UPDATE 5:55 p.m.:
Big Horn County Coroner Terry Bullis confirmed late Wednesday afternoon that the human remains discovered Monday near Forth Smith are those of Teddy Little Light and his wife, Juliet Toineeta Little Light.
"That's all I'm at liberty to say at this point," Bullis said, adding that the cause of death was undetermined, but was consistent with exposure.
The FBI and the BIA are continuing their investigation, he said.
The couple and their 3-month-old son, Wyatt, had been missing since December. A ranch hand found the human remains Monday, as well clothing belonging to the couple and baby clothing, about two miles north from where their pickup was located on Jan. 5.
Law enforcement officials called family members at about 9 a.m. Monday to tell them of the discovery.
Autopsies on the remains were performed on Tuesday in Billings. Bullis and federal officials met on Wednesday afternoon with family members of the couple at the Bullis Mortuary in Hardin to deliver the news.
A funeral Mass for Teddy Little Light and Juliet Toineeta Little Light will take place Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Crow Agency Multipurpose Building in Crow Agency. Interment will follow in the Lodge Grass Cemetery.
In the meantime, 25 to 30 searchers connected with the FBI, the BIA, Big Horn County Sheriff's Department and the Crow Tribe fish and game department continued Wednesday to comb the rugged ravine west of the Bighorn River.
The infant's whereabouts have not yet been determined.
Teddy Little Light, 30, was last seen Dec. 23 when he dropped off his older son, Teddy Jr., at his mother's house in Crow Agency. When Juliet, 28, failed to show up for her grandmother's funeral in January, the family grew concerned.
On Jan. 5, searchers found the pickup truck six miles up Grapevine Road between Forth Smith and Highway 91, which runs north to St. Xavier. A family member said the pickup was backed up 30 feet off the road across the creek from some branding corrals on a bitterly cold, snowy night.
Teddy Little Light would have been familiar with the area because he hunted there, the family member said. He also would have known that by the corrals there was a small cabin with wood and food just across Grapevine Creek.
Law enforcement searched the area on foot several times during the winter and early spring and flew the area twice. As late as last week snow blanketed the area where the remains were discovered.
UPDATE 4:46 p.m.:
Big Horn County Coroner Terry Bullis confirmed this afternoon that the human remains discovered Monday near Forth Smith are those of Teddy Little Light and his wife, Juliet Toineeta Little Light.
"That's all I'm at liberty to say at this point," Bullis said this afternoon, other than searchers continue their work in the rugged ravine west of the Bighorn River.
The couple also had a 3-month-old son, Wyatt. Clothing belonging to the couple, as well as baby clothing, was found scattered on the site on Monday. The remains were found by a ranch hand.
Law enforcement officials called family members at about 9 a.m. Monday to tell them of the discovery. Autopsies on the remains were performed on Tuesday.
Bullis and law enforcement officials met with the family to inform them of the results of the autopsy this afternoon. Bullis said federal and local law enforcement officials continued their investigation on the scene.
A funeral Mass for Teddy Little Light and Juliet Toineeta Little Light will take place Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Crow Agency Multipurpose Building in Crow Agency. Interment will follow in the Lodge Grass Cemetery.
An answer may come today on whether human remains found Monday near Fort Smith on the Crow Reservation are those of the missing Little Light family.
"The investigation is still continuing," Big Horn County Coroner Terry Bullis said late Tuesday afternoon. "I anticipate by tomorrow afternoon we'll have some resolution."
The remains of two adults, as well as adult and baby clothing, were discovered Monday morning by a ranch hand in a rugged ravine west of the Bighorn River. Autopsies were performed Tuesday in Billings.
Law enforcement declined to confirm the identities connected to the remains until after the autopsies, although the only three people reported missing in that area are Teddy Little Light, 30; his wife, Juliet Toineeta Little Light, 28; and their 3-month-old son, Wyatt.
The family went missing last December, and family and law enforcement have conducted an extensive search for them since that time. On Jan. 5, searchers found the family's pickup truck six miles up Grapevine Road, between Ford Smith and Highway 91, which runs north to St. Xavier.
Posted in Montana on Wednesday, May 13, 2009 12:00 am Updated: 11:33 am. | Tags: Teddy, Little, Light, Juliet
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