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Incurious Sheriff Volek Saw Boever’s Flashlight at Ravnsborg Crash Scene, Dismissed It as Reflection

We don’t need an impeachment hearing to determine that killer and liar Jason Ravnsborg is worthless as a lawman. But what North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Joe Arenz told the House Select Committee this afternoon pretty strongly signals that deceased Hyde County Sheriff Mike Volek wasn’t much of a lawman, either:

Joe Sneve, tweets from House Select Committee hearing on impeachment of Jason Ravnsborg, 2022.01.19.
Joe Sneve, tweets from House Select Committee hearing on impeachment of Jason Ravnsborg, 2022.01.19.
Austin Goss, tweets from House Select Committee hearing on impeachment of Jason Ravnsborg, 2022.01.19.
Austin Goss, tweets from House Select Committee hearing on impeachment of Jason Ravnsborg, 2022.01.19.

Sheriff Volek told investigators he walked around the crash site. He didn’t see the lit flashlight that Joe Boever was carrying when Jason Ravnsborg plowed his car into Boever at 65 miles per hour and killed Boever, a flashlight that remained lit as it lay off the shoulder of the road near Boever’s body. Or at least, Volek didn’t mention anything about that flashlight to Special Agent Arenz the first time they talked. Only later, when he had to put his apparently casual observations onto paper, did Volek mention that he saw a light in the ditch. But rather than go take a look, as a curious policeman should, Volek just assumed that steady light, a light that wouldn’t have changed as he walked toward it the way a reflection would have, was not worth his attention.

Nothing to see here, move along—that’s usually what the cops tell civilians when they want to clear the area and keep the public from seeing something. But the night Sheriff Volek found the Attorney General with a wrecked car on highway 14, Nothing to see here, move along appears to be what Sheriff Volek told himself so he would not see anything.

Governor Kristi Noem is complaining that some impeachment committee members seem to be spending more time questioning the actions of the investigators than focusing on Ravnsborg’s impeachable offenses. I would agree that some legislators seem to be losing sight of the glaring evidence that Jason Ravnsborg killed a man through his own negligence and lied to avoid consequences.

But one lawman who did not do his duty at the scene of Ravnsborg’s deadly crash was Sheriff Mike Volek.

59 Comments

  1. Lottie 2022-01-19 18:29

    Someone needs a good Eye exam and physical assessment.

  2. mike from iowa 2022-01-19 18:37

    There’s something you see every day, a deer with a flashlight. I think most any human with brain cells would know deer don’t have flashlights and think maybe Ravnsborg hit something other than a deer.

  3. Scott 2022-01-19 19:08

    Before I critic the former Sherriff, I would like to know his status that night.
    -Was he on duty at that the time of the call and just happened to be at his house?
    -or was he just on call that night?

    With Hyde County just having the Sherriff and 1 deputy, there is no way the county could have a staff member on duty 24/7. My guess is the Sherriff was on call that night and just wanted to go back home and get to bed.

    I’m still of the belief that Ravnsborg was so distracted that night that he had no idea what he hit. When you listen to the 911 call, Ransborg initially had no idea of where he was at. It was not until he started walking around and looking around that he recognized he was at Highmore. I think it was later that night Ravnsborg came to the conclusion that he had to hit more than a deer.

  4. Kurt Evans 2022-01-19 20:46

    One driver said she turned around and went back to offer Joe a ride, which he declined. She indicated to the government investigators that she thought the light he was using was a cell phone.

    An investigator who wasn’t there that night later claimed the light was “like a beacon”…

  5. DaveFN 2022-01-19 21:10

    What better way to cover one’s a** than to pose as a total stumblebum, a part he plays to the hilt in these interviews, as though that absolves him from any responsibility whatsoever.

  6. BobJ 2022-01-19 21:13

    The whole thing smelled of rotten fish, the day after, it has not gotten any better. I am surprised the tow truck driver did not ask if he pick up the stiff and dispose in the Oahe. Lock Ravnsborg, but for damn sure get him out of the office! I am sure he has dirt on Kristie, and the way oit looks Craig Price will lose his job.

  7. grudznick 2022-01-19 22:21

    #4Science shows Ravnsborg is a liar.

  8. Richard Schriever 2022-01-20 07:09

    If he made the claim that there had been numerous deer car accidents recently – is there a record to support that

    Before he made his final statement in which he acknowledged seeing a light, had he heard the flashlight had been found?

    My first impression is that “The Man” was lying as part of a conspiratorial cover-up (with co-conspirator Ravnsbourg).

  9. Richard Schriever 2022-01-20 07:17

    Scott – as apolitically elected official paid an annual salary there is no time at which a sheriff is “off duty”.

  10. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2022-01-20 07:17

    Scott, that’s the job. If a sheriff is more interested in going home and back to sleep than in investigating a crime scene, he should seek other work and let a real cop do the job.

    If Volek weren’t dead, I’d call for his impeachment, or recall, or resignation.

  11. larry kurtz 2022-01-20 09:24

    We all know cops’ lives suck because they reliably abuse the rule of law, their families, alcohol, drugs, food, power, detainees and occasionally even murder their wives.

  12. Nick Nemec 2022-01-20 13:13

    I knew Sheriff Mike Volek for decades. He was a very lazy sheriff and it certainly doesn’t surprise me that he failed to go back and check the light on the edge of the road shoulder, I’m actually surprised he got out of his patrol car. Had Volek walked back to check out the light he would have likely discovered Joe’s body.

    I’m convinced, as are all the members of both the ND and SD investigation teams that Ravnsborg saw Boever when his head came through the windshield if not before. I am also convinced, as are the ND and SD investigators that Ravnsborg saw the body in the ditch the night of the crash when he walked back to check the Highmore sign. I think he drove his car forward past where the body was to isolate it from the body. When Volek failed to find the body Ravnsborg took the next 10 hours to go home to Pierre, collect his wits and devise a story. His stumblebum act was successful and convinced States Attorney Emily Sovell to drastically undercharge and allowed him to avoid serious charges.

    The last 16 months have been a total train wreck and I don’t expect anything better going forward. Impeachment in the House and conviction in the Senate are not a guarantee. After sitting in the hallway during three days of Special Investigation Committee executive sessions and through eight hours of actual open meetings I am not certain the committee will even forward articles of impeachment to the full house.

  13. Roger Elgersma 2022-01-20 15:46

    When under stress the brain can get a very vivid picture of what one saw. To see a head or partial body or whole body come through the windshield would be graphic. The size of the hole indicates how much came through the hole in the windshield because that is how windshields break. So a photo from the police showing the blood inside the car would show if part or all of the body slipped back out the windshield or if it got slipped out the side door. But when the whole plan by Ravnsborg was to cover up evidence, we might not get to see that photo. Nick was not allowed to see the car at the day they found Joe.
    An attorney general is necessary to prosecute people that the cops arrest. The amount of leverage that gives him to intimidate police to cover up is to much. So when the police groups started to call for his impeachment told me that they need him out so they can be unbiased when arresting people, and Ravnsborg does not give them that important path to justice.
    The photo inside the car is necessary if justice is to be done.

  14. Mark Anderson 2022-01-20 17:15

    Nick Nemec is absolutely correct. He had to have seen he hit a man. Even if he was looking at his phone. He was driving very nearly off the road. He should be in jail for a killing. Sheriff Volek, I knew him from wayback when everyone in Highmore was alot younger As I’ve said before his sister was my girlfriend in middle school, his former wife when I was an eighth grader, or vice versa.. Hey it’s a small town and a long time ago. Don’t know what he was like in recent years but I’m sure he sucked up to his imagined boss, gave him his car to drive to Pierre. Must have seen it as a plus. Didn’t check out Ravnsbergs lies or check out his possible drinking, just accept his word. Oh what a wonderful world is a red state you can get away with murder.

  15. grudznick 2022-01-20 17:43

    grudznick and Mr. Nemec are not often in lockstep, but his blogging above is righter-than-right. It is the shortest and most direct summary of what probably happened I have seen. A concerted, unpartisan effort should be made to unelect any of these fellows who do not send this to the full house, no matter their excuses.

  16. Arlo Blundt 2022-01-20 18:36

    Well…I’m afraid Mr. Nemec’s suspicions are correct and the Republicans under Gosch are looking for a way to avoid filing impeachment charges against their boy, Ravensborg. They’d prefer he lose in the primary or just fade away and do probate for the rest of his life.To bring impeachment is to admit the entire Party was guilty of poor judgement when they foisted this phony off on the public by nominating him and supporting his election.The Party is, in Speaker Gosch’s estimate, infallible in it’s wisdom. They must not show weakness.

  17. larry kurtz 2022-01-20 19:11

    I pledge $500 to a Nemec for Governor campaign.

  18. Kurt Evans 2022-01-20 19:32

    Nick Nemec writes:

    I’m convinced, as are all the members of both the ND and SD investigation teams that Ravnsborg saw Boever when his head came through the windshield if not before. I am also convinced, as are the ND and SD investigators that Ravnsborg saw the body in the ditch the night of the crash when he walked back to check the Highmore sign.

    If Jason had seen Joe’s body in the grass and plotted to claim he hadn’t seen it, why would he have told the government investigators about his search for whatever he’d hit?

    It seems to me that Jason probably didn’t see Joe’s suicide dive onto his hood because he was looking down at the speedometer as he transitioned out of the reduced-speed zone. Joe’s impact with the right side of the car probably angled it onto the shoulder, and Joe’s body probably tumbled forward off the hood and was struck a second time after Jason reflexively swerved back to the left to keep the car on the pavement.

  19. Nick Nemec 2022-01-20 20:28

    Mr. Evans, as with most of your comments on this subject your last comment is wrong. There was no evidence presented to support your claim that Joe Boever took a suicide dive into Ravnsborg’s car. Several motorists reported that they saw Joe walking on the narrow gravel strip between the paved shoulder and the grass, a suicidal man intent on jumping into traffic would not be walking that far from the lane of traffic. All the investigators were in agreement that Ravnsborg was entirely on the shoulder, nearly in the ditch when he hit Joe and the regression analysis of the debris field and blood splatter support their conclusions.

    There was no suicide dive, there was no side drafting to the ditch. According to the investigators Boever’s body rolled off the side of the car several hundred feet after the area of impact as Ravnsborg was steering back onto the road, it hit the paved shoulder with considerable speed, leaving a blood mark. It is my theory that the body skipped forward like a stone on water before hitting the shoulder pavement closer to the grass leaving another blood mark, skipped again and then came to rest in the grass.

    Your theories are more and more sounding like the ravings of a deranged know-it-all. You have never been to the site and know nothing more than what you have read, digesting some small tidbits that adhere to your preconceived notions and ignore all the evidence and the expert conclusions of those who have been there and spent many days analyzing all the evidence. To save some small portion of your dignity stop commenting and go pontificate on some other issue.

  20. grudznick 2022-01-20 20:39

    The 5 Gs in his front yard have probably morphed Mr. Evans into a crime scene super-investigator, able to do the work of many professional law enforcement fellows at once and remotely. Or maybe like a psychic. Without the tarot cards.

  21. Arlo Blundt 2022-01-20 20:55

    Unfortunately, I believe there are a number of Republicans in the legislature who have adopted and made up from whole cloth an alternative explanation of Joe Boever’s death and Attorney General Ravensborg’s responsibility for that death. The Party must be protected at all costs.

  22. jerry 2022-01-20 22:03

    The print press in Rapid City publishes this article.

    “Investigators said they doubted Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg’s insistence, both in public and in law enforcement interviews, that he initially thought he hit an animal on Sept. 12, 2020, pointing to what they believed were two slips in Ravnsborg’s account as he was being interviewed by law enforcement officers.

    “He said he saw him. The only other person out there was Joe Boever,” North Dakota Special Agent Joe Arenz said, referring to a point in the Republican attorney general’s interview where he said that as he was surveying the accident scene, he turned around and saw “him.”” Rapid City Journal 1.20.22

    Ravnsborg is a lying liar that has been exposed for those lies. Ravnsborg should be imprisoned. Oh, EVANS is an evil, fakey christian, horse’s arse.

  23. John Dale 2022-01-21 08:32

    Whether he is guilty or not, worthy of impeachment or not, we know how this should go.

    This distraction sets a silly precedent.

  24. Ryan 2022-01-21 08:33

    kurt, one would think that a you would be the last person peddling scandalous rumors. short memory?

  25. Kurt Evans 2022-01-21 23:27

    Nick Nemec writes to me:

    There was no evidence presented to support your claim that Joe Boever took a suicide dive into Ravnsborg’s car.

    (1) Investigators were unable to account for 78 pills from Joe’s prescription, filled the preceding day, of the psychotropic drug Lorazepam, which can cause suicidal ideations.

    (2) Joe had disabled his truck by driving it into a bale beside the highway earlier that day.

    (3) One of his cousins insisted that Joe check his blood sugar because of his mood that night.

    (4) Another cousin said Joe had told him that his preferred method of suicide would be to throw himself in front of a car.

    (5) Jason told the 911 dispatcher that he’d hit something in the middle of the road but didn’t see what it was.

    Is there any evidence that Jason had ever driven with all four wheels outside the rumble strip before? It would be a mind-bending freak coincidence if there was a pedestrian on that tiny stretch of highway who overdosed on psychotropic drugs, left town on foot after dark, didn’t ask anyone for a ride, declined a ride offered by a passing motorist, and never told anyone why he was out there.

    All the investigators were in agreement that Ravnsborg was entirely on the shoulder, nearly in the ditch when he hit Joe and the regression analysis of the debris field and blood splatter support their conclusions.

    I’d like to know why the investigators would say a “distracted” driver inches from the edge of the pavement wouldn’t have been angled into the ditch by a massive impact on the extreme right side of the front bumper. It seems to me that Jason probably wasn’t distracted at all, and that he was probably already steering to the left as he made a remarkable recovery from a prior collision.

    The regression analysis is probably flawed because it presumes that Joe was walking during the collision on the shoulder and not tumbling northwest off the hood.

    According to the investigators Boever’s body rolled off the side of the car several hundred feet after the area of impact …

    And since the investigators say there was no suicide dive, they say rolling off the side of the car broke off the passenger side mirror.

    Your theories are more and more sounding like the ravings of a deranged know-it-all.

    That’s how Craig Price’s “theories” have always sounded to me.

    You have never been to the site …

    Did you know I used to live in Highmore?

    … and know nothing more than what you have read …

    I’ve watched seven or eight hours of the impeachment inquiry, and you didn’t answer my question. If Jason had seen Joe’s body in the grass and plotted to claim he hadn’t seen it, why would he have told the government investigators about his search for whatever he’d hit?

    Ryan writes:

    kurt, one would think that a you would be the last person peddling scandalous rumors. short memory?

    No, Ryan, I clearly remember how a group of arrogant law enforcement officers can jump to conclusions and destroy an innocent person’s career and social life by peddling scandalous rumors.

  26. Jenny 2022-01-22 08:15

    Fair enough, Kurt. Just to let you know, Nick is a know it all narcissist with a raging temper. Proceed with caution, he might even look up your police record if you get him mad enough.
    I have no doubt that Joe Boever, a middle-aged man with chronic alcoholism combined with bipolar, depression, anxiety and other health problems would be on a death wish. You have some good points and the 78 missing Lorazepam pills is perplexing. Was this amount of Lorazepam found in the autopsy? Why on earth would he have have ingested this many Lorazepams unless he wanted to hurt himself or die? Why would a doctor even prescribe a benzodiazepine to Joe with his serious mental health history. So many questions we will never know.

    The Boever family just wants to move on and Ravnsborg should take a hike.

  27. Nick Nemec 2022-01-22 10:33

    Mr. Evans, I certainly remember your failed stint as a teacher in Highmore. What was it, 25 years ago? Driving past a spot that many years in the future would be the location of a notorious crash doesn’t count as visiting the crash scene or make you an expert on the 25 year hence crash.

    Ravnsborg saw the body when he was by his own admission walking back through the crash scene toward the Highmore sign. He didn’t tell the sheriff about it because he wanted cops to find it on their own and he could then play his stumblebum routine. Not reporting the body for 10 hours gave Ravnsborg 10 hours to clear his head and concoct a story to cover his ass.

    Based on regression analysis of the blood splatter and the debris field done by the SDHP, and reviewed by outside experts, Ravnsborg was four tires on the shoulder and Joe Boever was on the north (outside) edge of the shoulder. Earlier eyewitnesses interviewed by the investigators said that while driving they saw a pedestrian, presumably Joe Boever, walking along the road next to the grass. The autopsy report says Joe was struck while facing forward. Additionally simple logic would imply that if Joe was making a suicide dive into oncoming traffic the worst body damage would be to the left side of his body. All the damage to Ravnsborg’s car was on the extreme right side of the car and Joe’s right leg was the leg amputated just below the knee by the front bumper, this implies he was facing forward toward the car with his foot on or near the ground at the moment of impact. There is no evidence to support a suicide dive, that scenario is ruled out by the facts.

    Your side drafting toward or into the ditch argument is irrelevent since by then Ravnsborg had already killed Joe Boever, but lets examine it. The force imparted by a 150lb man traveling at maybe 2mph on a Ford Taurus weighing 4000-4200lbs carrying a 200+lb attorney general and traveling at 67-68mph is minuscule compared to the force the Ford Taurus inparts on the man. The force of a very heavy object traveling very quickly easily overcomes the force of a light object traveling very slowly. (Maybe there is a reason you were a failed math/science teacher.) Additionally there were no tire tracks into the ditch to support your theory.

    The autopsy report does show Joe Boever had more than therapeutic levels of his prescription medication in his blood. This does not exonerate Jason Ravnsborg. You can not travel completely outside your lane and run over a pedestrian simply because the pedestrian is under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

  28. Jenny 2022-01-22 11:10

    Kurt makes fair enough points. Maybe Joe Boever did have a death wish that night, who knows. Having that many benzodiazepine pills ingested is dangerous to say the least.

    Just because one doesn’t agree with Kurt doesn’t mean you have to start calling him a ‘failed math teacher’. As for Sheriff Volek, he made some mistakes but for godsakes the man is dead, let his family grieve. I am sure the stress of that night was on him heavily and took him to an early grave.

  29. bearcreekbat 2022-01-22 18:10

    Evans says that invesigators were unable to account for 78 pills of Lorazepam, a drug that Evans emphasizes “can cause suicidal ideations.” Jenny points out that overdosing on that drug is dangerous, and could be evidence that Joe was rying to hurt himself and Nick acknowledges that Joe “had more than therapeutic levels of his prescription medication in his blood.”

    The interesting detail that seems to have escaped attention is the reported nature of the side effects from overdosing on Lorazepam. It looks to me like the warning cites I can find that an overdose would make it nearly impossible to walk along the roadway at night and jump in front of an ongoing car as Evans posits. I saw no reported side effects consistent with Evans’ theory. Instead, the overdose side effects include drowsiness, disorientation, blurry vision, reduced muscle strength. decreased reflexes and impaired reaction time, severely slowed breathing, unresponsiveness, coma, and death, as well as a few others.

    https://drugabuse.com/benzodiazepines/ativan/lorazepam-overdose/

    Sure, someone can use that drug to commit suicide, but apparently not in the manner suggested by Evans. A suicidal lorazepam OD sounds similar to a heroin OD, when the victim lays back, falls into a coma and quietly dies, rather than being able to exert behavior requiring the substantial physical effort, such as walking along a highway and jumping in front of a speeding vehicle on a loneway roadway in the middle of the night. The whole idea that the missing Lorazepam caused Joe to jump to his death is a red herring inconsistent with the reported information available about that particular drug.

  30. jerry 2022-01-22 19:10

    Lozepam could have been substituted for medical marijuana. Anxiety can be easily treated with medical marijuana with much less problems. Evil EVANS is hopeful for a job with the lying killer Ravnsborg, probably his towel boy.

  31. Kurt Evans 2022-01-22 23:31

    I’d written:

    It seems to me that Jason probably didn’t see Joe’s suicide dive onto his hood because he was looking down at the speedometer as he transitioned out of the reduced-speed zone. Joe’s impact with the right side of the car probably angled it onto the shoulder, and Joe’s body probably tumbled forward off the hood and was struck a second time after Jason reflexively swerved back to the left to keep the car on the pavement.

    In a subsequent comment, I’d written:

    And since the investigators say there was no suicide dive, they say rolling off the side of the car broke off the passenger side mirror.

    What part of Joe’s body could have possibly gotten high enough to break off the passenger side mirror when it fell off the car?

    Nick Nemec writes:

    Mr. Evans, I certainly remember your failed stint as a teacher in Highmore. What was it, 25 years ago?

    It was 26 years ago, the year I announced my first congressional campaign.

    Driving past a spot that many years in the future would be the location of a notorious crash doesn’t count as visiting the crash scene or make you an expert on the 25 year hence crash.

    I’d driven through a few weeks before the crash on my way home from the Libertarian state convention, and it didn’t appear to have changed much.

    Not reporting the body for 10 hours gave Ravnsborg 10 hours to clear his head and concoct a story to cover his a**.

    How did telling the government investigators that he’d searched for what he hit supposedly help to persuade them that he hadn’t seen it?

    The autopsy report says Joe was struck while facing forward. Additionally simple logic would imply that if Joe was making a suicide dive into oncoming traffic the worst body damage would be to the left side of his body.

    The worst damage to his body probably wasn’t inflicted during his suicide dive onto the hood. It was probably inflicted during the collision on the shoulder as he tumbled off the hood.

    All the damage to Ravnsborg’s car was on the extreme right side of the car and Joe’s right leg was the leg amputated just below the knee by the front bumper, this implies he was facing forward toward the car with his foot on or near the ground at the moment of impact.

    It suggests the front of his leg was facing toward the car as his body tumbled off the front of the hood.

    There is no evidence to support a suicide dive, that scenario is ruled out by the facts.

    Joe’s glasses were found inside the car. If there’d been no suicide dive onto the hood and windshield prior to the collision on the shoulder and bumper, that would seem to mean that the collision on the shoulder and bumper was violent enough to separate Joe from his lower leg, but that it wasn’t violent enough to separate him from his glasses. Is that what you believe?

    I’d written:

    I’d like to know why the investigators would say a “distracted” driver inches from the edge of the pavement wouldn’t have been angled into the ditch by a massive impact on the extreme right side of the front bumper. It seems to me that Jason probably wasn’t distracted at all, and that he was probably already steering to the left as he made a remarkable recovery from a prior collision.

    Nick responds:

    The force of a very heavy object traveling very quickly easily overcomes the force of a light object traveling very slowly.

    A small snowdrift is relatively light and stationary, but an impact with one can easily angle a car to the right or left.

    Additionally there were no tire tracks into the ditch to support your theory.

    My “theory” isn’t that Jason’s car was angled into the ditch. It’s that he wasn’t angled into the ditch because he wasn’t distracted and was already steering to the left as he made a remarkable recovery from a prior collision.

    The autopsy report does show Joe Boever had more than therapeutic levels of his prescription medication in his blood. This does not exonerate Jason Ravnsborg. You can not travel completely outside your lane and run over a pedestrian simply because the pedestrian is under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

    Of course you can’t. That’s a straw man. Hypothetically, if Joe dove onto Jason’s hood, and if his impact with the right side of the windshield shattered it and angled the car onto the shoulder, would that exonerate Jason?

  32. Nick Nemec 2022-01-23 07:24

    Mr Evans, “a prior collision”? Are you implying a collision prior to hitting Joe Boever? Not even Ravnsborg claims there were two collisions, what did he hit in the first collision?

    If, as per your theory, Ravnsborg “wasn’t distracted” how do you account for a not distracted driver not seeing a man in front of his car? Ravnsborg himself admits to being distracted at the time of the collision.

    And you still grasp to the falsehood of the suicide dive, unsupported by any evidence other than your imagination.

  33. mike from iowa 2022-01-23 08:57

    A small snowdrift is relatively light and stationary, but an impact with one can easily angle a car to the right or left

    Not if the small snowdrift was upright like a pedestrian it wouldn’t. A snowdrift of any size hits the wheels, you know, the part of the vehicle that steers it.

  34. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2022-01-23 09:00

    Sheriff Volek’s death does not exonerate him for piss poor police work. I grieve daily for the poor public service incompetents like Mike Volek provide. Hyde County, do better.

    If Jason Ravnsborg died tomorrow, the grief his family would feel would not change his guilt and the need to roundly condemn him for his negligent criminal behavior, not to mention the craven political pandering he has done to gain any traction in the political world. Corruption, incompetence, and criminal behavior get no sympathy.

  35. mike from iowa 2022-01-23 09:01

    What part of Joe’s body could have possibly gotten high enough to break off the passenger side mirror when it fell off the car?

    Maybe the same part that went through the windshield which is at least as high and higher than a side mirror.

  36. Kurt Evans 2022-01-23 19:18

    I’d written:

    It seems to me that Jason probably didn’t see Joe’s suicide dive onto his hood because he was looking down at the speedometer as he transitioned out of the reduced-speed zone. Joe’s impact with the right side of the car probably angled it onto the shoulder, and Joe’s body probably tumbled forward off the hood and was struck a second time after Jason reflexively swerved back to the left to keep the car on the pavement.

    In a subsequent comment, I’d written:

    Joe’s glasses were found inside the car. If there’d been no suicide dive onto the hood and windshield prior to the collision on the shoulder and bumper, that would seem to mean that the collision on the shoulder and bumper was violent enough to separate Joe from his lower leg, but that it wasn’t violent enough to separate him from his glasses.

    Nick Nemec writes:

    Mr Evans, “a prior collision”? Are you implying a collision prior to hitting Joe Boever? Not even Ravnsborg claims there were two collisions, what did he hit in the first collision?

    I’m suggesting Joe dove onto the hood causing an initial collision on the right side of the hood and windshield that angled the car onto the shoulder, and I’m suggesting his body then tumbled off the front of the hood causing a second collision on the shoulder and bumper. So yes, I’m suggesting there was a prior collision, and no, I’m not implying a collision prior to hitting Joe. Both collisions would have been with Joe.

    If, as per your theory, Ravnsborg “wasn’t distracted” how do you account for a not distracted driver not seeing a man in front of his car?

    It seems to me that Jason probably didn’t see Joe’s suicide dive onto his hood because he was looking down at the speedometer as he transitioned out of the reduced-speed zone. He probably didn’t see him tumble off the hood because it was dark out, the windshield was shattered, and he was focused on his battle to keep the car on the pavement.

    And you still grasp to the falsehood of the suicide dive, unsupported by any evidence other than your imagination.

    I’ve cited a great deal of evidence in support of the suicide dive, including the glasses, the passenger side mirror, and Joe’s apparent 78-pill psychotropic drug overdose.

    I’d written:

    A small snowdrift is relatively light and stationary, but an impact with one can easily angle a car to the right or left.

    “mike from iowa” writes:

    Not if the small snowdrift was upright like a pedestrian it wouldn’t.

    Sure it would.

    I’d written:

    And since the investigators say there was no suicide dive, they say rolling off the side of the car broke off the passenger side mirror.

    What part of Joe’s body could have possibly gotten high enough to break off the passenger side mirror when it fell off the car?

    “mike from iowa” writes:

    Maybe the same part that went through the windshield which is at least as high and higher than a side mirror.

    His head wouldn’t just need to be higher than the mirror. It would need to be high enough to break off the mirror when his body fell off the car.

  37. Nick Nemec 2022-01-24 09:15

    Troll like behavior of self appointed know-it-alls like Kurt Evans is a scourge on comment sections everywhere. They are experts on every topic of discussion no matter how obscure or technical, they refuse to concede any point reguardless of any proof presented. Like Energizer Bunnies they keep coming back, never quit and will be the last one standing in every debate.

    A philosopher on these pages once called Kurt Evans an “Over Godder, insaner than most.” The description fits.

  38. mike from iowa 2022-01-24 09:43

    “mike from iowa” writes:

    Not if the small snowdrift was upright like a pedestrian it wouldn’t.

    Sure it would.

    No, it wouldn’t, says I.

  39. Jenny 2022-01-24 13:31

    Takes one to know one, huh, Nick?

    Evans is entitled to his opinion, he’s not hurting anyone. Maybe just agree to disagree.

  40. mike from iowa 2022-01-24 14:21

    Jenny, how the hell do you know whether Evan’s lunacy is causing emotional pain to Nick’s family and relatives? You don’t Maybe you should look before you dive in with both feet in yer mouth!

  41. Jenny 2022-01-24 14:54

    I am a cousin of the Boever family, MFI, so please don’t preach to me. It is actually Nick that some members of the Boever family are upset with, I will spare the details. If you don’t like what Evans comments on then don’t read it.

  42. mike from iowa 2022-01-24 16:45

    Were you the cousin claiming Joe Boever was suicidal? You must be the black sheep side of the family.

  43. jerry 2022-01-24 16:49

    And were off.

  44. jerry 2022-01-24 16:51

    And we’re off. Know better than that

  45. Porter Lansing 2022-01-24 17:10

    Jenny – Are you the cousin claiming Joe Boever was suicidal?

    Jenny – Are you the cousin claiming Joe Boever was suicidal?

    Jenny – Are you the cousin claiming Joe Boever was suicidal?

  46. Jenny 2022-01-24 18:04

    No, that was Barnabas Nemec. What I am saying is my cousin Joe could have had suicidal ideation that night. I am NOT insisting he committed the act of suicide, but it is not so far fetched to think he had suicidal ideation, which a lot of us have had at times especially during this stressful pandemic. Joe had a lot of health problems and was separated from his wife and having mental illness makes life hard.
    Hey guys, it’s okay to talk about Mental health I knew I was going to get crucified tonight by bringing this sensitive topic out in the open. Middle aged men have the highest rates of suicide. If I upset anybody I’m sorry.

  47. Porter Lansing 2022-01-24 18:33

    Thank you, Jenny.
    And, if I upset you, I’m also sorry.

  48. Kurt Evans 2022-01-24 18:59

    I’d written:

    One driver said she turned around and went back to offer Joe a ride, which he declined. She indicated to the government investigators that she thought the light he was using was a cell phone.

    An investigator who wasn’t there that night later claimed the light was “like a beacon”…

    Cory writes:

    Sheriff Volek’s death does not exonerate him … I grieve daily for the poor public service incompetents like Mike Volek provide.

    Craig Price should probably be grateful that Mike had the integrity to admit he’d noticed a faint glow near the shoulder that night. If he hadn’t admitted he’d noticed it, I’m not sure I’d have taken Price’s word for it.

    It wouldn’t matter much given how small and dim Joe’s flashlight apparently was, but I’d still like to know why Price would say the light couldn’t have been switched off before the crash and switched back on by the crash and its aftermath.

    Nick Nemec writes:

    [Self-appointed know-it-alls like Kurt Evans] … refuse to concede any point reguardless of any proof presented.

    Can you cite a point I’ve refused to concede, Nick, and the proof presented in support of that point?

    The government investigators presume Joe was walking during the collision on the shoulder rather than tumbling northwest off the front of the hood, which leads them to conclude he must have ridden some distance on the car and rolled off its right side. I’m wondering whether they say there was blood on the hood consistent with an amputated or severely broken lower leg.

    Jenny writes:

    Evans is entitled to his opinion, he’s not hurting anyone.

    You’ve incorrectly spliced together two complete sentences using only a comma, Jenny, and I’m probably hurting someone, but thank you.

    Porter Lansing asks Jenny:

    Are you the cousin claiming Joe Boever was suicidal?

    There seem to be more cousins who suspect that than just one.

  49. jerry 2022-01-24 19:23

    Maybe Joe Boever was driving Jason Ravnsborg’s car and then jumped through the window. According to Evil EVANS…. could be. Ravnsborg was actually having coffee with Volek at the time, while watching reruns of Andy Griffith.

  50. Jenny 2022-01-24 20:03

    Kurt, I believe the investigators tested the flashlight at night, which is why they said “shining like a beacon”.

  51. Jenny 2022-01-24 20:21

    To set the record straight, I would really have to go with what the ND investigators say. They have years of expertise and know what they are doing, so I don’t really think Joe jumped out at that moment. Could he have been out there that night on a death wish? Maybe, maybe not, who knows.

    Please give it a rest, Kurt. We know you were fond of SDs bumbling AG and that this is hard for you. The legislature won’t even impeach him anyway. With being the Christian you say you are, what would be nice is if you pray for peace for Joe’s family and perhaps be more sensitive with the way you publicly comment about the crash. It’s all around been a very sad situation for them.

  52. Nick Nemec 2022-01-25 09:18

    Mr. Evans, Joe didn’t take his cell phone with him the night he took his walk. It was found the next day sitting on the lamp table next to a chair in his house. The driver who offered a ride assumed it was a cell phone light but she was obviously mistaken. In questioning the light are you saying there was no light or that the investigators planted a light or that the light was an incidental piece of road litter? Do you disregard Sheriff Volek’s statement that he saw a light but didn’t check it out?

  53. Kurt Evans 2022-01-25 20:25

    I’d written:

    One driver said she turned around and went back to offer Joe a ride, which he declined. She indicated to the government investigators that she thought the light he was using was a cell phone.

    An investigator who wasn’t there that night later claimed the light was “like a beacon”…

    Jenny writes:

    Kurt, I believe the investigators tested the flashlight at night, which is why they said “shining like a beacon”.

    I believe the government investigators probably tested the flashlight with fully charged batteries, which it apparently didn’t have on the day of the crash. It was “at night” when both Sheriff Volek and the driver who turned around and went back to offer Joe a ride indicated they saw the light, but the light was small enough and dim enough that neither of them even recognized it as a flashlight. Plus there’s no public evidence that any of the countless drivers who passed the flashlight overnight noticed it at all.

    The investigators’ insistence that Jason must have seen the light because it was “like a beacon” appears to be directly contradicted by the available evidence.

    In a subsequent comment, Jenny writes:

    Please give it a rest, Kurt. We know you were fond of SDs bumbling AG and that this is hard for you.

    Before the crash I’d had no strong opinions about Jason, positive or negative.

    With being the Christian you say you are, what would be nice is if you pray for peace for Joe’s family and perhaps be more sensitive with the way you publicly comment about the crash. It’s all around been a very sad situation for them.

    Yes, and it’s probably also been pretty sad for Jason, and for Jason’s dad, and for the Volek family.

    Nick Nemec writes:

    The driver who offered a ride assumed it was a cell phone light but she was obviously mistaken. In questioning the light are you saying there was no light or that the investigators planted a light or that the light was an incidental piece of road litter?

    None of the above. I’m suggesting that the flashlight was small and dim, and that the investigators’ claim that it was “like a beacon” is untrue.

    Do you disregard Sheriff Volek’s statement that he saw a light but didn’t check it out?

    No, I’m taking Mike’s statement at face value because of his reputation and because it’s difficult to imagine any selfish motive for him to say that, but I’d note again that he apparently didn’t check it out because it was dim enough that he didn’t even recognize it as a flashlight.

    So it wouldn’t matter much given how small and dim the flashlight apparently was, but I’d still like to know why Craig Price would say the light couldn’t have been switched off before the crash and switched back on by the crash and its aftermath. I’d also still like to know whether Price says there was blood on the hood consistent with Joe’s body riding on the car with an amputated lower leg.

  54. V 2022-01-26 06:33

    Yea Kurt, give it up, lay off, and move on. You’re harassing the family as this point.

    The problem is we live in a state where politicians have DUIs, excessive amounts of speeding tickets and/or other moving violations, and vehicular manslaughters. These people are not held accountable and it’s so obvious why. Take your Christian values and shove them because they have nothing to do with Jesus of Nazareth.

    I’m still peeved that the AG left the scene of the crime with the aid of a sheriff who is now conveniently dead.

  55. Kurt Evans 2022-01-26 21:45

    “V” writes to me:

    You’re harassing the family [at] this point.

    No, but you’re engaging in defamation.

    Take your Christian values and shove them because they have nothing to do with Jesus of Nazareth.

    I’m wondering how you claim to know which values have to do with Jesus of Nazareth. I’m also wondering what forensic evidence Craig Price would say proves Joe was “walking” during the collision on the shoulder rather than tumbling off the front of the hood.

    The Daily Beast has published this article by Tom Lawrence:
    https://www.thedailybeast.com/south-dakota-ag-jason-ravnsborg-seemed-to-know-he-killed-a-man-with-his-car-agents-say-at-impeachment-hearing

    If Jason had seen Joe’s body in the grass and plotted to claim he hadn’t seen it, why would he have told the government investigators about his search for whatever he’d hit?

    That article quotes investigator Arnie Rummel:

    “He walked by a flashlight that’s on,” Rummel said. “There’s a body that’s laying within two feet of the roadway and obviously deceased and he’s all white, there isn’t any blood being pumped in him, and the fact white is reflective, I believe that he’d have to see him.”

    Rummel doesn’t seem to understand that the blood had hours to drain out of the body before he arrived on the scene, and that the body probably wasn’t “all white” and “reflective” in the immediate aftermath of the crash. Plus the body was in the grass, and like the flashlight, there’s no public evidence that any of the countless drivers who passed it overnight noticed it at all.

    I’d like to know Craig Price’s specific opinions of Rummel’s “reasoning” regarding both the flashlight and the body.

  56. gerard heier 2022-02-05 20:00

    Anyone with a brain cell knows that the sheriff was covering up for the AG and that ravnsborg knew he hit a man maybe the sheriff actually was terrified and worried about the coverup and died from stress . Joes glasses were in the car so his head must have been through the windshield. The so called sheriff saw the flashlight and did not investigate. I respect and believe the ND investigators and have ZERO respect for the so called house investigator spencer gosch and KNOW that he will vote to in AG favor because that is the history of SD politicians.

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