In May of 1998, the body of a 36-year-old Native American man, Ben Long Wolf, was discovered in Rapid Creek in Rapid City, South Dakota. An autopsy determined that he had drowned and was heavily intoxicated at the time of his death. The hollow beneath the Sixth Street Bridge was a place he called home, and it appeared he had fallen asleep and was unaware of the rising water in the creek.
When he was found, he was in a half-upright position, giving the appearance of being asleep underwater.
Initially, Long Wolf's death did not arouse significant suspicion. However, his was the first of what would become a string of at least eight men whose bodies were recovered from Rapid Creek over the following 14 months. The majority of these men were, like Long Wolf, Native American and homeless. This disturbing pattern of deaths led to fears within the community and among law enforcement that a serial killer might be at work, prompting an investigation that involved the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Despite the unsettling number of deaths in a relatively short period, investigators found no signs of trauma or physical evidence to suggest foul play in any of the individual cases, including that of Ben Long Wolf. Most of the men who died were severely intoxicated. While the circumstances were deemed suspicious by police, who acknowledged the series of deaths went "beyond mere coincidence," no arrests were ever made, and no suspects were publicly identified in connection with Long Wolf's death or the others. The deaths of Ben Long Wolf and the other men found in Rapid Creek during that time remain officially unsolved.
