South Dakota
Annual American Legion Ride 605
![Annual American Legion Ride 605 Annual American Legion Ride 605](https://gray-ksfy-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/OLXK3B4ELFCEVPIXJWUI5VQEQM.bmp?auth=6afb9e9de00701d90c88cbb02f4cf1dfcd289ff149d437680e05fa5ce3fac218&width=1200&height=600&smart=true)
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – A four-day motorcycle ride made its way through Sioux Falls Sunday benefitting South Dakota veterans, and more.
The South Dakota American Legion Ride 605 is a fundraiser for the American Legion Foundation.
The ride features 12 different posts presenting checks to the riders along their journey, and it got underway yesterday morning at Capital Lake in Pierre.
Donations go towards Veterans Affairs and rehabilitation– as well as youth programs.
The ride also includes stops at small-town veteran memorials– the legion riders set out with a goal of raising 5-thousand dollars.
Copyright 2024 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.
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South Dakota
Suspected pedophile kills himself when confronted by predator hunter at his South Dakota home
![Suspected pedophile kills himself when confronted by predator hunter at his South Dakota home Suspected pedophile kills himself when confronted by predator hunter at his South Dakota home](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/07/suspected-pedophile-killed-moments-admitting-86030308.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024)
A suspected pedophile killed himself moments after he admitted to watching child pornography to a predator hunter outside his South Dakota home.
Donald Letcher, 60, described the graphic detail of the disturbing videos that featured children as young as infants to Predator Poachers founder Alex Rosen, according to footage shared by the “Breanna Morello Show” podcast.
Letcher described his atrocious viewing pleasures, which featured males holding down babies as they “ejaculated” on them.
After hearing enough evidence, Rosen called in a police officer and got Letcher to admit his heinous act to the cop.
As the officer called his supervisor, Letcher walked inside and a “pop” was heard.
The crew outside say they didn’t think much of it because it “wasn’t a loud shot,” but it was later revealed that Letcher shot himself in the head with a .22 bullet.
“The cop breaks the door down and then one of my camera guys goes around the window and sees him (Letcher) on the ground with a hole in his head bleeding out of it,” Rosen said.
Letcher was airlifted to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to Rosen.
The pedophile had reached out to Rosen’s team, who were posing as a preteen girl, and asked for “nudes.”
“This guy messaged us first in April, and all the messages he was pretty sexual, asking us for nudes thinking we were a 12-year-old girl,” Rosen said.
The predator hunter said he had Letcher graphically describe the videos to ensure the creep admitted to the crimes for video evidence.
“When they describe basically everything they see, it leaves no doubt they’re guilty of watching and possessing that stuff,” he added.
Letcher reportedly molested a 9-year-old girl in 1996, a fact unknown to Rosen at the time of his conversation, but the case was overturned by the South Dakota Supreme Court.
“The justice system never held him accountable,” Rosen said.
Letcher was also hit with DUI and hit-and-run charges after he ran over a 6-year-old girl in a “non-pedophile” incident in 2022.
South Dakota
Red Flag Warning Indicates Extreme Fire Danger across Western South Dakota Thursday
![Red Flag Warning Indicates Extreme Fire Danger across Western South Dakota Thursday Red Flag Warning Indicates Extreme Fire Danger across Western South Dakota Thursday](https://media-cdn.socastsrm.com/wordpress/wp-content/blogs.dir/2626/files/2024/07/red-flag-warning-extreme-fire-danger-map-south-dakota-dps-072524.png)
The National Weather Service has issued a RED FLAG WARNING for western South Dakota from Noon to 11 p.m. local time, Thursday, July 25. A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now or will shortly. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior creating ideal conditions for wildland fires to start easily and spread quickly.
Counties within the Red Flag Warning area include Butte, Custer, Fall River, Harding, Jackson, Lawrence, Meade, Oglala Lakota, Pennington, and Perkins counties.
South Dakota Wildland Fire advises extreme caution with any potential fire ignition sources today. Please avoid any outdoor burning during this time, using tools that generate sparks, dragging chains from trailers, throwing cigarette butts out a car window, and parking in tall, dry grass.
If you see a wildland fire call 911 immediately. Be aware that in conditions like these, fires may spread quickly.
For more information about fire prevention visit https://wildlandfire.sd.gov/.
SDWF is an agency of the South Dakota Department of Public Safety.
South Dakota
DSS employee charged in $1.8 million theft appears in court Thursday
![DSS employee charged in .8 million theft appears in court Thursday DSS employee charged in .8 million theft appears in court Thursday](https://gray-ksfy-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/v2/Z24WI4CEMFERHPWPFC7EQIUDCE.jpg?auth=62bd19af0b1481f5db38cc3c45a074115662d0e6905f9ccc2d9d0bb70ebc78f5&width=1200&height=600&smart=true)
PIERRE, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – A former Department of Social Services employee accused of stealing nearly $1.8 million from the state is making her first court appearance Thursday in Hughes County.
Lonna Carroll, 68, of Algona, Iowa, is charged with two felony counts of Aggravated Grand Theft. She was arrested last week in Iowa and extradited to South Dakota.
Carroll is accused of taking the money while serving as an employee for the department’s Child Protection Services program, where she had control of the funds. South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said Carroll essentially acted as her own supervisor, both requesting and approving funds for CPS cases.
Jackley stated that it’s very unlikely that the $1.78 million stolen will be recovered.
According to state lawmakers, the South Dakota Government Operations and Audit Committee is likely to address the $1.78 million stolen from the Department of Social Services in its upcoming meetings.
Carroll’s initial court appearance is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. CST. Dakota News Now will be in Pierre covering the case.
The maximum sentence for Count One is 25 years in prison and a $50,000 fine. The maximum sentence for Count Two is 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine. Carroll is presumed innocent under the U.S. Constitution.
Copyright 2024 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.
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