The Secret He Found Out About His Father Ruined Everything The Story of Dylan Redwine

The Secret He Found Out About His Father Ruined Everything The Story of Dylan Redwine

He really wanted to be home with his mother and his brother. He didn’t want to go see his dad that Thanksgiving, knowing that it was court-ordered. He had no choice in the matter, so the teenage boy did his best. He put on a smile, hopped on a plane, and off he went. He made it there safely, and his dad picked him up to bring him to his house. But then, just the very next day, the teenager had vanished.

Today’s case is another one that one of you suggested. Now, this case took place over the span of nine years and garnered international attention. This story is about a 13-year-old boy who went missing, with a search that went on for months before he was found. This is the story of Dylan Redwine.

A Strained Relationship

Dylan Nicholas Redwine was born on February 6, 1999, to Elaine Hatfield and Mark Redwine. Dylan also had an older brother named Cory. The two of them loved exploring together outside of their home in the mountains of Southwest Colorado. Dylan also had some half-siblings from his father’s previous marriages. He had a close relationship with his mom and his brother, and he loved video games, hanging out with friends, playing baseball, and exploring the outdoors around his home.

Dylan’s parents were married for 18 years before they divorced in 2007. After this, the boys’ dad, Mark, became more and more absent from their lives. He would rarely contact them or take advantage of his visitation rights. Now, the boys and their mom, Elaine, moved from Bayfield, Colorado, to Monument, Colorado. There, Dylan thrived in his new home while at the same time making sure to maintain his friendships that he had back in Bayfield.

As I had said, Mark acted disinterested in the boys’ lives, so they very rarely visited him. However, during one of their rare visits in 2010, Cory and Dylan saw the extremes of Mark’s anger during a family fight. Now, it’s never been told exactly what the fight was about; however, it severely damaged the relationship between Mark and his ex-wife and boys. This also began a nasty custody battle brought on by Mark.

A judge ended up mandating Dylan to visits with his father. After the hearing, Elaine asked her attorney, Amber Harrison, if there were any other options besides sending Dylan to see his father. She told Elaine that she had to put Dylan on a plane, or she would be in contempt of the court.

The Thanksgiving Trip

So, on November 18th of 2012, at the Colorado Springs Airport, Dylan gave his mom a hug goodbye and told her that he loved her. He told her that he would make the most of his visit and he would spend time with old friends to make the time pass quicker.

Once Dylan’s father, Mark, picked him up from the airport, the two went to Walmart to grab a few things. Then, the two proceeded to go to McDonald’s to grab some dinner together. They didn’t speak much this entire trip. So, he wanted custody so bad, but the first time that he sees his son, he barely even talks to him? Makes sense.

When they got back to Mark’s house, Dylan sent his friend a text message. He and the friend had been planning to get together the following morning to hang out at the friend’s house. Dylan texted him and told him they were going to need to reschedule. The last text that Dylan sent was at 9:37 p.m.

Early the next morning, around 5:30 a.m., Mark stirred around the house trying to wake up Dylan. Mark said that the teenager didn’t want to get up, so he ended up going to town by himself around 7:30 a.m. Mark then ran some errands in Durango. He then swung by his job briefly for one reason or another, and he returned home at 11:30 a.m.

When he returned home, he said that Dylan was not there. He saw that a cereal bowl had been left on the counter and the TV had been left on as well. So, Mark figured he had probably gone fishing with one of his friends and decided that instead of, you know, trying to figure out if that’s where his son actually was, Mark decided at this point to take a nap.

The Disappearance

Dylan’s cell phone, as well as all his belongings that he had brought from his mother’s, were also missing. Mark did try to text Dylan a few times, but when those texts went unanswered, he still didn’t seem that concerned. Dylan’s friends were trying to contact him too, and they were also getting no response.

So, about an hour later, Mark wakes up from his beauty rest. He then texts Dylan’s mother to see if she knows his whereabouts. She said that she did not know and she could not get a hold of him either. After that, Dylan’s mother, brother, and stepfather all jumped in the car and drove immediately from Colorado Springs to Durango to help look for him. It was at this point that Mark finally called the police to report Dylan as a missing person.

In part of Mark’s initial written statement, he said that he and Dylan were roughhousing the night that Dylan had arrived, but tensions were subsiding and they were getting along. He said nobody was hurt, and later they actually tossed around a football as well. After that, he says they watched a movie that they had bought at Walmart. He told police that when he returned home from his errands at 11:30 the next morning, Dylan was gone. But assuming he had gone fishing with his friend, he didn’t notify the police immediately—oh, and took a nap.

Elaine knew that her son would not just leave without telling anybody. Later that day, Elaine actually texted Mark saying, “I am so suspicious of you right now.”

The Search Begins

On the 20th of November, the La Plata police launched a search for Dylan. Mark was cooperative with the police; however, he didn’t seem to show much concern about Dylan’s disappearance. Also, that night, it was noticed that Mark shut off all the lights in and outside of his house. Now, this isn’t strange behavior normally; however, when somebody’s missing, most times family members will leave on a bunch of lights in hopes that the missing person will find their way home that way and be able to see their house. So, it was very odd that Mark turned out every single one of his lights, almost like he was trying to hide from something.

Law enforcement had determined that Dylan was not a runaway, even though all of his stuff was missing along with him. They were also monitoring his cell phone activity at all times. His phone had been turned off since the night of the 18th, and GPS was not available as he didn’t have a smartphone—which meant that you also could not ping where his phone was when it was turned off. So, they were unable to locate Dylan this way.

The entire family was subjected to polygraph tests. Mark’s came back as inconclusive, and he refused to retake it despite the family begging him to do so. Massive search parties formed to help out. Helicopters were in the air, boats were on the lake nearby; nothing was found. The people searching were worried because at night it got increasingly colder and darker, and they knew that Dylan didn’t even have a jacket with him. Over 320 volunteers helped out in the search for Dylan and covered over 60 miles of roads and backcountry terrain.

On November 26th, the FBI officially joined the search for Dylan. Dylan’s mother also spoke to the media at this point and aired her concerns that her ex-husband, Mark Redwine, might have something to do with her son’s disappearance. Mark, on the other hand, who up until this point had remained quiet, told a local newspaper that he knew his son had not run away because he, quote, “had nothing to run from.”

With Dylan still missing, family and friends were beside themselves. The search had been going on for days now and had turned up nothing. On the night of December 27, 2012, Dylan’s friends and family held a vigil for him, sharing their concerns and giving each other strength in this very difficult time.

Dylan’s half-brother, Brandon Redwine, only learned of his disappearance when he reached out to his other half-brother, Cory. Brandon said that communication between him and Mark had become very sporadic. Once Brandon did learn of Dylan’s disappearance, he and his wife and children drove to Durango from Gilbert, Arizona, that night. Cory, Brandon, Mark, and David (Mark’s brother) sat down to develop a plan to search for Dylan. At this time, the others also encouraged Mark to get more involved with his son’s search. You think that would be an obvious thing that you wouldn’t have to tell a person.

But the next day, Brandon, Mark, and David drove up Middle Mountain Road, a dirt road that runs through the dense San Juan National Forest. The road was very close by to Mark’s house, so they figured it was a good place to look. But after only 20 minutes of driving, Mark told the group that Dylan wasn’t up there and there was no need for them to continue looking there. There was no explanation as to how he knew this. Mark was insistent that they turn around at that point.

Brandon knew that something was up. He figured Mark knew something, though he didn’t know what or how. Brandon said that during Dylan’s disappearance, he would frequently ask his father, Mark, what he thought happened to Dylan. At one point, he directly asked him if he knew where Dylan was. Mark said, “I know where Dylan is. He’s in my heart.” Sure.

The Evidence Mounts

Ten days after Dylan had initially gone missing, the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant for Mark’s house. The presence of blood was found throughout Mark’s living room, and DNA tests confirmed that it was indeed Dylan’s blood. The blood was on a couch, a loveseat, a coffee table, as well as in the laundry room and on the outfit that Mark had worn the day that Dylan went missing.

At the same time, Mark offered a ridiculous theory that Dylan might have gone hiking and accidentally gotten shot by a hunter, then came back, and that’s what the blood was from. The blood that was located on the floor of the living room was actually underneath a rug. The rug itself had no evidence of blood being present—which, if somebody had bled out on top of the rug, you would expect to see the blood on the rug as well as underneath it, not just underneath it.

At this point, Elaine—as well as everybody else, I’m sure—was fuming that Mark had not been arrested yet, even with the evidence that was slowly piling up against him. Since police weren’t arresting him, she didn’t know what to do. So after some consideration, Elaine decided that she was gonna go public with her thoughts of Mark’s guilt. She decided to go on the Dr. Phil show.

Mark and Elaine ended up on Dr. Phil’s stage, very heated at one another, where Mark proclaimed his innocence the entire time. Even when the fact that he had failed the polygraph came up, he still said he was innocent. Elaine wasn’t buying it.

Elaine: “Why do I have to call you when you lost our son? That doesn’t make sense. And this is exactly why I would want to communicate to you, because you can’t sit here and have a civil conversation with me. You want to be angry, accusing me…” Mark: “…your son…” Elaine: “I’m not angry with you. I’m just asking you questions to try to get information. You think he walked away from the house? One of his friends lives up at the lake where I live, and it’s right across from the marina, so it’s not a very far distance for him to have tried to reach out to his friend that lives up at the lake.” (Discussing the distance) Elaine: “It’s not six miles. It is too far for Dylan, and there was something on Google Maps, because it’s not six miles from my house to the end of the road. He would have texted somebody and had somebody come get him.” Dr. Phil: “Okay, well let me help me out here and let’s see if I have this correct. This is your house right here…” Mark: “That’s correct.” Dr. Phil: “And this is his friend’s house… right in front of the lake, and we did go to Google Maps and that’s 5.9 miles.” Mark: “Yeah, yeah. I don’t have Dylan. I wish I had Dylan, because if I had Dylan, we wouldn’t be on the Dr. Phil show, okay?” Elaine: “I wish I had Dylan too, but that’s not gonna hurt him…” Mark: “No, Elaine, I wouldn’t hurt him. What kind of mother are you to even think that I was capable of doing something like that?” Elaine: “I was your wife for 18 years. I brought you all the way to Dr. Phil to speak with you because you won’t speak with me. What I care about is finding this child, which is all I care about.” (Discussing the polygraph) Mark: “Well, there’s been some conflict as to what the actual results are. They told me that I failed it, then they told me it was inconclusive, and there was some question about the person giving the polygraph as to whether or not they were capable of performing that polygraph test.” Elaine: “I hope you did not hurt him, because I really don’t trust you, and I really have a concern that you hurt him and his bones are out there just laying and you don’t even care. You don’t… where’s your emotion? Where are any of your feelings? What emotion is it you’re trying to get out of me? I want you to do something to find Dylan.”

The FBI had already interviewed Mark a few times at this point, but he was then called in for a third interview. It was at this point that he finally mentioned some injuries that Dylan possibly had. At first, he said that Dylan was bleeding because he had a cold sore on his lip that was oozing. If you have a cold sore that is oozing enough blood that it’s detectable, then you need to go to the ER, because that’s not normal. But that wouldn’t happen because it’s [bleep] Mark made up.

When the FBI agent told Mark that he could easily verify this with Dylan’s mom whether or not he had a cold sore, Mark changed his story. He then told the FBI agent that Dylan had actually been injured when the two were tossing the football at his house. Mark said that Dylan had actually missed the football and it had hit him in the face, and he had started spitting out blood. At that point, Mark also said that it was a Nerf football that they were throwing around, which I don’t think that a Nerf ball is very easily (if at all) going to split open your lip. It’s foam. He could have come up with a better story than that.

Eventually, the FBI agent started to ask Mark if maybe something unintentional had happened that night to Dylan, because the other stories just weren’t explaining things. Mark simply leaned forward, slumped his shoulders, his head went down, and eventually, he said, “I’ve got to think about myself.” And that was it.

The Grim Discovery

The entire time, law enforcement officials had tried to get Mark to participate in the search for his son. Instead, Mark decided that at this point he was gonna move away from the Durango area. And despite mounting circumstantial evidence, authorities were not able to hold him. They had nothing definite still.

More than eight months after Dylan’s disappearance, on June 27, 2013, his partial remains were found on Middle Mountain Road—the same road that Dylan’s stepbrother had previously searched with Mark, but it was further up the road. The area where Mark had told them they didn’t need to go up because Dylan wasn’t up there—that’s where they found these remains. The reason this area hadn’t been previously searched by law enforcement is because in the winter months, the road was actually closed, and due to weather conditions, this was the first time that they were able to go ahead and search that area.

During this search, the first thing that they found was a shoe. Dylan’s mother identified it as belonging to her son. At this point, searchers then focused their attention on that area where the shoe had been found. The area was fairly steep and rugged, but they continued looking and they found what looked like pieces of clothing as well as some black earbuds. There was then a piece of bone found that was identified as a clavicle bone. There were two other bone fragments found as well during this search.

The remains belonged to Dylan. Detectives described the area in which they found the clothing and remains as a very likely dump site for a body. Even though they had found some of Dylan’s remains, they still did not have enough evidence to determine what had happened to the teenager or who had done it to him.

In November of 2013, over a hundred people, including family and friends of Dylan, gathered in Bayfield. They dedicated a permanent memorial inside the Bayfield Cemetery to Dylan. It was a memorial bench, which is now on display in the cemetery with Dylan’s name engraved in the stone. Mark was said to have not been at the memorial service. Cory, Dylan’s brother, said that at the time his remains were found, he sent a text message to Mark saying that he hoped the person responsible for this would pay. Mark never replied.

Betsy Horvath, who was married to Mark for six years, later recounted a family camping trip that the two had taken together. It was back in the late ’80s, and they were in a remote location, and it was starting to get dark. Mark decided to make the offhand comment of, “This would be a good place to get rid of a body.” When Betsy had found out that Dylan was missing, she immediately remembered this comment that Mark had made and she notified the police. She was hoping that this could provide some kind of answers for what had happened to Dylan. She said she felt sick to her stomach. I can’t even imagine the feeling of knowing that you were married to somebody who did something like this.

Even though the search continued for some time, there were no more remains of Dylan’s that were found. That’s until November 1st of 2015, when some hikers discovered Dylan’s skull off of an ATV track, which was about a mile and a half away from his other remains. It wasn’t until his skull was found that the coroner was finally able to determine Dylan’s cause of death, which was blunt force trauma. The coroner also discovered some small knife markings on the skull. Dylan’s case was now officially a homicide. And then, on August 19, 2015, Mark Redwine was finally named a person of interest.

The Arrest and Trial

That same day—and this man has some balls, let me tell you—Mark tried to blame his ex-wife Elaine for Dylan’s death. He said that she encouraged their son to leave his house, which was what led to Dylan’s death. This blame was in the paperwork that was filed in response to a wrongful death lawsuit that Elaine had actually filed against Mark. Mark tried to argue that she was the one that created the environment that was Dylan’s life, which was also ultimately likely to lead to his death (whatever that means). It also says that Elaine made such terrible remarks to Dylan about Mark that if she had not made these comments, Dylan would never have left his house and would be alive today. Mark Redwine actually asked the court to consider awarding him monetary damages for his son’s death! He thought he was going to get money out of that. So the entire lawsuit was later dismissed, though, due to the statute of limitations.

Now, Dylan’s older half-brother Brandon said that he had remembered that even before Dylan’s skull had been found, Mark had mentioned specifically the words “blunt force trauma.” He said that Mark had spoken passionately and very direct when he was using the term “blunt force trauma.” Brandon says that he told his wife, “Mark’s telling me what happened. He’s not telling me exactly what was used, but we don’t have enough information to even consider blunt force trauma at this point. So there’s something going on for sure.”

There was a new D.A. in La Plata County who presented the case to a grand jury, who accepted the legitimacy of the evidence. So on July 20th, 2017, the grand jury indicted Mark Redwine, and a warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in the death of his son.

Mark was arrested in Bellingham, Washington, on July 22nd, 2017. The La Plata County Sheriff’s Department took custody of Mark and returned him to Durango via a chartered plane. He was booked into the La Plata County jail. He pled not guilty to the charges.

Due to COVID, as well as a mistrial at the end of 2020, Mark’s trial for the murder of his son, Dylan Redwine, did not have its day in court until July of 2021. During his trial, there were many people brought up to the stand to testify. One of these people was Amber Harrison, who was Dylan’s mother’s attorney as well as, at this point, friend. She testified that she knew Dylan wanted to live with his mother. Dylan had told Amber that he had seen some revolting pictures of his father that his brother Cory had sent to him. He said they creeped him out and he did not want to be around his father. These photos showed Mark Redwine dressed in women’s lingerie as well as wearing a dirty diaper, and on top of all that, eating the contents of the diaper.

Cory would later testify in regards to these photos as well, saying that he and Dylan had accidentally discovered them on their father’s computer during a trip in 2011. Cory took his own photos of the photos and saved them to his phone. He said he sent these compromising photos to his father in August of 2012. Cory told him, “You are what you eat.” Mark called Cory a thief for taking his pictures and said that he was just trying to hurt him the same way that his mother Elaine had—or he’s horrified by something like this out of his own father, that’s probably more like it.

This accidental discovery of the photos totally damaged Dylan’s view of his father. Dylan lost any reason to look up to Mark at that point. During the trial, Cory said that Dylan had told him he planned on using this Thanksgiving visit to confront Mark about the family fight, as well as the photographs that he had discovered. He said Dylan was pretty disgusted and wanted to use the photos against his father as some sort of leverage. It’s believed that this might be the reason why Mark ended up killing his son that day.

Richard Swayze, who had worked with Mark at United Pipeline, also got up to testify. He said that on November 19th, he had seen Mark (this was the day of Dylan’s disappearance). He said that Mark actually looked happier than he had ever seen him; he was sober, clearer, and happy. He also said that Mark lingered at his desk and talked about one of his sons, which he normally never does. He said he found the whole conversation to be very strange.

Karen Alexander, who was a former romantic interest of Mark’s, testified and said that he was an attentive father who was very upset about his son’s death. (Nobody else is saying that, just you). She said that Mark loved Dylan very much and talked about him all the time. Karen, who was from Bakersfield, California, had visited Mark’s home in 2011. She said that during that time, she saw Dylan bleed on the floor after he had cut himself with a knife at a barbecue, trying to explain away why the blood was there to begin with. When asked why she had never mentioned this before, she said that she had never been asked about this detail before, so she never disclosed it.

Justice for Dylan

At the end of Mark Redwine’s long four-week trial, he was found guilty of second-degree murder as well as child abuse in the killing of his 13-year-old son, Dylan, which they determined had happened in a fit of rage inside Mark’s Durango home, and he then hid Dylan’s body in the woods for the animals to scavenge.

The prosecutors asked for the maximum penalty, calling Mark Redwine a cold-blooded killer who actively misled authorities for years trying to shift the blame. The judge agreed and said that Mark Redwine had an utter lack of remorse. He gave him 48 years in prison on both counts, to run concurrently.

Dylan’s remains were eventually buried at the Bayfield Cemetery in Bayfield, Colorado. Now that this case has gone to trial and Mark is in jail, hopefully, Dylan’s family can have some sort of peace after wondering and waiting for nine years to get justice for their son, brother, and friend.

Thank you for listening to all of Dylan’s story today. It took way too long for this poor kid to get justice. Luckily, with Mark being 59 years old and a 48-year sentence, he’s never going to see the light of day again. He’ll be in prison until he dies. Now, this case often gets clouded by the evidence of the disturbing photos of Mark, but I would rather Dylan be remembered for the bright, happy teenager that he was before he was so abruptly taken from this world.