Colorado father in teen murder saga won’t fight extradition in Bellingham court

A Colorado father waived extradition in a Whatcom County courtroom Tuesday, a move that should speed up his return to face charges of killing his 13-year-old son and hiding the body 4 ½ years ago.

Mark Allen Redwine, 55, a long-haul trucker, was arrested in Bellingham on July 21, when police were alerted that a grand jury in La Plata County, Colo. had indicted him for the murder of his son, Dylan Redwine.

Redwine’s extradition waiver is the latest chapter in a much publicized case that has drawn intense interest nationwide. The grand jury indicted Redwine for second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in a death. He now awaits transport back to Colorado.

The 4 ½-year saga of Dylan’s disappearance began around Thanksgiving 2012 when the boy made a court-ordered visit to his father’s home in Vallecito, Colo., amid his parents’ heated divorce and custody battle.

Redwine even helped coordinate search parties, and when his ex-wife Elaine Hall went public with suspicions that he harmed their son, Redwine publicly denied any involvement. Searchers found the boy’s remains over the following months and years, scattered along a twisting mountain road about 8 miles from the town. His skull had markings that appeared to be from a knife, according to the grand jury indictment filed in July.

The same court documents say a cadaver dog found the scent of a dead body in Redwine’s home in 2013, and in the bed of his pickup in 2014. Blood on a loveseat in the home matched Dylan’s DNA profile. As for a motive, court papers say Dylan planned to confront his father about a set of “compromising pictures.” Those photos showed Redwine in makeup and women’s clothes, eating feces, Dylan’s older brother Cory told a TV news station in Denver last week.

Cory said the troubles in the father-son relationship went far deeper than the photos.

“I think Dylan had a lot more than just pictures that he wanted to get across to Mark,” Cory told Denver7.

This story was originally published August 8, 2017 at 5:40 PM with the headline "Colorado father in teen murder saga won’t fight extradition in Bellingham court."