CASS LAKE — Family members of 17-year-old Dylon Oothoudt, as well as law enforcement, are asking the public for answers to his homicide.
A little more than three weeks have passed since Dylon was fatally shot in the yard of a residence in rural Cass Lake.
The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide from a gunshot wound.
The Cass County Sheriff's Office, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and his family hosted a Wednesday, Oct. 7, press conference, with the support of the state Department of Public Safety, urging witnesses to come forward.
Monica Oothoudt, who was Dylon's legal guardian at the time of his death, spoke of her youth growing up with Dylon, his sister Rosa and cousin Dalyla at their grandmother's house in the Old Agency area, on the western side of Leech Lake.
"We were all so close and tight. We could say we grew up more as siblings than cousins," Monica said. "Sept. 13th, 2026, will always be the worst day for our family. When Dylon died, he took a piece of us with him."
Leech Lake Tribal Council representative Leon Staples Jr. said gun violence goes against traditional Anishinaabe values. He encouraged potential witnesses to come forward as a responsibility to the community.
"I'm asking our people to choose courage over fear, truth over silence, healing over revenge," Staples said. "We cannot continue to bury our young people. We can't accept this violence as normal. Let's let Dylon's memory be the time where we say, 'Enough. End gun violence.'"
Rosa Oothoudt said her little brother was active in sports, like basketball, football and boxing. He was about to start his last year of school with a transfer to Walker's alternative learning center on Sept. 14.
Dylon had lost both of his parents years before he died. His relatives said despite his grief, he was always lifting others up.
"He told me he was going to make our mom proud by graduating for the both of us," Rosa Oothoudt said. "He had so many plans and goals he wanted to accomplish, not only to make me proud, but to make our mother proud."
Cass County Sheriff Bryan Welk said the office has followed up on many leads but nothing definitive.
The Leech Lake Tribal Police Department, the Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension are assisting with the investigation.
Welk said investigators determined the residence on John Moose Drive, known locally as "Tract 33," was host to a gathering at the time of Oothoudt's death, and there may be multiple witnesses they haven't yet identified.
"That's why we're here today to get someone to come forward. They have that nugget of information that we are going to have," he said. "We have all these puzzle pieces that we have to put together."
Tips can be submitted to the Sheriff's Office at 218-547-1424 or 800-450-2677. Tips can also be submitted anonymously to CrimeStoppers of Minnesota.
The family has established a GoFundMe page "to offer an award for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of any and everyone involved," the site states. "It's likely we may seek out assistance from private investigators."
Monica Oothoudt confirmed to KAXE that a fund is also established at First National Bank in Walker under the "Dylon Oothoudt Memorial Fund."
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