Page 16 of The Girl from Devil's Lake
According to a Highway Patrol spokesman, the victim had been dead for approximately twenty-four hours at the time the body was found, and the cause of death was determined to be manual strangulation.
Some blood evidence was located at the scene, but there was no sign of a struggle. The body was fully clothed at the time it was found, and there was no sign of a sexual assault. The North Dakota Highway Patrol is asking for anyone who might have information concerning this incident to please call their local hot line.
After graduating from Devil’s Lake High School, Miss Hudson moved to Grand Forks where she was employed as a nurse’s aide at Grand Forks General Hospital on a part-time basis while working toward a nursing degree at Grand Forks University.
The eldest of two children, she is survived by her parents, Elmer and Bonnie Hudson, her younger brother, Lucas, and her maternal grandmother, Madeline Running Deer.
Miss Hudson’s funeral will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 2, at the Devil’s Lake Methodist Church. Burial will follow at Devil’s Lake Memorial Cemetery.
The investigation that followed Amanda Hudson’s death was cursory at best. No suspicious vehicles had been spotted at the scene, and no suspects were ever identified. Within a matter of months, Turtle River Girl’s homicide case went cold and, like Cotton Candy Boy’s death in nearby Fertile, Minnesota, it stayed that way.
Chapter 6
Bisbee, Arizona
Sunday, November 26, 2023
Sunday morning dawned clear and dry, and for Joanna, it really was a day of rest. Their breakfast, featuring Butch’s French toast, was almost as celebratory as their Thanksgiving dinner had been. Jenny, with her modest circular cut diamond flashing on her finger, was absolutely aglow. Watching her, Joanna was reminded of how she had felt once she and Butch had become engaged.
Days after that happened, she’d had to renew her driver’s license. The photo for that new license was the best one of her that had ever been taken, bar none, including the formal campaign ones she had professionally done over the years. In fact, she still kept that old long-out-of-date license in the bottom of the jewelry box on her dresser.
During breakfast, Jenny and Nick dropped the news that Dex and Maggie would be coming to live at High Lonesome Ranch sometime between Christmas and New Year’s, with Dennis in charge of Dex and Sage taking care of Maggie.
Sage was absolutely over the moon. “A real barrel-racing horse, are you kidding?”
“Not kidding,” Nick answered.
“Will you give me lessons?” Sage demanded of Jenny.
“When I can,” Jenny replied, “but remember, when we come to visit, Nick and I get first dibs on who we ride.”
Nick had studying to do that afternoon, so the couple planned to leave for Tucson once everyone else headed out for church. With breakfast over and Nick and Butch in charge of cleanup, Joanna tagged along when Jenny went into the bedroom to pack.
“Things were so busy yesterday that we barely had a chance to talk,” Joanna said. “How are things going with your TO?” Joanna knew the name of Jenny’s training officer—Deputy Rick Mosley—but that was all.
“Deputy Mosley’s old school, but he’s okay,” Jenny answered. “He may be strict, but he doesn’t pull any punches, and I’m learning a lot.”
“Good,” Joanna said. “Glad to hear it.”
“I’m a little worried about being on graveyard right now,” Jenny said. “That’s when a lot of the bad stuff happens.”
Joanna knew that all too well. Midnight to eight was when the bars let out and the drunks hit the roads to commit murder and mayhem. Not only that, coming home to go to sleep when the rest of the world is just waking up is a major disruption to the human body.
“You’ll be fine,” she said.
“I hope so.”
“What about Rory Adcock? Is he still giving you guff with all that Calamity Jenn crap?”
Jenny favored her mother with a searching look. “How did you know he was behind it?” she wanted to know. “I never told you who it was.”
“You didn’t have to,” Joanna replied. “I’m pretty good when it comes to reading faces. He was sitting right next to you at that graduation ceremony. I saw the smirk on his face when I mentioned Calamity Jenn in my talk.”
Jenny shook her head. “For some reason, he’s been surprisingly quiet.”
Not surprising to me, Joanna thought.Sheriff Brian Fellows probably told him to knock it off.
“Good,” she said aloud. “Let’s hope he stays that way.”
