Man's unsolved slaying haunts friends, family

POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) – On the anniversary of his slaying, the family and friends of an American Indian man killed outside a bar remain hopeful that his killer will be found.
Lorne Red Elk, 56, was found with massive head trauma in the parking lot of Duffy's Tavern on June 14, 2009. Doctors removed him from life support three days later.
Jeani Walesch, his girlfriend, told the Idaho State Journal that she wants to make sure Red Elk – a gentle giant of a man, in her words – doesn't become another cold case, fading and forgotten as the years stretch on.
She said Red Elk's death shocked her so profoundly, she has little memory of events for about a month after his death.
“When you lose somebody to something like this, it's like a big, black cloud behind you at all times,” she said. “It's never gone.”
Pocatello police say their homicide cases are never closed. “If we get something, we work on it,” police Capt. Terry Felsman said.
Red Elk, a Sioux Indian from Poplar, Mont., worked as a bouncer at Duffy's, an unpretentious club three blocks south of the tracks in this historic Union Pacific railroad town. Minutes after he left for the night, he was found on the asphalt, his head bashed in.
No arrests were made, though police ruled his death a homicide.
Although two local businessmen each put up $1,000 in reward money for information leading to his killer's capture, in addition to $1,000 offered by the Pocatello police, no breaks emerged. Walesch grew concerned the case had been downgraded to a suspicious death and moved to the back burner of police priorities.
Authorities say that's not the case, contending they meet monthly to discuss all cold cases.
“Two months ago, we met with the prosecutor's office,” Felsman said. “We had a slide presentation, we went over everything we had.”
As the anniversary of Red Elk's death approaches, Walesch said a tribute at Duffy's and a more formal event in Red Elk's Montana hometown are planned. She'll travel to Poplar for the formal ceremony and remembrance.
“His family reunion and annual powwow in Montana is July 17th,” she said. “They do a ceremony called 'The Wiping of the Tears' because the Sioux mourn for a year.”