Two years and two days after her son’s partial remains were found on Middle Mountain, Elaine Hatfield Redwine filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her ex-husband, Mark Redwine.
Hatfield filed the complaint for wrongful death and loss of consortium on Monday in District Court in Durango.
The complaint said their son Dylan Redwine, was visiting his father on a court-ordered visit Nov. 18, 2012, when he disappeared. A massive search ensued, involving community members and local, state and federal investigators. On June 27, 2013, some of Dylan’s remains were found about three miles from Redwine’s home in Vallecito.
A parent in Colorado has the duty to provide proper parental care for a child, the lawsuit states. Mark Redwine breached that duty “when his conduct resulted in the death of their son Dylan Redwine,” the lawsuit stated.
It continues, “the death of Dylan Redwine was the proximated and direct result of the negligence of defendant.”
Hatfield also has suffered the loss of consortium with her son and suffered damages from that, the lawsuit stated.
In the lawsuit, Hatfield asks that she be compensated for damages, costs and fees, and she also requested a 12-member jury if the lawsuit should go to trial.
The criminal investigation into Redwine’s disappearance also is continuing, according to Lt. Dan Bender, a spokesman for the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office.
“I have no new information to release at this time,” Bender wrote in an email response to a request for an update on the case. “However, there are several activities that have taken place recently, and investigators are putting a lot of effort forward and planning additional actions in the coming weeks.”
Dylan Redwine, who was 13 when he disappeared, was on a court-ordered visit with his father for Thanksgiving in 2012. No trace of him was ever found until some of his remains, reportedly bones from his foot, were discovered 18 months later by police and volunteers searching Middle Mountain. They were often on their hands and knees and using ropes to climb in the steep terrain.
Elaine Redwine, who now uses her maiden name, previously blamed her ex-husband for their son’s death.
In November 2013, before a memorial service for her son was held at Pine Valley Church, she said she thought Mark Redwine had killed Dylan.
“Yes, I always have from day one, when he was missing,” she said in an interview with The Pine River Times. “Those who know me, who knew Mark, who knew my boys, knew that, as well.”
The complaint was filed by Amber Harrison of Durango, who has been Hatfield’s attorney since 2008 and handled her divorce.
“I cannot comment on any other specific details, other than those in her complaint,” Harrison said. But if more information becomes available from investigators, “we will certainly be amending or modifying the complaint.”
Reached on his cellphone Wednesday afternoon, Mark Redwine said he had not heard about the lawsuit.
“Good luck with that,” he said. “We’ll all see how it turns out for her.”
Redwine said he was not in Vallecito but declined to give his location.
