Amelia Schafer
ICT + Rapid City Journal
RAPID CITY, S.D. – Lisa Carlow has been counting the weeks since she lost her father Patrick Carlow Sr. – 73 weeks spent hoping for answers. With a new reward for information, the family may be closer to answers.
On Oct. 3, the Federal Bureau of Investigations announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual or individuals responsible for Carlow’s death.
Carlow, 73, was found dead on the morning of May 19, 2023, at his home in rural Oglala, S.D., off of Highway 18.
Over a year later, the family has received little to no answers about what happened to the Oglala Lakota elder.
Carlow, a lifelong resident of the Pine Ridge Reservation, was beloved by his community and was the unofficial mayor of Oglala, his family said. He was always willing to help someone in need. He was a jokester and a cowboy in every sense of the word, his younger sister Ella “John” Carlow said.
He left behind four children, 12 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
“He truly, truly loved his kids,” Ella Carlow said.
“Regardless of how big or how small, every tidbit of information that you have (is important),” Ella Carlow said. “No matter what you think or what you may have seen or heard, all of that is important to putting the pieces together, to putting the puzzle together.”
Widespread violence with little answers
Six months after Carlow’s death on Nov. 18, 2023, the Oglala Sioux Tribe declared a state a State of Emergency regarding violence on the reservation.
For years, the reservation has experienced high rates of murder, suicide, drug offenses, robbery, rape, aggravated assault, burglary and missing and murdered Indigenous women, according to tribal officials.
Two years ago in June 2022, the tribe sued the United States arguing the government has failed to uphold its treaty obligation of protecting the tribe.
In 2023, a preliminary injunction issued by the court stated the government needed to provide technical assistance to the tribe, but didn’t explicitly define what that meant.
In January 2024, the tribe filed a motion in federal court to hold the United States in Contempt of Court for not complying with the 2023 notice.
Now in October, it’s been nearly a year since Oglala Sioux Tribe Frank President Star Comes Out issued a State of Emergency across the reservation and the tribe has gotten little to no reprieve.
Putting the puzzle pieces together
With the announcement of reward money in Carlow’s case, the family hopes that they may be closer to answers.
“When someone calls the FBI, we (the family) don’t find out who (the caller) is,” Lisa Carlow said. “It’s all confidential. I don’t know if people are worried that the family is gonna know, but nobody needs to know that you called in. (The FBI) needs this information so they can fit the puzzle pieces together.”
Over the past year and a half, the family has heard many rumors and different stories about what happened to Patrick Carlow that night, but so far they have no conclusive answers. All the family knows for sure is that someone killed Patrick Carlow and no one has come forward.
“A lot of people don’t want to get involved, but if it was your family member, your dad, if that was someone you loved, you’d want someone to come forward,” Lisa Carlow said.
The family said they’re able to find some relief in knowing this isn’t a cold case, it’s an active investigation being worked on by the FBI.
“We appreciate everything the FBI has done for us,” Lisa said. “My dad deserves justice. He deserves the people who did this to be punished.”
The FBI did not respond to requests for comment.
Anyone with information concerning the death of Patrick Carlow Sr. should contact the FBI’s Minneapolis Field Office at (763) 569-8000, a local FBI office, the nearest American Embassy or Consulate or can submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.
This story is co-published by the Rapid City Journal and ICT, a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the South Dakota area.
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