The bizarre disappearance and death of Robert "Bugsy" Springfield in the Bighorn Mountains
Robert "Bugsy" Springfield, Disappeared, September 19, 2004, Bighorn Mountains, Montana.
Revised July 2024
On September 19th, 2004, Robert “Bugsy” Springfield, 48, and his 13-year-old son, Colton, and his adopted son, Brent Brooks, went to Black Canyon to hunt elk in the Crow Indian Reservation. This area is located in the Bighorn Mountains, in the southeast of Montana.
Bugsy was never seen alive again.
Who was Bugsy Springfield?
Bugsy and his family were members of the Crow Nation Indian Reservation, and they hunted on ground owned by the tribe. His native American name was "Bikkaashee Iisaaakshe," which was given to him by the late Shoshone Sundance Chief John Trujillo. He was born in Crow Agency on December 20, 1955, to Robert Springfield Sr. and Emma.
Bugsy grew up in the Lodge Grass and Wyola areas, attending grade school in Wyola and High School in Lodge Grass, where he played basketball and football.
At the age of 17, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. After boot camp in San Diego, he served at 29 Palms, California, Camp Lejeune, N.C., Australia, Japan and the Philippines. He played basketball for the Corps while stationed at Camp Lejeune. He received his honorable discharge in June 1977. He later graduated from Billings Vocational Technical School in April 1979. He worked for Sarpy Coal Mine as a diesel mechanic for three years, as a heavy equipment operator and wild lands firefighter for several years.
Bugsy married Veronica Birdin Ground in July 1979, and the couple made their home in Lodge Grass.
The hunting trip to Black Canyon in Montana
After a day of hunting, Bugsy’s two sons returned to the prearranged spot in the late afternoon where he had agreed to meet them. The children waited until after dark and still had not seen their father and so the boys informed the Bighorn County Sheriff’s Office and members of the tribe.
Bugsy wore heavy winter clothing and was armed with a bow and arrows the day he disappeared.
A FLIR-equipped helicopter searched the area where Springfield was thought to be. The family and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) brought in sniffer dogs and horseback searchers, but nothing was found—no equipment, body, bones, or blood.
Discovery of Bugsy’s remains
Just over a year later, in October 2005, a hunter was in the Black Canyon area and had heard a crow screeching. The bird was loud and incessantly screeching. The hunter walked to the tree where the crow was sitting, and below it lay human remains. But what was strange was the scene near the tree. There was a partial skull, a femur, a neatly rolled-up men’s belt next to the skull, and a pair of boots.
A man’s coat was also on the ground, and there was a small tear in the back. A wallet containing money was also on the scene. But the bow and arrows were nowhere to be found.
The FBI was called the Sheriff, and BIA assumed foul play, and the physical evidence was removed for further analysis.
Questions about the Robert "Bugsy" Springfield death
If foul play was involved, why didn't the assailant take the wallet with money?
Why were the belt and boots found neatly by the bones?
The investigators assumed that a tree fell on Robert, but the physical evidence at the scene didn't support this theory.
The family wondered if Springfield, an ex-Marine and Special Forces member, had been murdered and his body disposed of later. "If he was actually up there in that area, to put it bluntly, we would have smelled something," his wife, Veronica Springfield said, The animals would have been there. The birds would have been there."
The FBI sent the remains to Quantico, Va., for DNA testing and identification. It took two years for the FBI to return the body to the family so that they could bury the remains, and over that time, the FBI never made contact with the family. "We went to hell," Springfield's sister Myra Gros Ventre says of their ordeal.
Bugsy’s death certificate was released to the family on November 16, 2007. The cause of death was listed as undetermined. Several items in his wallet, including his ID and Social Security card, were returned to the family with no apparent signs of weathering or water damage, which the family believes means they weren't exposed to the elements for any lengthy period.
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Sources
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22901309/robert-bikkaashee_iisaaakshe-springfield
http://nativenews.jour.umt.edu/2009/crow/2.htm
