Rapid City police recover infant remains, arrest father in murder case
A welfare check for nine-week-old Melinko Bagola ended with his remains found in Rapid City and his father charged with murder.
What began as a welfare concern for a nine-week-old in Rapid City ended with officers recovering infant remains and arresting the child’s father, Tyler Slow Bear, 33, on charges of second-degree murder and improper disposal of a body.
Police were called to Slow Bear’s residence at about 9:05 a.m. on May 7, 2026, after a reporting party said the child had been left in Slow Bear’s care and could not be located. The boy, identified by investigators as Melinko Bagola, had last been seen on April 19, 2026, leaving an 18-day gap between the final confirmed sighting and the welfare check that triggered the investigation.
Rapid City police issued a Missing and Endangered Advisory the same day, a step used in South Dakota when local law enforcement determines a missing person may be endangered and public notification could help. By the next morning, the alert was canceled, with one report placing the cancellation at 7:45 a.m. on May 8 as the case had already shifted from a missing-child response to a homicide investigation.
Authorities said detectives interviewed the people involved and concluded that Slow Bear assaulted the infant while the child was in his care. Investigators then determined the baby died sometime after that assault and said Slow Bear concealed the remains in an undeveloped outdoor location in Rapid City. Police said they were able to reach the spot based on Slow Bear’s description and recover the body.
Rapid City Police Department Captain Andy Becker said investigators brought both parents in for questioning. “We brought the mom and dad in for questioning,” Becker said. He also noted that many people spent hours searching for Melinko, underscoring how quickly the investigation turned from a missing-child search into a case with a suspect in custody and a recovered victim.
An autopsy was scheduled, which could further refine the timeline and determine the exact cause of death. For now, the case stands as a grim and fast-moving homicide investigation: a welfare check on May 7, a canceled endangered-missing alert by May 8, and a father accused of killing and hiding his infant son.
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