Montana couple accused of fatally beating 6-year-old, wrapping body in plastic, leaving it in tote
03/22/2023 2:13 pm PDT
BIG HORN COUNTY, Mont. (TCD) -- Two women have been charged with murder for allegedly killing a 6-year-old and concealing her body for several weeks as law enforcement agencies searched for her.
The Billings Gazette reports prosecutors charged Veronica Dust and Roseen Lincoln, who was also referred to as Lincoln Old Crow, with deliberate homicide and tampering with evidence regarding Mildred "Millie" Old Crow’s 2019 death.
In November 2020, the FBI and Bureau of Indian Affairs released a joint statement saying Millie’s non-custodial family contacted them and said they had not seen the girl since July 2018. Investigators learned Mildred was last seen on the Crow Indian Reservation in March 2019 with her court-appointed guardian. Millie was in Dust and Lincoln’s custody when she went missing.
According to Four Points Press, Millie’s non-custodial family reportedly filed for a hearing in Crow Tribal Court, alleging Dust and Lincoln "breached their fiduciary duty to the child."
The two women reportedly did not show up to court or prove Millie was alive, so they were charged with child endangerment. They were taken into custody Dec. 23, 2020, and convicted in April 2021. The two were sentenced to 18 months at the Bureau of Indian Affairs Rocky Mountain Detention Center.
Four Points Press reports Millie died in the bathtub, but her autopsy showed she also suffered from "habitual abuse" and malnutrition. Her right tibia was reportedly fractured and she had a laceration on her head.
Lincoln and Dust allegedly kept Millie’s body in the bathroom, but once it started to smell, they wrapped her body in plastic and put it inside a plastic storage tote, which they taped shut.
According to the Billings Gazette, officials located Millie’s remains inside a trailer on the Crow Indian Reservation in February 2021.
Dust was booked into the Yellowstone County Detention Center, while Lincoln is at the Big Horn County Detention Center. They are both being held on $1 million bail.
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