05/07/2026
Valen Roy Hotomanie vanished on November 15th, 1995 from Wolf Point, Montana. It's believed Valen was murdered and that his body has yet to be recovered. He was 23-years-old.
Two men, neither of which could I find their names, allegedly beat Valen and then threw him off a bridge into the Missouri River, located south of Wolf Point. It's said that both men confessed a month later to the murder. They were charged with aggravated assault and then released by law enforcement. According to investigators, this is being investigated as a homicide but they state there isn't enough evidence to charge the men with murder since there's no body. (I find this suspicious. There are MANY no body convictions in the U.S. If the men confessed this should be enough.)
There were many searches of the river at the time but unfortunately they failed to turn up any evidence of Valen. Currently Valen is listed in NamUs as # MP2371 and there is one exclusion for his DNA/dentals from Virginia. At the time Valen was 5'11 and 145 lbs. He was wearing a gray shirt, a blue jacket with his last name, Hotomanie, on the back and blue jeans. Valen is of the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Reservation. He is described as a happy man who was always laughing. It's reported he did have some issues with drinking alcohol and his mother said he rarely got into fights because of it, in fact, she had recently told him to avoid fighting. Valen was one of five children and had recently become a father himself.
Please call the Roosevelt County Sheriff at 406-653-6230, referencing case # 23715, with any information on the murder of young father Valen Roy Hotomanie.
*Originally published August 26th, 2023* ©Unsolved and Unknown