Missing Native American Woman Was Murdered On Air Force Base, Authorities Say

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A 24-year-old airman has been charged with killing a Native American woman who went missing in South Dakota about seven months ago.

Quinterius Chappelle, 24, made his first court appearance Monday on one count of second-degree murder in the killing of Sahela Sangrait, 21. The court documents in the case are sealed, but authorities said Sangrait was killed on the Ellsworth Air Force Base in western South Dakota, where Chappelle was stationed as an active-duty airman.

Chappelle is being prosecuted in federal court, and court records show he is being represented by the federal defender’s office. A woman who answered the phone at that office declined to comment on his behalf. He is being held at the Pennington County Jail.

Chappelle is an aircraft inspection journeyman assigned to the 28th Maintenance Squadron at the Ellsworth base, according to a statement from the base. He began serving in April 2019.

“First and foremost, our thoughts and prayers are with the friends and family of Sahela,” Col. Derek Oakley, 28th Bomb Wing commander, said in a statement. “We hold Airmen accountable for their actions, and if service members are found in violation of military or civilian law, they will be punished.”

A hiker discovered Sangrait’s body on March 4 near the Pennington County and Custer County lines, according to a Facebook post from the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office. Sangrait was reported missing on Aug. 10, and her remains were badly decomposed, authorities said.

Sangrait was from Box Elder, South Dakota, where the Ellsworth base is located. Officials did not share whether Sangrait knew Chappelle.

According to a missing person poster shared on Facebook, Sangrait was staying with a friend in Eagle Butte and was going to return to Box Elder to gather some of her things before heading to California. It is unknown whether she ever reached Box Elder.

Sangrait was Native American, according to the missing poster. There are 59 cases of missing Native Americans in South Dakota and more than half of them are women, according to the attorney general’s missing persons database. Federal and state task forces were created to investigate cases of missing and murdered indigenous people across the country.

Voicemails left with the U.S. attorney’s office in South Dakota and the FBI were not immediately returned. The Bureau of Indian Affairs referred questions back to the investigating agencies.