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PINE RIDGE, S.D. (AP) — Three men who went missing more than two weeks ago on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation have been found dead, a tribal official said Tuesday.
Oglala Sioux Tribal President John Yellow Bird Steele confirmed the men died in a single-car crash on the reservation, a sprawling expanse of badlands on the South Dakota-Nebraska border. The men were found Monday evening in a steep ravine that borders the White River.
The victims have been identified as 24-year-old Juan Lamont, 21-year-old Tevin Tyon and 23-year-old Tyrell Wilson.
"The search is over and we now have some answers, but I am deeply saddened with the outcome," Steele said in a statement. "The loss of these young lives is distressing."
The men were last seen May 7 in the community of Pine Ridge. The tribe declared a state of emergency four days later.
Searches for the men included all-terrain vehicles, horses, aircraft and SUVs, along with hundreds of volunteers.
Steele said the volunteers "cannot be thanked enough."
About 35,000 members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe live on the reservation, which at over 2 million acres is among the nation's largest.
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