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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2001

The Bureau of Indian Affairs' new law enforcement director has sent two investigators to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota to work on the the homicide cases of two Lakota men, the Associated Press reports today.

Robert Ecoffey assigned the pair to investigate the deaths of Ronald Hard Heart and Wilson Black Elk Jr. Both died near the Nebraska-South Dakota border in 1999.

Activists have linked the deaths to the border town of Whiteclay, where liquor establishments cater to primarily Indian clientele. Complaints of poor investigation of crimes and lax enforcement of violations have led Nebraska to step up police presence in the town.

The BIA is also working on the case of Richynda Roubideaux, a young girl who was found dead in 1997 near the Rosebud Sioux Reservation. Investigators from outside the Rosebud area have been assigned to the case, the AP reports.

The FBI is also considering increasing a $30,000 reward for information about the death.

Ecoffey took over the Law Enforcement Division last month. He was a superintendent at the BIA agency in Pine Ridge.

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