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The original was posted on /r/unresolvedmysteries by /u/trailwentcold on 2024-01-20 04:46:54+00:00.
On November 18, 1985, 67-year old Dexter Stefonek left his son’s farm in Corbett, Oregon to make the 2000-mile drive back to his home to Rhinelander, Wisconsin. At around 10:00 AM the following morning, Dexter’s burning vehicle was discovered nearly 1,100 miles away at the Bad Route Rest Area in a remote area of Dawson County, Montana. It was determined to be a case of arson, as the car had been doused in gasoline before it was set on fire, but Dexter himself was missing.
On March 8, 1986, a local couple were visiting a remote private dumpsite located about 17 miles from the rest area when they discovered a wallet containing Dexter’s driver’s licence. Dexter’s suitcase and some of his clothing was also scattered around the site. The couple soon saw a foot sticking out from beneath a discarded mattress and it turned out Dexter’s body was concealed under there. He had been beaten before being shot twice in the back of the head. The case would receive national attention when it was featured on "Unsolved Mysteries" three years later.
It was just announced that a 79-year old convicted sex offender named Charles Gary Sullivan has been identified as a person of interest in Dexter's murder by the the Dawson County Sheriff's Office and the Dawson County Attorney. Five years ago, Sullivan was arrested when DNA evidence linked him to the murder of 20-year old Julia Woodward, who was found in a shallow grave near Reno, Nevada on March 25, 1979. Last year, Sullivan received a 15-year prison sentence for the crime and is still incarcerated.
According to the Dawson County Sheriff's Office, they were directed towards Sullivan as a person of interest in Dexter Stefonek's murder because his vehicle, license plate, traveling pattern, age and physical description all seem to match eyewitness statements from that case. Shortly before Dexter's car was set on fire, two witnesses recalled seeing a white Chevy 4x4 pick-up truck with Arizona licence plates in the parking lot of the Bad Route Rest Area and Sullivan hails from Arizona. One witness even saw an unidentified man wearing a parka climb out of Dexter's car carrying two large plastic containers which likely contained the gasoline used to torch the vehicle.
When investigators went to interview Sullivan in prison about Dexter's murder, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. Dawson County authorities do not believe they have the necessary evidence to file murder charges against Sullivan and secure a conviction, but they are positive enough that Sullivan was the killer that they have officially closed Dexter's case. According to Dawson County Sheriff Ross Canen, the circumstances were unique enough to identify Sullivan as the likely culprit to bring some amount of closure to Dexter's family. Unfortunately, unless Sullivan makes a confession someday, we may never know the full circumstances of how or why Dexter Stefonek was killed.
If you want to read more details about the case, I previously did this write-up for it nearly six years ago...
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