BEN NEARY Associated Press Writer | Posted: Thursday, June 5, 2008 12:00 am
CHEYENNE - The three people found dead this week on the Wind River Indian Reservation were all teenage girls, the Fremont County coroner said Thursday.
Coroner Ed McAuslan said the girls were ages 13, 14 and 15. Authorities have not yet released the names of the girls, who were found in a residence south of Riverton on Wednesday.
McAuslan said authorities weren't yet releasing information on the cause of death. He said preliminary autopsy results could be available by Thursday afternoon.
The FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs police were investigating the deaths. A spokeswoman for the FBI in Denver wasn't immediately available for comment Thursday morning. The chief of the BIA's reservation police department in Ethete was also unavailable for comment, his office said.
Jonathan Barela, public relations assistant director for the Northern Arapaho Tribe, said the bodies were found at the Beaver Creek Housing Development, a tribal complex made up of duplexes.
Barela said Thursday that investigators hadn't released any updated information to the tribe.
The Northern Arapaho Tribe shares the 3,400 square-mile reservation in central-western Wyoming with the Eastern Shoshone Tribe.
Barela said he didn't know whether the girls lived on the reservation.
"At this time, we're not sure if they're members of the Northern Arapaho Tribe or the Eastern Shoshone Tribe," Barela said. "Out of respect to the families, the identities are not being released."
McAuslan said his office was called to the reservation at 8:44 a.m. Wednesday. The girls' bodies were taken to Colorado for autopsies.