NORTH DAKOTA STATE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE

10 years after body of confidential informant found in Red River, case remains unsolved

C.S. Hagen — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 11:31:00 GMT

ROGERS, North Dakota — Ten years have passed since Andrew Sadek was found dead in the Red River with a backpack full of rocks and a .22-caliber bullet in his head.

Twenty-year-old Andrew disappeared on May 1, 2014, after being recruited to work with police as a confidential informant. He faced charges of allegedly selling $80 worth of marijuana to informants on his campus at North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton, North Dakota.

With the promise of reducing federal criminal charges that he faced because he allegedly sold the marijuana on school grounds, investigators, namely Richland County Sheriff’s Deputy Jason Weber, enforced a deadline for Andrew to set up more drug buys or face felony charges, which Weber told him could end in 40 years imprisonment, according to court documents.

At the time, Sadek’s lawyers said his case would have most likely ended in probation.

But Andrew complied with his handler, Weber, and made a few sales before he disappeared the day of the deadline.

Last seen walking out of his dormitory, Norgaard Hall, wearing jeans, a red and black sweatshirt with white lettering that read “football” on it, and carrying a black-and-silver backpack, parents and classmates were baffled by his sudden disappearance.

Andrew kept good grades, and was weeks away from graduating. His parents, Terry and John Sadek, needed help on the family farm during spring calving.

“Please come home,” his father John pleaded in a press conference on May 5, 2014.

Despite searches that included family, friends and classmates, Andrew’s body was found nearly two months later on June 27, 2014, in the Red River near Breckenridge, Minnesota.

At first, investigators labeled his death as a suicide, but the coroner could not determine Andrew’s manner of death, and family argued that he was likely murdered because of his role as a confidential informant, a fact that they were unaware of until after his death.

“Are you kidding me? All of this for $80 worth of pot,” said his mother Tammy in an article published by the Reason Foundation in 2021.

“They told us right away it was a suicide, and I’m like, really? Where’s the weapon? And the fact that the coroner did not label it as suicide, he labeled it undetermined… the easy way out,” for officials to treat it as a suicide rather than a homicide,” Tammy told The Forum in 2021.

Sadek’s parents initially agreed to speak to Forum News Service again recently about their son and circumstances surrounding his death, but later postponed the interview, and did not respond to additional requests.

Sadek wouldn’t have committed suicide because he knew what it was like to lose a family member, his parents said in 2019. When Sadek was 11 years old, he lost his only brother, Nick, while he and his girlfriend were killed by a train while walking home.

Despite the pain of losing both her sons, Tammy and her husband John fought back. When their first son was killed, the grieving mother formed a railroad safety group that succeeded in adding safety features to three crossings.

After Andrew died, she worked on reforms on how young informants are used in North Dakota, which ended in new legislation called “Andrew’s Law.” The law requires a written agreement with informants that includes the informant’s right to speak with an attorney, and law enforcement agencies must undergo training before using confidential informants.

Tammy told The Forum in 2019 that she believed Andrew suffered, and she wanted him to find peace. The family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in 2016 that was dismissed, and later they appealed the judge’s decision to the North Dakota Supreme Court – twice – but failed.

Tammy also believes that law enforcement never took her son’s disappearance and death seriously because he was labeled a drug dealer. But to her, Andrew was much more than that, she told The Forum in 2019.

He loved the outdoors, enjoyed fishing, hunting and working on the farm. He had a promising career as an electrician and enrolled in NDSCS because of a scholarship he earned at a state skills competition. He also had a herd of cattle to help pay for tuition.

After graduating, Andrew was planning to go back to school to study robotics.

The Sadek family did discover after Andrew’s death that they were missing a .22-caliber handgun from their home, which they believe Andrew took to use in self defense, but it was possibly used by someone else against him, they told The Forum in 2018.

The gun has never been found, despite searches, including YouTubers like the Kinzler Bros., who used powerful magnets to drag areas of the Red River. Andrew’s story was featured in a segment of “60 Minutes” as well as the subject of a documentary by Ireland-based Fine Point Films.

Sundance Now also featured Andrew’s story in a documentary called The Dakota Entrapment Tapes, now featured on Prime Video, TVO, Crackle and elsewhere.

Additional information related to Andrew’s death and subsequent investigation remain closed as the case has not been closed, Kaitlyn Zacher, of the Richland County Sheriff’s Office, told Forum News Service. All information needed to come from the North Dakota State’s Attorney’s Office, Zacher said, which also declined a release-of-information request.

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3 North Dakota colleges may soon acknowledge campuses are on Indigenous land

April Baumgarten — Sun, 12 Apr 2020 10:00:00 GMT

FARGO — Staff with North Dakota’s two flagship universities and a college in Wahpeton, N.D., are working on statements that will recognize the campuses sit on land that once belonged to Native Americans.

Experts say land acknowledgments are a way to respect tribes who occupied the land before the U.S., recognize the atrocities committed in taking that land, give people an understanding how colonialism impacts Native Americans today and start a conversation about the future.

"That practice, even if it is only a ritual formality, it nevertheless, I believe, sets a tone that makes for a more civil society in a land where a settler society lives alongside Indigenous peoples," said Tom Isern, a history professor at North Dakota State University.

Several NDSU employees have addressed Fargo’s Native American Commission, sharing two draft versions of a land acknowledgment agreement that says the Anishinaabe, Dakota, Lakota and Nakota peoples lived on and cared for land now occupied by the campus.

“We feel at NDSU that it’s really important to honor and acknowledge and remember the land we’re on and its people who were here before NDSU was established,” Seinquis Leinen, associate director of the university’s admission office, said during a Feb. 6 meeting of the commission.

Vanessa Tibbitts, an Oglala Lakota from South Dakota who serves as a public health education manager at NDSU’s American Indian Public Health Resource Center, said a land acknowledgment statement is a good opportunity to work on reconciliation.

Members of Fargo's Native American Commission seemed supportive of a land acknowledgment statement for NDSU. Commission Chair Lenore King said it is important to recognize who came before NDSU.

"We're standing together, and we're being strong together," she said.

It will help raise awareness of Indigenous history that is often suppressed, forgotten and disregarded, said Ryan Eagle, an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes in North Dakota who also works at the center.

“Our land is not just a space that we occupy,” said Eagle, a public health research project manager at the center. “It’s the depository of our culture, history and traditions."

The University of North Dakota in Grand Forks and North Dakota State College of Science, with campuses in Wahpeton and Fargo, are pursuing similar efforts, spokespeople confirmed.

Several stakeholders and experts have contributed input to the land acknowledgment efforts, Leinen said.

NDSU leadership declined to comment on work to develop a land acknowledgment statement. “It sounds like the small group that went to the commission was seeking discussion and input for a possible statement that they might use,” NDSU spokeswoman Brynn Rawlings said in an email. “They did not intend to represent a universitywide decision at this time.”

When asked if NDSU would support a land acknowledgment statement, Rawlings said, “There has been no formal discussion on this topic, so it would be premature to speculate.”

'Land the railroad wanted'

As pioneers and railroad companies gained land from the federal government as a way to settle the West, tribes were driven from lands they once occupied, Isern said. Eventually, treaties were drawn up for Native Americans to cede land to the U.S., ultimately driving tribes onto reservations.

"A Century Together," a 1975 book commemorating Fargo-Moorhead's centennial, described such a treaty with the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians to cede 3 million acres of land in Minnesota and North Dakota. The land where Fargo sits now was not part of that agreement, according to the book.

"It was widely believed that the railroad officials discovered the Indian claim and precipitated the raid on Fargo ... in an attempt to remove squatters from land the railroad wanted," the book said.

In 1873, Congress ratified a treaty that dictated tribes in that area would get $800,000 in goods, provisions, manual labor, public schoolhouses and other items, but there isn't a record of any payments made under the agreement, the book said.

NDSU, initially known as the North Dakota Agricultural College, was founded in 1890 as a land grant school under the 1862 Morrill Land Grant College Act. The act gave states federally controlled land to sell or be used for profit, and the proceeds would be used to establish a higher education school.

Though the Morrill Act didn't authorize the taking of Indigenous lands, land obtained from Native Americans was used to establish land grant universities, according to a peer-reviewed academic article published in November by the Cambridge University Press. The piece's author, Margaret Nash, wrote that land grant colleges were "an element of settler colonialism."

"Native American dispossession was not merely an unfortunate by-product of the establishment of land-grant colleges," Nash wrote. "Rather, the colleges exist only because of a state-sponsored system of Native dispossession."

'Opportunity of self-reflection'

Land acknowledgments are a way to come to terms with the past, Nash wrote. For example, the University of Minnesota Duluth wrote a statement that was endorsed by the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council in June.

“Land acknowledgments do not exist in a past tense or historical context: colonialism is a current ongoing process, and we need to build the mindfulness of our present participation,” UMD's statement said.

The movement also has been seen around the world, from Australia to Canada.

Land acknowledgments are read at a wide range of events in Winnipeg, from City Council meetings to Jets hockey games, said Louise Waldman of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg.

Just 10 years ago, it was rare to hear such acknowledgments in Winnipeg, she said.

“It would be rare to not have one today,” she said, adding that Canada is trying to grapple with the country’s history that involves the genocide of Indigenous people.

Some have criticized some institutions for drafting empty proclamations instead of taking the time to craft well-researched and thought-out statements.

Land acknowledgments are beginning statements that should prompt direct action, said Katherine Beane, a public historian who works in Native American Initiatives at the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul.

“There are benefits in that it allows for an opportunity of self-reflection. It allows for an opportunity to make a commitment,” Beane said.

'Speaking truth'

Though tricky to craft, the statements have been used to show institutions are taking accountability, Beane said. She supports land acknowledgments as long as those who draft them do their homework.

Statements should encourage thought and discussion about not what just happened in the past but the ongoing impacts, said Maureen Fitzhenry of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

“I think both by speaking truth about land rights, land ownership and treaties, and also speaking truth about the past and present in terms of the effects of colonization, we can move toward a better way of living and knowing and being,” Fitzhenry said.

With input from Native American educators and culture experts in North Dakota and Minnesota, UND has been working on its acknowledgment since early fall, spokesman David Dodds said in an email. It’s unclear when a final version will be finalized, but it could be “in the very near future,” he said.

“The statement mentions the importance of good relations with all First Nation communities that call North Dakota home,” Dodds said.

An NDSCS diversity and equity team started working with local tribal representatives on its statement last summer, spokeswoman Janess Sveet wrote in an email. It's unclear when the college plans to share the final version, though it previously said it would do so at graduation before the May ceremony was postponed.

Sveet said the statement will “recognize First Nations cultures whose people were traditional stewards of this land."

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Here's how area colleges and universities are handling the coronavirus outbreak

Sydney Mook — Fri, 13 Mar 2020 12:43:00 GMT

As universities and colleges across the country make decisions about how they will continue classes amid coronavirus concerns, universities in North Dakota are making their own choices.

North Dakota has one confirmed case of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. The case is in Ward County, which is in north-central North Dakota. In total, 41 people have been tested in the state with 12 tests turning out negative and 28 with results still pending as of Thursday night.

In Minnesota, there are nine confirmed cases with more than 300 tested as of Thursday.

Here’s a look at what various area colleges have planned:

Many colleges and universities in North Dakota are on spring break from the end of the day Friday, March 13, until classes, in whatever fashion, begin again on Monday, March 23.

Bismarck State College

Bismarck State College will continue its face-to-face classes on Monday, March 23, following spring break.

Spring break begins at the end of the day Friday, March 13, with students returning to class on Monday, March 23.

Although the college is planning to hold in-person classes after spring break, the college noted that could change as the situation develops.

Students living on campus are asked to take essential belongings, academic materials, laptops and medications with them for spring break to be prepared for changes to this rapidly evolving situation that may occur while they are off campus.

Those students who would prefer not attending in-person classes are free to make arrangements with their individual instructors. They will be accommodated to the extent possible in completing their courses online.

Faculty members who, for any reason, believe themselves to be at greater risk are encouraged, at their discretion and in consultation with their dean, to arrange to offer the remainder of their courses for this semester online. We ask that students be respectful of this decision.

Campus operations will continue as usual. All employees should continue their regular work schedules unless advised otherwise by their supervisor.

“All decisions are subject to change as this situation evolves. Our goal was to create the least amount of disruption to our students’ education. We will reassess the situation daily,” said BSC President Larry Skogen.

Dickinson State University

Dickinson State University officials announced Thursday, March 12, they will be suspending face-to-face classes after spring break.

DSU staff, faculty, and administrators will arrange for alternative course delivery for the period of Monday, March 23, through Monday, April 13.

“This is an unusual time as we face unprecedented circumstances. We are taking these measures to ensure the safety of our campus and community,” said Interim President Steve Easton. “At this time, the best way to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is by limiting contact through large gatherings of people. We appreciate your patience and understanding and thank you for your cooperation.”

Faculty will determine how best to use technology to help students to continue their coursework. Non-residential students are encouraged to plan ahead if they leave campus for spring break, and take what they will need.

The DSU campus will remain open and student services -- including tutoring, advising, disability services, housing and dining -- will remain available. The university will continue to operate all campus facilities. Staff will continue to report for work and will be asked to coordinate with supervisors regarding duties and responsibilities.

DSU will not be hosting any public events on campus beginning Monday, March 16, through Monday, April 13.

Concordia College

Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn. has not yet decided whether it will go online for a period of time, as of Thursday evening.

The college's website has the following message:

"The Emergency Response Team (ERT) is continuing to monitor national, regional and local developments regarding COVID-19. ERT is working closely with the guidance of the Minnesota Department of Health and the CDC. The team will now begin meeting daily to process new information and retool contingencies in this very fluid situation.

As of March 11, guidelines from the Minnesota Department of Health do not direct Minnesota colleges or universities to move to fully online instruction. While Concordia is not moving to online instruction at this time, Dean Susan Larson is working with faculty to prepare for remote/online instruction if the need arises."

Dakota College at Bottineau

Dakota College at Bottineau will shift on-campus/in-person classes to alternative instructional delivery for the two weeks following spring break, the college announced Friday, March 13.

Dakota College at Bottineau will remain open, but classes will be offered in alternative formats (such as interactive video or conferencing technologies, online, recordings, etc.) during the weeks of March 23-27 and March 30-April 3.

Faculty will determine how best to utilize technology so students can continue with their education during these two weeks. No changes will be made to classes which are already offered entirely online or to dual credit classes which are taught by high school instructors, the college said. Students are advised to check their email messages frequently for further information from their individual instructors.

At this time, the DCB campus intends to remain open during the next three weeks and has no plans of suspending operations. However, hours of operation and services in certain departments may be limited depending on employee availability and campus needs.

Residence hall students are asked to take their essential personal belongings and academic materials home with them as they depart for Spring Break and to not return to campus until Sunday, April 5.

"While we are encouraging students to remain away from campus, for those students unable to leave, our residence halls and dining services will remain open," the college said.

Lake Region State College

Lake Region State College is closely monitoring the coronavirus situation.

As of Thursday, the college will carry on with in-person classes after spring break, but college officials noted that could change.

The college has instituted a suspension of all college-sponsored international travel through March 31. College-sponsored domestic travel has not been suspended as of Thursday, March 12, but all college-sponsored travel will receive ongoing regular assessment as this outbreak progresses.

“It is important for students to be prepared to continue their academic coursework in the event the situation escalates and the campus is unable to hold face-to-face classes,” the college said in an email to the campus community Thursday. “We would ask students and faculty to take their electronic devices and books with them when they leave for spring break so that teaching and learning can continue uninterrupted online using the Blackboard Learning Management System.”

Mayville State University

As of Thursday afternoon, Mayville State University had not yet released a plan regarding online education after spring break.

Minnesota State systems schools

Minnesota State colleges and universities will suspend classes in an effort to limit the spread of coronavirus, school officials announced Thursday, March 12.

Class will resume on March 23 for the 32 schools currently on spring break. The five scheduled to begin their break on Monday, March 16, will head back to class on March 30.

Class is canceled until March 23 for the following schools:

Alexandria Technical and Community College

Bemidji State University

Central Lakes College

Century College

Dakota County Technical College

Hibbing Community College

Inver Hills Community College

Itasca Community College

Lake Superior College

Mesabi Range College

Metropolitan State University

Minneapolis Community and Technical College

Minnesota State College Southeast

Minnesota State Community and Technical College

Minnesota State University Mankato

Minnesota State University Moorhead

Minnesota West Community and Technical College

Normandale Community College

North Hennepin Community College

Northland Community and Technical College

Northwest Technical College − Bemidji

Pine Technical and Community College

Rainy River Community College

Ridgewater College

Riverland Community College

Rochester Community and Technical College

South Central College

Southwest Minnesota State University

St. Cloud State University

St. Cloud Technical and Community College

Vermilion Community College

Winona State University

Class is canceled until March 30 for the following schools:

Anoka Technical College

Anoka‐Ramsey Community College

Fond du Lac Tribal & Community College

Hennepin Technical College

Saint Paul College

Effective March 16, out-of-state business travel for Minnesota State students, faculty and staff will be suspended. ��- and business-related travel to other countries was suspended on Feb. 28.

Campuses will remain open throughout the suspension, according to the announcement, as will residence halls and dining facilities.

Minot State University

Minot State University will shift on-campus/in-person classes to remote instructional delivery for the two weeks following spring break, the university announced Thursday, March 12.

Minot State University will remain open, but there will be no face-to-face classes held on campus from March 23 to April 3. Faculty will determine how best to utilize technology so students can continue with their education during these two weeks.

The MSU campus intends to remain open during the next three weeks and has no plans of suspending operations, according to an email sent to the campus Thursday. However, hours of operation and services in certain departments may be limited, depending on employee availability and campus needs.

Residence hall students are asked to take their essential personal belongings and academic materials home with them as they depart for spring break. They also are asked to not return to campus until April 5.

While the university is encouraging students to remain away from campus, for those students unable to leave, the school’s residence halls and dining services will remain open. Dining services will be closed from March 14 until 5 p.m. on March 22, as previously scheduled for spring break.

North Dakota State University

North Dakota State University will be suspending in-person classes until early April. There will be no face-to-face classes from March 23 to April 3. Students should be back to normal instruction on April 6, according to the university.

NDSU goes on spring break next week.

"Class instruction will transition to virtual instruction for the two weeks following spring break," Mike Borr, director of the NDSU Police Department and Safety Office, said during a news conference.

Students who leave for spring break "should plan not to return to campus" until face-to-face classes resume, NDSU said in an email.

North Dakota State College of Science

The North Dakota State College of Science will hold classes online to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The school goes on spring break next week.

Classes will resume March 23, but they will be held remotely, the school said. Face-to-face instruction should resume April 6.

“All classes scheduled to be held face-to-face at the Wahpeton campus and the NDSCS-Fargo location will be held through distance teaching and learning during this time,” NDSCS announced in its release. “NDSCS will remain open and staffed throughout spring break and during the weeks of distance teaching and learning.”

Residence halls will be “available when necessary to support students who are unable to leave campus or need to return” before that date, the release said.

Campus dining will be open to students.

University of Mary

The University of Mary, located in Bismarck, will stay open for in-person classes.

However, if students wish to complete their classes online, they can.

“For the time being, our students are most welcome to remain on or commute to our campus

for classes to finish out the semester,” the university said in a news release. “We will continue to monitor this developing situation, and we are providing clear instructions for such students so that their experience can be as safe as possible for themselves and others, with minimal disruption.”

Residential students on a meal plan who choose to depart campus will receive a partial credit in their student account at the beginning of their next enrolled semester. The credit will be calculated based on the remaining weeks in the semester minus an amount for fixed costs which are, by nature, irrecoverable by the university. Due to legal reasons, the university says it will not be able to issue refund checks in this amount, but it will decrease the costs of the next semester. An exception is those who are set to graduate next month, who will receive a check upon completion of their final course.

University-sponsored travel is also on hold. The Rome semester abroad has also been canceled.

University of Minnesota system

The University of Minnesota system announced Wednesday that it would be canceling in-person classes for two weeks after spring break.

In a Wednesday, March 11, statement, University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel announced that in-person courses will be suspended out of health and safety precautions for the global COVID-19 pandemic.

As of Wednesday afternoon, nearly 63,000 students are enrolled in the system across five campuses statewide. UMN's Duluth, Rochester and Twin Cities campuses are currently on spring break, which now has been extended to Wednesday, March 18. The Crookston and Morris campuses' spring breaks are scheduled for next week, March 16-20.

University of North Dakota

The University of North Dakota will be suspending in-person classes after spring break.

From Monday, March 23, to Friday, April 3, students will have their instruction online with many courses using video conferencing technology to continue their work. Aviation students will be able to continue their flight instruction programs, but new enhanced disinfection requirements will still apply.

Courses are set to resume in-person on April 6.

However, that date could change depending on the situation.

Valley City State University

Following spring break, the university will change the way academic instruction is delivered for two weeks. From Monday, March 23, through Friday, April 3, classes will not be held on campus and will instead be online.

Other off-campus learning experiences — internships, practicums, clinicals and the like — are dependent on the decision-making of external providers. Students are advised to contact instructors with specific questions.

Residence halls are closed for spring break (with some individual exceptions); that closure will continue until Sunday, April 5.

Those students who have traveled for spring break are encouraged to not return until the residence halls reopen. Students on housing and dining contracts will receive additional communication regarding returning to the halls prior to the April 5 reopening.

Williston State College

Williston State College will also suspend most face-to-face instruction for the two weeks following spring break, March 23 through April 3.

Campus will remain open and all other campus facilities will continue to operate, the college said in a news release. Faculty and staff will continue to work from campus or remote locations, so there may be some interruption of regular work schedules and services based on availability of WSC staff members. Additional details will be provided as they become available.

Effective Saturday, March 14, students who leave campus for spring break should plan not to return to campus for an additional period of two weeks.

Most face-to-face classes will not be held on campus during the weeks of March 23 to 27 and March 30 to April 3. Faculty will determine how best to use technology to enable students to continue their coursework during this time.

With CTE and laboratory-based classes, instructors are responsible to schedule alternative meeting dates/time and learning activities for their students. Students should contact their instructor with any specific questions.

WSC encourages students to remain away from campus during the next few weeks. If necessary, students with housing and dining contracts will be able to live on campus and use meal plans after spring break. Additional information will be provided to students through the housing office.

University of Jamestown

The University of Jamestown is suspending in-person undergraduate classes and activities through Sunday, March 22. Class will resume on March 23.

Students at the university are currently on spring break and class was originally scheduled to resume on March 16. Online courses will continue as scheduled and staff and faculty will still return to campus on March 16.

All university-sponsored international travel planned through May 31 is canceled.

Doctor of physical therapy courses will switch to an online format starting March 16. In-person courses will resume on March 30.

The school is closely monitoring developments in the spread of COVID-19 and will adjust its plans accordingly, university president Polly Peterson said in a statement.

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