DENVER – Months before Dylan Redwine’s remains were found ten miles from his father’s home north of Vallecito Lake in La Plata County, his father, Mark Redwine, had talked to his half-brother about how investigators would have to find the rest of the body, including the skull, before they could determine exactly how the boy died.
That conversation is among the many gruesome details revealed in a grand jury indictment made public by the La Plata County District’s Attorney Office following Redwine’s arrest in Washington state early Saturday in connection with the boy’s death nearly five years ago.
Dylan, then 13-years-old, was on a court-ordered visit to see his father when he was last seen alive on November 18, 2012. The boy and his father had argued and fought on their last visit and had not been getting along, the result of an intense divorce and custody battle between Dylan’s parents, the indictment alleges.
His reluctance to visit his father could have spawned from the boy possibly seeing a contempt of court accusation on a kitchen table. Throughout 2012, Dylan expressed several times that he was upset with his father and that he did not want to visit him as it made him feel uncomfortable after seeing compromising photos of his dad, according to the indictment.
Dylan Redwine’s last communication was a text he sent on Nov. 18, 2012 at 9:37 p.m. to a friend whom he planned to visit the next morning at 6:30 a.m.
Boy’s remains found near father’s home
Dylan Redwine’s partial remains were found up on Middle Mountain Road, approximately 10 miles north from his father’s home on June 2013. It would take two years and five months – on Nov. 1, 2015 – for hikers to find Dylan’s skull, about one-and-a-half mile away from where investigators originally found his first remains.
Investigators said the second site was easily accessible by Middle Mountain Road, a road Mark Redwine was very familiar with, according to the indictment.
Anthropologists who studied the skull determined the injuries were consistent with blunt force trauma in two locations. The skull also had two small markings consistent with tool marks from a knife, which were performed not long after the boy had died, the indictment shows.
Throughout the investigation, Mark Redwine had always denied any involvement in Dylan’s disappearance and death, going as far as counter suing Dylan’s mother after he was named a person of interest in the case.
Redwine’s ex-wife raises red flags
The indictment states that Betsy Horvath, Mark Redwine’s ex-wife, had voiced concerned that Mark may have hurt his own son.
She told investigators during an interview that Mark had previously said that if he ever had to get rid of a body, he would leave it out in the mountains.
Horvath and Redwine were married for six years and had two children together. When they divorced, there was a custody dispute.
"Quite honestly, he was pretty abusive," Horvath said, during a phone interview with Denver7 on Saturday night.
Horvath told investigators that Mark repeatedly violated a custody agreement and told her he would “kill the kids before he let her have them.”
She wouldn't go into more detail during the phone interview, but did tell Denver7 that she took the threats seriously.
"I didn't let him have the kids," she said.
Horvath said her heart breaks for Dylan, his mom and his brother.
"They've suffered a tremendous loss," she said.
When asked if she thinks Mark did it, she replied, "Absolutely, because he was violent."
When asked what would set him off and how would he react, Horvath declined to go into details, citing the upcoming trial.
"Not knowing what they're going to ask in court and what is going to happen, I don't feel comfortable saying all that," she said.
When asked her reaction to Mark Redwine's indictment and arrest, Horvath said, "This is just the beginning. Hopefully we can get justice for Dylan. This is not about hate or anger. We want justice for Dylan."
Horvath ended the phone conversation by saying, "The scariest part is it could have been my child."
A gruesome discovery by investigators
As they searched for evidence into the disappearance and death of the teenage boy, investigators found his blood in multiple locations inside his father’s home, including a couch, the corner of a coffee table, on the floor beneath a rug and on a love seat.
During another search, on Aug. 5, 2013, a K9 was introduced into the suspect’s home to find more clues into the boy’s death. The dog was able to sniff out the scent of a cadaver in various locations of Mark’s home, including the living room and the washing machine, as well as on the clothes Mark wore the night Dylan disappeared, the indictment shows.
On Feb. 13, 2014, another search with the K9 was conducted at Mark’s home, which pointed to the scent of a cadaver on Mark Redwine’s Dodge pick-up truck, including the bed of the truck.
Mark Redwine’s arrest in Washington state
Mark Redwine was arrested in connection with his son’s death early Saturday in Bellingham, Wash., four-and-a-half years after Dylan’s disappearance.
The 55-year-old suspect was arrested overnight on a fugitive warrant with the underlying charges of second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death.
NEW: Mugshots of Mark Redwine, who was arrested in Washington state in connection with son’s death. Latest: https://t.co/8rzk13ruJb #Denver7 pic.twitter.com/2DJFNE6Lmy
— Denver7 News (@DenverChannel) July 22, 2017
He was booked into the Whatcom County Jail at about 1 a.m. and is being held on a $1 million cash-only bond.
Redwine is scheduled for his first court appearance in Whatcom County Superior Court in Bellingham, Wash., on Monday at 3 p.m.
Following his extradition to Colorado, Redwine will be advised of the charges sought against him at a hearing at the La Plata County Courthouse.
IN-DEPTH: Read previous coverage of the Redwine investigation
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TIMELINE: Dylan Redwine murder case
Editor's Note: Denver7 reporter Lance Hernandez contributed to this report.
