LANDER - A Fremont County official said Monday preliminary results of autopsies on three teenage girls were "inconclusive," and investigators are still uncertain about what caused the deaths that have shaken the Northern Arapaho Tribe and the surrounding community.

Alexis Gardner, Alex Whiteplume and Winter Rose Thomas, all between the ages of 13 and 15, were found dead in a rental home last week in the Beaver Creek housing development on the Wind River Indian Reservation, just south of Riverton.

The FBI, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Fremont County Coroner's Office have an ongoing investigation into the incident.

Friends, relatives and community members had been waiting for preliminary results of the investigation with the hope of learning what killed the three girls, but the initial post-mortem examinations turned up nothing "obvious," Fremont County Coroner Ed McAuslan said.

The autopsies were performed at McKee Medical Center in Loveland, Colo.

"At this time it's an open investigation, and we have made no determinations because the preliminary findings are inconclusive," McAuslan said. "At this point, nothing can be ruled out."

The full reports, which will include detailed chemical and physical information, will not be available for another four to six weeks, McAuslan said.

Although nothing obvious turned up in the preliminary examinations, authorities haven't ruled out anything yet, including trauma or homicide, he said.

Family members told the Star-Tribune last week the prevailing rumors around the community had to do with a possible teenage get-together that ended in tragedy, but nobody knew with any certainty what really happened.

McAuslan wasn't particularly surprised by the inconclusive results, he said, because it's "not unusual" that a preliminary examination will turn up nothing. Certain events, such as heart attacks, are obvious and easy to detect, he said, but many causes of death are not immediately apparent.

Representatives of the FBI, the Wind River Police Department and the regional office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs did not return phone calls Monday.

Jonathan Barela, spokesman for the Northern Arapaho Tribe, said tribal authorities will wait until some concrete information emerges before commenting further on the tragedy.

Whatever the cause turns out to be, he said, the tribe intends to work hard to prevent it from ever happening again.

Reporter Chris Merrill can be reached at chris.merrill@trib.com or at (307) 267-6722.

* Last we knew: Three teenage girls were found dead on the Wind River Indian Reservation south of Riverton last week.

* The latest: Authorities say preliminary results from autopsies were "inconclusive."

* What's next: The full reports from the post-mortem examinations won't be completed for another four to six weeks, the Fremont County coroner said.]]->