CASPER, Wyo. — Wyoming officials say that handguns found near the community of Kirby might be linked to a Sheridan County homicide investigation.
On the morning of May 11, 2020, the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office says they received a call from an individual who found a firearm on the side of a road in Montana, south of Kirby.
Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office met with Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office and a search of the area was conducted. Three handguns were recovered.
“All three handguns are believed to be owned by Dana Beartusk,” Sheridan County officials said in a release Monday May 11, 2020. “The handguns were turned over to Wyoming Law Enforcement for further processing.”
Sheridan Sheriff’s Department officials say that sometime in the late evening on Sunday, March 29, 2020, 54-year-old Dana Beartusk called a relative in Montana and stated he killed a person or persons.
“That relative called the Sheridan Dispatch Center at approximately 8:07 pm and requested a welfare check at Beartusk’s residence in Big Horn, WY,” a SCSO release said March 31. “Law enforcement knew that address to be in the 100 block of Willow St. Willow St. is a Sheridan address, but is located in the census designated place of Big Horn, WY.”
Deputies responded to the area and three victims were located inside a private home, all of which were deceased and appeared to have died from gunshot wounds.
The victims have been identified as Angelina Beartusk, age 51, who has been identified as Beartusk’s wife; Seana Fisher, age 54, identified as Beartusk’s sister; Mochdaveyano “Blackhawk” Fisher, age 25, identified as Seana Fisher’s son.
Law enforcement attempted to learn what vehicle Beartusk was operating, but was not successful until around the same time that Montana Law enforcement contacted Beartusk near the intersection of Highway 314 and Highway 212 on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. Beartusk was taken into custody in Montana without incident and Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office investigators attempted to speak with him that night. Beartusk declined to talk with law enforcement.
Beartusk was apprehended almost two hours after the initial call and he was approximately 70 miles from the scene.
“While we understand that the Sheridan community wants answers for what is the only triple homicide any of our law enforcement professionals can remember, please understand that we have a lot of work to do in this very active investigation,” the March SCSO release said.
The SCSO had previously put out a call for the firearm used in the case, after not finding it on the scene or in Beartusk’s vehicle.
If you have information about this case, please call Lt. Levi Dominguez at the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office, (307) 672-3455
