By Larinna Chandler
They could have been just two friends anywhere. They could have simply been hanging out, telling jokes and raising glasses high to toast to the upcoming new year. Micheal and Nathan could have been doing anything on a cold December day.
But they weren’t.
They were talking about a woman.
Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Investigator Nathan Hatch and Bureau of Indian Affairs Special Agent Michael Potter were placing fliers and working together to solve a murder that spanned decades and has ties to the Black River Falls area in the 1980’s.
Rhys Pocan was a Menominee tribal member who spent the years of 1981 to 1985 right here in Black River Falls.
On August 10, 1989 she was abducted as she took her bicycle out for a ride on National Avenue in Milwaukee. September 2, 1989, a man walking sheboygan park found what was left of her torso. Autopsy reports could not identify who or what had killed her. Other body parts would be found later in Vernon Marsh in Waukesha County.
In an interview yesterday, Sheboygan County Investigator Nathan Hatch is working hard to bring this four decades old homicide case to a close.
While this case remains a cold case, it is not because of lack of effort on the part of investigators spanning several counties across the state of wisconsin. According to Investigator Hatch, “There have been four generations of investigators on this case to bring justice and closure to Rhys family.”
And that’s what Rhys is for investigators Hatch and Special Agent Potter. A person. A woman. A mother. A victim of a terrible crime. Not just a crime to solve. And it is perhaps this dedication to duty and honor, and following a mans moral compass that has helped to make strides in this murder case.
Both investigators believe that the one responsible for Rhys’s death is most likely still alive. It is possible they have already been interviewed. It is also still very likely that someone may remember something so many decades ago that could finally give Rhys and her family the peace, and the justice they so deserve.
Hatch said, “If you have any memories or any information please let us know. The case is certainly heating up, but anything can help if you remember anything before her disappearance.”
This could include a phone call you had with her, a postcard she may have sent, a talk you may have had, a worry she may have mentioned.
Investigator Harth reminds everyone that, “Every and Anything about Rhys is important. It’s been 30 to 40 years, it is likely there can still be people alive in Black River Falls who may know what happened to her. Any and everything you can remember can help. If it is related to her at all, we would like to know.”
Investigator Harth was assigned to helping bring Rhys’s killer to justice back in 2017. Finding the one who caused her, and her family so much in 1989 is important to him. “We’ve interviewed close to 50 people. Unfortunately, (as investigators) we are in the business of sin. We all sin. We’re no different. We’re all human. Some are so much more serious than others. This is so important, this family has waited so long, and it is so important to try to get them justice.”
If you are uncomfortable with talking to police or to crimestoppers, Investigator Harth and Special Agent Potter reminds all listeners that they have plenty of options to report information while remaining anonymous.
In discussions with crimestoppers, wwis was informed that if you do have a tip and want to report anonymously, you simply call the crimestoppers phone number and they will give you a call id number, and you simply log on to the crimestoppers website at p3tips.com. If you are not able to log on to the internet, a friendly staff member will take down the information you have and will not ask for your name or address.
If however, you have information on Rhys’s death and you have just waiting for the right time, Crimestoppers does have up to a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person who killed a young native american woman, a daughter, a friend, a mother.
Investigator Harth and Bureau of Indian Affairs Special Agent Potter are hoping to bring justice and closure to a decades old murder investigation of a murdered indigenous young woman.
Here is a link to more information from the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=647602137517142&id=100068020836161&set=a.424940086450016&locale=hu_HU