Murders in Agency, Missoula under investigation
Sanders County Sheriff’s Office stays firm on public safety after backlash resulting in a Missoula double homicide to which some have said the sheriff’s office is to blame.
According to SCSO, on Oct. 5, the county dispatch center received a report of a person was shot in Agency, just outside Dixon.
Law enforcement found the body of William Conko-Camel at the scene upon arrival.
SCSO says there is still an open investigation with regard to Camel’s death near Dixon.
With plenty of speculation surrounding a link between the double homicide in Missoula at the Mountain Valley Inn and the Dixon single homicide, no investigating agency is able to comment at this stage.
“Public safety is our number-one priority,” said Sanders County Sheriff Tom Rummel when he spoke to The Valley Press.
“We do not want people thinking we as a department are not putting safety first. Because this is an open investigation and we are working with other agencies, we are ensuring that all leads are followed diligently and correctly by the law,” Rummel said.
Sanders County Undersheriff Lanny Hensley added that there are a number of variables that come into play when investigating such extreme crimes.
THUS FAR, in the case of Conko-Camel, information being said via social media is speculation, and no pertinent information has been confirmed by SCSO.
Both SCSO and Missoula Police Department representatives said to The Valley Press that they cannot comment on investigations outside of their own agencies, including the homicide cases in Sanders and Missoula counties.
Jordan Kilby, of the Missoula County Attorney’s Office, said that she could not comment if there was a connection between the murders, and that there are ongoing investigations.
According to a press release from Missoula Police Sgt. Travis Welsh on Friday, Oct. 19, the department was trying to locate Jonathon Whitworth, 27, in connection with “a reported disturbance” at a hotel in the 400 block of West Broadway in Missoula.
When first responders arrived, they found two people dead and a third that was “seriously wounded by gunfire.”
Kilby said that two suspects, Whitworth and Preston Rossback, 18, were arrested with two counts each of deliberate homicide or in the alternative, accountability for deliberate homicide.
She confirmed both suspects are currently at the Missoula County Jail, each on a $250,000 bond.
THE VICTIMS of the double homicide are Megan McLaughlin, 31, and Jason Flink, 23. Hometowns for the pair were not immediately available.
Kilby also said that while the motive for the double homicide is under investigation, drug activity is suspected.
On Thursday, Oct. 25, MPD shared a new press release, stating that a person of interest in the Missoula double homicide is being sought.
LaBenza Dawn Charlo, 18, is described as a Native-American female, standing at 5-feet-8-inches and weighing about 140 pounds.
She has brown hair and eyes, and her last known address is Polson, although she may be staying in Missoula.
Law enforcement says to consider her armed and dangerous, and to call local authorities as soon as possible if she is seen.
Currently, there is an outstanding arrest warrant for Charlo for an offense predating the double homicide.
— Additional reporting by Erin Jusseaume