An Active Air Force Member Arrested for Alleged Murder on South Dakota Military Base
An active member of the Air Force was taken into custody on Friday on federal second-degree murder charges for the death of 21-year-old Sahela Sangrait at a South Dakota military base, as announced by authorities.
The badly decomposed body of Sangrait was discovered earlier this month, and Airman Quinterius Chappelle, 24, now faces charges in connection with her death, according to a post by the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office.
Sangrait was reported missing in August, and her remains were found by a hiker near the Pennington and Custer county lines on March 4, about 50 miles from the Ellsworth Air Force Base where the incident took place.
The motive behind the crime and details on Sangrait’s cause of death have not been disclosed by the sheriff’s office. The Department of Justice will handle Chappelle’s prosecution.
Colonel Derek Oakley, Ellsworth Air Force commander, stated that airmen are held accountable for their actions, and any violations of military or civilian law will result in punishment.
A missing person’s poster for Sangrait, who is Native American, indicated that she was last seen in Eagle Butt before heading to Box Elder to pick up some items and travel to California.
Chappelle, an aircraft inspection journeyman assigned to the 28th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, joined the Air Force in 2019. He is currently in custody at the county jail.
The nature of the relationship between Chappelle and Sangrait has not been disclosed by the sheriff’s office.
