A wrongful death lawsuit filed by the mother of Dylan Redwine against her ex-husband was dismissed because the case was filed after the statute of limitations expired.
A wrongful death lawsuit must be filed within two years of death in Colorado. Dylan's remains were found June 23, 2013, and he was pronounced dead July 27, 2013, after DNA tests confirmed the remains were his.
The lawsuit was filed on June 29, 2015.
In his December ruling, 6th Judicial District Judge William Herringer said the court has no jurisdiction to hear the claim given the two-year statute of limitations.
Elaine Hatfield Hall, Dylan's mother, said she and her attorney believed they had until July 27, 2015, to file the suit because that was two years after remains were identified as being her son's.
"We will continue to fight for justice for Dylan," Hall wrote in a statement to the Times.
In a phone interview Feb. 17 with the Durango Herald, Mark Redwine said Hall's lawyer should have known better than to file a "frivolous" lawsuit after the statute of limitations had expired.
A counter lawsuit accusing his ex-wife of defamation is pending, he said.
Dylan, 13, went missing Nov. 19, a day after he arrived in Durango for a court-ordered visit with his father for Thanksgiving. Community volunteers and law enforcement organized numerous searches until finding a few bone fragments on June, 23, 2013, in a forested area on Middle Mountain, three miles northeast of his father's home north of Vallecito Reservoir.
The La Plata County Coroner's Office has classified the death as a homicide. In August, the La Plata County Sheriff's Office identified Mark Redwine as a "person of interest" in its investigation. However, no arrests have been made.
The case has generated national media attention, including two episodes on the "Dr. Phil" show in which Hall accused Mark Redwine of killing their son. Mark Redwine declined repeated offers to take an independent polygraph test as part of the show.
Last week, Mark Redwine criticized Hall and her social media following for their repeated attempts to accuse him of murdering Dylan and acting in a vengeful manner toward him.
Dylan Redwine-The Journey to Justice is a facebook page supporting Hall that has almost 32,000 likes.
"What I don't hear Elaine out there saying is, 'We need to do this in a peaceful manner because that's how Dylan would want it,'" Mark Redwine said. "Dylan doesn't support violence, never has. He was never a violent child. He was a loving, caring compassionate person, and if you can't respect that about him, then you ought not be talking about him."
Mark Redwine said he hopes the rest of Dylan's remains will be found. A memorial bench for the boy is at Pine River Cemetery in Bayfield.
"He deserves to be laid to rest in a proper manner," he said.
Durango Herald reporter Shane Benjamin contributed to this report.
