Now, Mark's suit has been tossed out following the previous dismissal of Elaine's complaint; both documents are shared here.
But while this court battle is over, the search for Dylan's killer grinds on, with no end in sight.
The two suits vividly demonstrate the level of bitterness between the ex-spouses in the wake of Dylan's death.
Elaine's lawsuit, filed in June 2015, is the briefer of the two.
A section titled "Causes of Action Against Mark Redwine: Wrongful Death" states, "In Colorado, a parent has a duty to provide proper parental care for their children. As such, Defendant [Mark Redwine] had a duty to provide for the proper care of his son, Dylan Redwine. Plaintiff alleges, based on information and belief, that Defendant breached that duty when his conduct resulted in the death of their son, Dylan Redwine."
The text of Mark's countersuit, dated the following month, uses less legalese.
It's palpably angry and brings up disagreements that predate the tragedy that befell their son by many years, alleging that "Plaintiff Elaine Redwine has engaged in extended, vitriolic and abusive litigation against Mark Redwine in relation to the dissolution of the parties' marriage since 2005, including over 130 pleadings, accusations, recriminations, violations of court orders and more."
The countersuit goes on to claim the following: "These conditions created the environment that was Dylan Redwine's life and ultimately likely led to his death; while Dylan's cause of death is not known and may never be known, it is more likely than not that he left Mark Redwine's home during the Thanksgiving break 2012, possibly encouraged by Elaine Redwine and met with whoever or whatever caused his death. But for the actions of the plaintiff it is more likely than not that Dylan would not have left his father's home and would be alive today."
Given the uncertainties at the heart of both complaints, it's no surprise that they were ultimately found lacking.
The lawsuit filed by Elaine was thrown out late last year, while District Judge William Herringer put Mark's response to rest this week in La Plata County court. As noted by the Durango Herald, Herringer determined that Elaine's actions didn't qualify as so “extreme and outrageous as to shock the conscience.”
The ruling ends the courtroom combat between Elaine and Mark, but online warfare continues. The Facebook page called Dylan Redwine — The Journey to Justice reacted to the development with this line: "Counter claim against Elaine Hall has been dismissed in the name of justice. Nice try Mark, see you real soon!!!!" Meanwhile, the Justice for Dylan Redwine Facebook page updated its profile pic to feature this photo:
Such raw emotions aside, one fact remains: No one has been charged in Dylan Redwine's death to date. Moreover, there's no indication that this situation is going to change anytime soon.
Look below to see Elaine's lawsuit and Mark's countersuit. That's followed by previous coverage of the case, including additional photos, videos and more.
Continue to read three previous reports about the Dylan Redwine case, including information about Mark Redwine being officially named a person of interest in the case and the Elaine Redwine lawsuit.
Update, 5:40 a.m. August 20, 2015: Last month, Mark Redwine — father of thirteen-year-old Dylan Redwine, who vanished during a court-ordered visit with his dad in southwestern Colorado circa November 2012 — speculated that he might be the to-that-point-unnamed person of interest in the case.
Now he's been proven right.
The La Plata County Sheriff's Office has officially announced that Mark is indeed a person of interest in regard to Dylan's death; the teen's body was found in June 2013.
In addition, a judge refused to dismiss a wrongful-death lawsuit filed against Mark by Elaine Hall (formerly Elaine Redwine), Dylan's mom. Information about the suit and other developments over the past several months are on view in previous coverage below.
Finally, Dylan's death has finally been ruled a homicide. The La Plata County coroner has amended the boy's death certificate to codify this change; the cause had previously been listed as "undetermined."
This last move was a long time coming. We reported that Dylan's death was being investigated as a homicide the same month his remains were discovered: June 2013.
According to the Pine River Times, the decision to bestow person-of-interest status upon Mark was "based on evidence collected, inconsistent statements made by Mark Redwine, and his behavior throughout the investigation."
Throughout the process, Mark has consistently denied having anything to do with Dylan's death. But after being informed about his designation as a person of interest by a Fox31 reporter yesterday, he chose not to repeat this assertion when specifically prompted to do so.
"I've been advised by my attorney not to speak any further," he responded, as seen in one of two videos from the station on view below.
Elaine Hall is not nearly as reluctant to express her views.
In a separate interview with Fox31, Hall said in arguably her most straightforward language to date that she believes Mark killed Dylan.
“I know Mark. I know Dylan. I know the dynamics. I’ll never change my opinion on that,” she told the station. “If he was innocent, he would be standing up screaming, saying, ‘who killed my son?!’ He hasn’t done any of that.”
No charges have been pressed against Mark Redwine, and he has not been arrested. Moreover, it's important to note that the person-of-interest label has been placed on many people over the years who turned out to be not guilty.
In the meantime, the folks behind the Facebook page Dylan Redwine — The Journey to Justice, which has served as the online meeting place for Elaine's supporters for years, feel certain the case has reached a major turning point.
A post shared shortly after the news broke reads, "I believe Mark will be arrested and charged with the murder of his son. Hopefully this will happen before anyone else gets hurt."
Look below to see the two most recent Fox31 pieces alluded to above, followed by our most recent previous coverage.
Update, 6:28 a.m. July 6: It's been more than two and a half years since thirteen-year-old Dylan Redwine disappeared in the Vallecito Lake area while on a visit with his father, Mark Redwine.
His body was discovered months later, in June 2013. See recent coverage below.
Despite the passage of so much time, however, the developments in the case are coming fast and furious.
As we note below, Elaine Redwine, Dylan's mom, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Mark, her ex-husband — and a person of interest has been identified but not yet made public.
The latest: Mark reportedly says he may be the aforementioned person of interest, but he doesn't know, since investigators won't talk to him.
These assertions are disputed, sort of, by Pete Klismet, a retired FBI profiler who's been working with authorities in La Plata County on the investigation.
Mark's comments in regard to his person-of-interest supposition and claim of being rebuffed were published in the Denver Post on July 4 — and since then, Klismet has taken them on in various venues, including KRDO-TV and KKTV.
According to Klismet, Mark wanted to communicate by phone (or perhaps e-mail or text) and investigators only want to speak with him face-to-face. However, he has yet to agree to such a sit-down.
The Facebook page now known as Dylan Redwine — The Journey to Justice, which strongly supports Elaine and seems suspicious of Mark, takes on this seeming contradiction. A recent post reads:
Elaine's commitment to finding out what happened to Dylan is fierce. She's in Durango now doing what any parent would do for their child, getting answers.Klismet certainly seems interested in ratcheting up the pressure on Mark. While he hasn't confirmed that Mark is the person of interest, he maintains that the individual's identity could be shared publicly within weeks.
Nothing we do changes the fact that Dylan is gone, all we have left is to fight to the end and put the person responsible away forever. ?#?IstandwithElaine? and we'll never give in or give up.
In the meantime, Mark has been nowhere near Durango/Vallecito. He also claims he hasn't been contacted by authorities as the the person of interest. I guess he's still trying to "digest" all of this.
Look below to see the new interviews with Klismet conducted by KRDO and KKTV. They're followed by our previous coverage.
Update, 5:37 a.m. July 2: Back in April, we wrote about new activity in the case of Dylan Redwine, a thirteen-year-old who vanished during a court-ordered visit with his father, Mark Redwine, in La Plata County's Vallecito Lake area back in late 2012.
His body was discovered in June 2013; see our previous coverage below.
That activity was teased by the La Plata County Sheriff's Office, but no details had been released at the time of our previous post. Meanwhile, Dylan's mom, Elaine Redwine, was prepping to appear on another episode of Dr. Phil — a development that focused new attention on a case that might otherwise have slipped from the public consciousness.
The Dr. Phil interview, in which Elaine made it clear once again that she's deeply suspicious of her ex-husband Mark (who continues to proclaim his innocence), aired a short time later.
The latest? The La Plata law enforcers now say a person of interest has been identified in the investigation with the assistance of former FBI profiler Peter Klismet.
The name of that person isn't being revealed at this time, but Klismet expresses confidence in his analysis to 9News, saying, "There's a distinction between a person of interest and a suspect, and we are at the person of interest stage right now. I have done a lot of these. I have not been wrong on any of these over the past number of years, and I'm not wrong about this one."
Meanwhile, Elaine has now filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Mark.
As reported by the Durango Herald, the lawsuit maintains that Mark's "conduct resulted in the death of their son Dylan Redwine."
The document adds: "The death of Dylan Redwine was the proximated and direct result of the negligence of defendant.”
Mark's response to the filing? “Good luck with that,” he told the Herald. “We’ll all see how it turns out for her.”
The Journey to Justice Facebook page has seldom shied away from supporting Elaine and casting dark aspersions on Mark.
For instance, a June 21 post reads:
Dads should protect their children, no matter what.However, items about the lawsuit and the person-of-interest announcement have been shared without much additional commentary — just this excerpt from a Herald article:
I will never forget the day I saw Elaine's face on that dam while they were dragging Vallecito Lake looking for Dylan, and I will never forget that Mark was sitting in his recliner watching TV.
Saying that they have a person of interest and that they found notable items during searches in early June give the case momentum it has not had since the teen’s remains were found.The material about the Redwine investigation begins just past the 27 minute point. That's followed by our previous coverage, which includes information about a reward being offered in the case.
“There is a level of excitement right now that has not been previously felt before,” Klismet said.
Investigators say based on what they found during the searches last month, more searches are planned in the area.
Original post, 10:50 a.m. April 21: Since November 2012, we've been reporting about the tragic case of Dylan Redwine.
The thirteen-year-old vanished after a visit to his father, Mark Redwine, in the Vallecito Lake area of La Plata County.
Dylan's body was found in June 2013.
No one has been charged with killing Dylan. However, Elaine Redwine, Dylan's mother, clearly believes Mark had something to do with the boy's death.
For his part, Mark has consistently proclaimed his innocence in forums such as a heated episode of Dr. Phil on which he and Elaine appeared shortly before Dylan's remains were located.
Now, Elaine has recorded a new episode of Dr. Phil, on which Mark decided not to appear, although he is expected to be heard in a phone interview. And in advance of the show's expected May airing, the La Plata County sheriff confirms that his office is looking into new activity in the case.
On the Find Missing Dylan Redwine Facebook page, soon to be rechristened "Dylan Redwine — The Journey to Justice," Elaine and her supporters have continued to post regularly about the case, and the page's administrator has shared several items about the latest Dr. Phil taping.
A March 16 item reads:
Dr. Phil and his staff truly care about Dylan and what happened. They have stayed in contact since the last show. Many have asked for a follow up with Dr. Phil. Well it sounds like that is just what is going to happen. Soon Elaine, Cory and Mike will be making their way back to LA to do a follow up show with Dr. Phil. Thank you Dr. Phil and staff. Elaine your strength is amazing!An April 12 followup adds this:
I know people have their different opinions about Dr. Phil, but there is one thing I can say about him and his crew, true to my heart, they care about Dylan and they care about finding justice and that's what's important. Dr. Phil and his crew have gone above and beyond to get Dylan's name out there and still continue to help us, we are forever grateful.The next day, the following photo was posted to indicate that the taping was on:
Speaking of Dr. Phil, I can confirm that a film crew was at Elaine and Mike's home a couple of days ago, and that they will be heading to LA later this week for taping. I don't know about release dates of the episode, but you'll know when we do.
Our hope is that someone watching will remember that there is a $50,500 reward that's still out there, someone knows something.
It's always been about getting Dylan's name out to as many as possible, nothing more, he deserves that.
An April 18 post adds:
We still don't have exact dates on release but rumors are it could be in early May.
Mark didn't appear but we've heard he called in with some interesting comments, so we'll get to see some that.
The Journey to Justice has only just begun, Dr. Phil is one on a very long list of people that Elaine plans to visit and tell her story about Dylan. La Plata County needs to get what they need and make an arrest, they know who killed Dylan, now they need to do something about it.
The first of those to sit down with Elaine in the wake of this news was reporter Kevin Torres, who followed the story while a staffer at 9News and is continuing to do so at his new broadcast home, Fox31.
The station notes "new activity" in the case that the La Plata County Sheriff's Office is refusing to discuss at this time.
Elaine, for her part, says that Mark was asked to take a lie detector test for the new episode of Dr. Phil but he declined. He had earlier started to take one but ended the session prematurely, claiming that he'd had little sleep and been drinking the night before.
Look below to see two videos: the aforementioned Fox31 report and a piece about the Dr. Phil appearance from 2013.
