Closing in on five years after Dylan Redwine went missing, his father, Mark Redwine, has been indicted for the murder and subsequently arrested.
According to the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado, Mark Redwine was arrested Saturday following the grand jury’s indictment. Mark is being held on $1 million cash-only bond.
Dylan was 13 years old when he went missing from his father’s home in Vallecito near Durango in November 2012 while visiting on a court-ordered visit. His partial remains were found seven months later on Middle Mountain.
Mark has been a person of interest in the case for some time, but until now, he was never charged with any crime.
He’s now charged with second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death. He’s currently in Bellingham, Washington and is expected to be extradited to La Plata County soon to appear before a judge.
According to the indictment documentation, Dylan’s mother and father were in an intense custody battle over Dylan. Dylan expressed that he did not want to visit Mark and was uncomfortable seeing him. Dylan and Mark had also argued during their previous visit and had not been getting along leading up to the court-ordered visit.
Mark told investigators that during Dylan’s visit, Dylan might have seen a contempt of court accusation laying regarding the custody case on his kitchen table, and that might have made Dylan upset.
In June 2013, some of Dylan’s remains were located about eight miles up Middle Mountain from Mark’s home.
The court documents say Mark was familiar with the area in which the remains were found. They also say that in April 2013, a witness saw Mark driving down from the area alone. Yet, Mark left town and did not attend another search for more of Dylan’s remains in June 2013.
Then, in November 2015, hikers about a mile and half further up Middle Mountain located Dylan’s skull. A Colorado Wildlife Officer said based on his experience, no animal would drag a body or remains up the mountain like that.
The skull, according to forensic anthropologists, had what appeared to be two knife marks.
The indictment documentation says Dylan’s blood was later found in multiple locations inside Mark’s living room — on the couch, floor, corner of a coffee table, under a rug and on a love seat.
In August 2013, a cadaver dog searched Mark’s home and indicated a deceased person or large presence of human remains had once been in the home in multiple locations, including the living room, washing machine, on Mark’s clothes the night of the disappearance and in the bed of Mark’s pickup truck.
Furthermore, Dylan’s half-brother told authorities in June 2013 Mark had specifically mentioned “blunt force trauma” to him and discussed how investigators would have to find the rest of the body — including the skull — before the cause of death could be determined.
The documents also say within days of Dylan’s disappearance, Mark’s ex-wife — who is not the mother of Dylan — told authorities she was concerned Mark might have hurt Dylan. She also said Mark once told her that if he ever had to hide a body, he would leave it “out in the mountains.” Mark also allegedly told the ex-wife he would “kill the kids before he let [Dylan’s mother] have them.”
Investigators believe Mark tampered with the body by relocating it in order to further dispose of it and conceal the cause of death and identity of the person who was last with the body.
In the years since Dylan’s disappearance and the remains were found, several more searches have been conducted. A search, to be lead by Mark, was scheduled to take place next month.
Mark has also made multiple media appearances, including going on Dr. Phil and saying he had no involvement in Dylan’s disappearance. On the show, he refused to take a polygraph test to possibly help clear his name.
Investigators have announced a press conference is scheduled for Tuesday to talk about the arrest of Mark Redwhine in the murder of his son Dylan.
An extradition hearing is scheduled Monday in an effort to return Redwine back to La Plata County.
