Posted on 07/01/2015 10:28:45 AM PDT by dware
A Parachute couple wanted following their infant daughter’s murder gave away their location in Minnesota this week when they used a federal food-assistance card at a gas station.
“That kind of tipped us off,” said Parachute police chief Cary Parmenter.
Matthew Jon Ogden, 29, and Phyllis Amy Wyatt, 41, of Parachute were arrested without incident in the Cass Lake area Monday. Their 4-week-old daughter, Sarah, died of multiple blunt-force injuries June 20. Ogden is expected to face charges including murder, and Wyatt was wanted on suspicion of child abuse.
Parmenter said the couple used a kind of food-stamp card at the station. The federal Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, formerly known as the food stamp program, allows for benefits to be accessed electronically via such a card.
Authorities weren’t able to reach the couple before they left the gas station, in the north-central part of Minnesota.
“We missed them by two hours,” he said.
But the Leech Lake Tribal Police Department put out a Facebook posting about the couple’s sighting in the area, and got a tip about their location, Parmenter said. He posted a thank-you on the agency’s page after the arrest.
“Their partnership was great. They did a good job,” he said.
The tribal police referred calls about the arrest to the Cass County Sheriff’s Office, which did not return a call for comment.
Sarah Dahler of Bemidji, Minn., said her mom, Shirley Rossiter, shared the tribal police’s Facebook posting, and her mom’s friend recognized the couple because they had been staying at the home of Dahler’s uncle.
Dahler said when Rossiter’s friend said that, her mom told the friend to call police. The couple was arrested at her uncle’s home, Dahler said.
She said the couple had been staying at a nearby campground. Her uncle heard about them because his wife’s relative was camping nearby. Her uncle invited the couple to stay at their home, not knowing they were wanted in connection with their daughter’s death.
Her uncle is a nice guy who tries to help people out, and “felt bad for them because they had no food, no money,” Dahler said.
Dahler said the couple’s arrest came as a shock to locals.
“It was really scary, knowing that these people were this close to us. It just kind of freaked everybody out, knowing these people were wanted for a murder charge,” she said.
Sarah Ogden was born along with a twin brother on May 18. Authorities responded to a call that she was unresponsive and not breathing the morning of June 20. She was pronounced dead that day at Grand River Hospital in Rifle.
Arrest warrant affidavits for the couple say Wyatt told investigators that sometime that prior night, she saw her husband grab and shake the baby after she had been fussy, and he then took Sarah to another room and yelled at the infant to shut up. Wyatt reported hearing “horrific” noises that sounded like pounding or thumping, the affidavits said.
The affidavits said Wyatt failed to intervene or ask for help from the couple’s roommates during the attack and didn’t tell medical personnel trying to save Sarah about the injuries she had suffered.
The couple collected their belongings and left their Parachute residence two nights after their daughter’s death. Sarah’s twin has remained in protective custody since her death.
Parmenter said that in spite of Wyatt’s statement, and despite authorities’ concerns that the couple might flee, they didn’t have enough evidence at that point to make any arrests.
“You can’t take your opinion to court, so we had to make sure we had all our facts in line,” he said.
He said police still had been awaiting information from the coroner’s office, and after the couple’s departure searched the residence and met with prosecutors before obtaining arrest warrants June 26.
Ninth Judicial District Attorney Sherry Caloia’s office also has been involved in the investigation into the couple, and she concurred with Parmenter that the initial investigation was still ongoing when they fled.
She said the two are scheduled to appear in court in Minnesota today, at which time they may be asked if they will fight extraction.
“If they plan to fight it we have to get a governor’s warrant. That may take a few weeks,” she said.
Reflecting on the incident, Parmenter said, “These types of cases, when it comes to children, especially this young, it’s very emotional. The whole town (of Parachute) is kind of in disbelief right now because of it.”
Dahler said there was a point while the couple was at her uncle’s when her uncle became upset with Ogden, and Ogden sat on her uncle’s couch and started crying. Dahler, the mother of two young children, wonders if the tears had to do with the alcohol he’d been drinking, or his alleged actions involving his daughter.
“Hopefully he did feel bad for what he did, you know? I think those people are sick — anybody that can harm their child is sick to me.”
ping
What the hell did they have a kid for if they were going to kill it? And notice that they were on food stamps. Doubtless 0bama voters.
This all went down about a 30 minute drive from me here in Western Colorado. I would LOVE to get my hands on these 2 ignorant, worthless pieces of trash.
That’s just bizarre. Between Facebood, and their use of SNAP cards while they’re in flight - criminal masterminds, aren’t they?
That’s big!
I read the article as stating that the police department posted a picture of the couple on Facebook, not that the couple had posted there.
Good catch.
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