Couple waives extradition

Alice Campbell Havre Daily News [email protected]

A couple charged with burying the body of their 12-year-old daughter, Cheyenne, and then digging her up and moving her across three states over the following year, waived their rights to an extradition hearing Thursday and and will be taken back to Oklahoma. Father Abel Travis Wolf, 35, told Judge David Rice, "I'd like to waive and voluntarily go back." After explaining the process and her rights to stepmother Denise Ann Wolf, 40, Rice said, "Ma'am, you appear to be a little groggy," and asked her and Dan Boucher, her attorney from the public defender's office, if she was aware enough to waive her rights. Boucher explained that she suffered from low blood sugar, had been examined by a nurse and that accommodations were being made. Rice asked if she was on medication. Denise answered no. Therefore Rice decided to accept the signed waiver. Hill County Attorney Gina Dahl said after the initial appearance in Havre state District Court that arrangements will be made with authorities in Oklahoma for transport. How soon the Wolfs return depends on how quickly Oklahoma authorities want them back, she added. The Bryan County Sheriff's Office will handle the arrangements, Jessica Brown, public information officer with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, said. "Normally we don't announce when we're going to pick somebody up," she said and added that to do so poses a security risk. Rice asked Dahl to let him know if the Wolfs are still in the Hill County Detention Center July 27. The couple will remain in jail without bond until transportation is arranged. The couple is wanted in Oklahoma on charges of unlawful removal of a body in connection to their missing daughter. The warrants issued last week claim the couple buried their daughter in Bokchito, Okla., after her death in April 2008 and then dug her up and moved her body several times between Oklahoma, Oregon and Montana over the following year. According to affidavits, the family became upset with Cheyenne d u r ing d inne r because she would not eat. When Abel went outside for approximately 20 minutes, he h e a r d a l o u d t h u m p . Cheyenne seemed to be acting strangel y wh e n h e r e t u r n e d inside. The fo l l owing mo rning , D e n i s e called him a n d t o l d him to come home because of a problem with Cheyenne. She told him Cheyenne was dead when he got there. The af f idavi t s say the remains are Cheyenne's, and "It's possible that one of her siblings actually beat her to death," Brown said. Based on a signed affidavit from reports by Denise's brother, Edward Davis, and his daughter, Tricia J. Wells of Alvarado, Texas, Cheyenne's sister beat her before Denise found Cheyenne's body. "Davis ... informed your affiant that when Denise Wolf lived in Oklahoma on one occasion she went into the house and found (Cheyenne's sister) kicking and stomping Cheyenne Wolf in the bedroom. Cheyenne Wol f was al ready dead, " according to the affidavit. Dahl said the couple's other children were placed with child protective services before the arrest. "It was my understanding that the Wolfs voluntarily placed them ... ," she said. Montana Department of Health and Human Services Public Information Officer Jon Ebelt declined to comment, citing confidentiality and protection of the children. Remains in two large, plastic containers found in a storage unit rented by Denise's bro t h e r i n t h e M i l to n - Freewater, Ore. , area are thought to be Cheyenne's body. "There is a body in those containers consistent with your victim based on her size and the age of her bones and the medical condition that was reported that she had everything is consistent with the little girl," Umatilla County Sheriff John Trumbo said. He declined to specify what medical condition Cheyenne had. "We don't have a full autopsy yet, and identity has not been confirmed, yet," Brown said. The state medical examiner's office in Porland, Ore., which is performing a complete autopsy, is waiting for medical and dental records from Texas, where Cheyenne l i ve d b e fo r e mov i n g t o Oklahoma, to make the identification, Brown said. The reason the Wo l fs moved to Havre is still uncertain. "I believe he went there for work purposes, " Tim Webs t e r, wi th the Bryan County District Attorney's Office, said.