Oklahoma Couple Accused of Digging Up Dead 11-Year-Old Girl

By Rusty Surette, NEWS 9

HAVRE, Montana -- An Oklahoma couple has been arrested after being accused of burying their 11-year-old daughter, digging her up and moving her at least a half dozen times.

Eleven-year-old Cheyenne Wolf died at a home near Durant in April 2008.

Investigators said her father and step-mother, Abel and Denise Wolf stored the body in a shed.

An affidavit filed by OSBI investigator David Houston said Abel Wolf told Houston the family was upset with Cheyenne in April 2008 because she would not eat dinner one night.

While Abel was outside smoking, he heard a thump but said Cheyenne seemed fine, the affidavit said.

She was found dead the next day, according to the document.

"Abel Wolf put Cheyenne Wolf's body in a sleeping bag and then put her body into a large plastic tub," the affidavit said.

But once the smell was too much, they buried the body in the front yard.

Four months later Abel moved to northern Montana. Agents said he took Cheyenne with him and stored her body in a garage.

When Cheyenne's sister ran away in January and was placed in a hospital, the couple began to worry that word would get out about Cheyenne, so they moved her remains to a chicken coop on property owned by Denise Wolf's brother in Oregon, the affidavit said.

Shortly after the body was moved again to a storage facility.

"Milton-Freewater Oregon Police served a search warrant and found remains there last week," said Jessica Brown, Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

Brown said Denise and Abel are being held on charges of unlawfully moving a dead body. They're both being held without bond in a Montana detention center.

Investigators are now trying to determine how Cheyenne Wolf died.

According to affidavits, a family member told investigators one of Cheyenne's sisters may have beat her to death. Agents said it was another family member who called police last month because she was concerned she had not seen or heard from the Cheyenne for some time.

The Medical Examiner's office in Portland, Oregon will perform the autopsy on the body to determine the exact cause of death.

Investigators are working to begin the extradition process of getting the Wolfs back to Oklahoma. A hearing has been scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Thursday in Montana.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.