REGION
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
East Oregonian
Local biker joined
Run for the Wall
motorcycle rally
Old Iron Show fi res up in Pendleton
By JOHN TILLMAN
East Oregonian
Phil Wright/East Oregonian
Tanner Remillard loads wood into a 1900 Russell and Co. portable steam engine Saturday, June 4, 2022, during the an-
nual Old Iron Show at Roy Raley Park, Pendleton.
Tribal Police provide details on stabbing death
Close friend
recalls Freeman as
‘always laughing
and smiling’
By JILL-MARIE GAVIN
Confederated Umatilla
Journal
MISSION — Kawlija
Scott, a member of the
C on fe d e r at e d Tr ib e s ,
appeared May 27 in Tribal
Court, two days after he was
arrested for allegedly stabbing
Gabriel Freeman to death.
Freeman, 27, was stabbed
May 25 at his residence on
Parr Lane on the Umatilla
Indian Reservation accord-
ing to a Confederated Tribes
of the Umatilla Indian Reser-
vation press release. He was
transported by Umatilla
Tribal Fire Department to
CHI St. Anthony Hospital,
Pendleton, where he was
pronounced dead.
The homicide case is under
investigation by the FBI
and Umatilla Tribal Police
because both have jurisdiction
on this Indian reservation.
Scott faces federal charges
and if the case goes to trial, it
will likely be held in federal
court in Portland.
ODFW confi rms
Umatilla County
wolf depredation
UMATILLA COUNTY
— Wolves with the Ukiah
Pack killed two sheep in
late May on private land in
Coyote Canyon, a ravine trib-
utary to McKay Creek, the
Oregon Department of Fish
and Wildlife reported.
A sheepherder found a
dead 180-pound ewe and
70-pound lamb in a 5,000-
acre pasture about 1 mile
from his camp on May 30.
The sheep had bedded down
for the night in the private
pasture.
The ewe had been mostly
consumed, while the lamb
was entirely intact. ODFW
estimated both sheep died
no earlier than the evening
of May 29 or the morning of
May 30.
ODFW personnel shaved,
skinned and examined
the carcasses. Both sheep
suff ered multiple bite punc-
tures and pre-mortem hemor-
rhaging, indicating a predator
attack.
The ewe had pre-mortem
tooth punctures up to 5/16-
inch diameter on the neck,
with pre-mortem hemorrhag-
ing in the remaining muscle
tissue, according to the state
wildlife department report.
The lamb had numer-
ous ¼-inch pre-mortem bite
punctures and multiple tears
in the hide on the neck, throat
and left hindquarter above
the hock. Trauma to the neck
penetrated to the bone on both
sides and dislocated the neck.
Pre-mortem hemorrhage on
Scott was assigned counsel
during his fi rst court appear-
ance May 27 in Tribal Court
at the Nixyaawii Governance
Center. He is being held
without bail in the Umatilla
County Jail, Pendleton, on
preliminary charges of crim-
inal homicide.
Lead Criminal Investi-
gator for the UTPD, Tony
Barnett, said one officer
initially responded to the Parr
Lane residence at 11:40 a.m.
on May 25, two minutes
after an emergency call was
made directly to Tribal Police
dispatch. A resident of Free-
man’s home made the call.
The initial offi cer began
life saving efforts before
Umatilla Tribal Fire Depart-
ment emergency medi-
cal technicians arrived one
minute later to take over,
Barnett said. Four other tribal
police offi cers also responded
to the scene.
According to multiple
witness accounts, Scott is
alleged to have fl ed the crime
scene on foot and was seen
walking on Mission Road by
responding offi cers on their
way to the scene. Scott was
detained and held by UTPD
at 11:44 a.m. He was charged
with criminal homicide at
4 p.m. and transported to the
Umatilla County Jail, Barnett
said.
UTPD Chief of Police
Timothy Addleman said he
anticipates federal charges.
U.S. Attorney’s Offi ce Public
Aff airs Offi cer Kevin Sonoff
said no federal charges have
been filed and the FBI is
assisting Umatilla Tribal
Police with the investigation.
Friend remembers
Freeman as genuine,
caring
Longtime family friend,
Kendall Rosario, said Free-
man always was laughing
and constantly eager to help
provide for his family and
friends.
“Gabby was a goof,” she
said. “He was always laugh-
ing and smiling. He always
wanted to be involved with his
mom (Mia Freeman) and sister
(Marilyn Relgado).”
Freeman was a new father
to twin daughters. Entering
fatherhood, Rosario said, had
a huge eff ect on his outlook on
life.
“He was a new father to
twin babies, who were born
about a year ago. It was all new
to him, but he really straight-
ened up. He loved those girls
and was navigating parent-
hood without all the tools he
needed,” Rosario said.
Rosario said she hopes this
community loss will bring
awareness to the mental health
and substance abuse issues on
the reservation.
“What happened is the
result of mental illness and
drug use,” she said. “It’s
apparent that these issues need
to be addressed. Don’t let him
die in vain. Make a change and
give Gabby something to be
proud of.”
His presence in the
community will be missed,
Rosario said, especially his
random drop-ins that family
and friends became accus-
tomed to.
“This has impacted a lot
of people, to not have him
running around,” Rosario
said. “Gabby was always
helping, he loved hunting and
fishing. He always shared
whatever he had and always
tried to make sure his family
was provided for. It’s diffi-
cult because this isn’t some-
thing you would expect to
happen, not to Gabby. We
never expected to lose him in
this way.”
Freeman’s funeral services
were Tuesday, May 31, at
Burns Mortuary in Pendleton
and he was buried June 1 at the
Athena Cemetery.
LOCAL BRIEFING
the left hindquarter was up to
1.5 inches deep.
According to Oregon
Department of Fish and Wild-
life, the severity and location
of injuries to the sheep are
consistent with wolf attacks.
Umatilla County
approves Rock It
quarry expansion
HER MISTON
—
Umatilla County commis-
sioners at the Wednesday,
June 1, board meeting
approved a request to expand
a Hermiston-area rock quarry.
Quarry owner Wade
Aylett requested to expand a
previously approved aggre-
gate quarry, Rock It No. 2. He
also asked to add the site to
the Umatilla County Compre-
hensive Plan list of Goal 5
protected signifi cant sites.
Broad statewide plan-
ning Goal 5 covers more than
a dozen resources, includ-
ing wildlife habitat, historic
places and gravel mines. To
protect and plan for them, the
Oregon Department of Land
Conservation and Develop-
ment asks local governments
to create a number of inven-
tories.
Aylett requested to apply
an aggregate resource over-
lay zone to the entire quarry
site, as well.
CONCEALED CARRY
PERMIT CLASS
JUNE 16 TH • 6PM
Kennewick Ranch-&-Home
JUNE 18 TH • 9AM
Hermiston Ranch-&-Home
Multi-State $ 80
Oregon Included No Fee
Oregon Only $ 45
MULTI-STATE
Valid 35-States, including Washington
Shaun
Shaun Curtain
Curtain 360-921-2071
360-921-2071
or or email:
email: ShaunCurtain@gmail.com
ShaunCurtain@gmail.com | www.ShaunCurtain.com.com
| www.ShaunCurtain.com.com
A3
The property site consists
of eight tax lots just south-
east of the Interstate 82 and
Interstate 84 interchange near
Hermiston. The site covers
approximately 140 acres,
zoned Exclusive Farm Use.
No one spoke in opposi-
tion to the requests.
The Umatilla County
Planning Commission unan-
imously recom mended
approval of the requests. All
county commissioners voted
in favor of Rock It No. 2’s
application.
— EO Media group
PENDLETON — Spen-
cer Royer 73, of Pendleton,
participated in the Memo-
rial Day Run for the Wall
mass motorcycle rally from
California to Washington,
D.C.
T he organization’s
motto is “We ride for those
who can’t” and claims to
be the largest and oldest
cross-country motorcycle
run of its kind in the world.
Royer left on May 9
for St. George, Utah, with
three buddies. There he
found his Honda needed
new tires. This year’s ride
off ered four routes, and he
caught up with the Central
Route group at Williams,
Arizona.
“There were about 2,000
bikes in our group,” Royer
said. “We were organized
by twos in 10 platoons. I
was in platoon No. 1. Each
bike was 1 second behind
the one in front. Our group
was 3 miles long.”
Other routes converging
on D.C. were the Midway,
and Southern. This year’s
ride added a fourth route,
according to the organiza-
tion’s website. The inaugu-
ral Sandbox Route started
in Washington, D.C.,
and ended at the Middle
East Conf licts Wall in
Marseilles, Illinois.
Overnight stops on the
Central Route were in New
Mexico, Colorado, Kansas,
Missouri, Indiana and West
Virginia. Royer’s and the
other groups arrived the
night of May 28.
The thousands of riders
gathered at the Lincoln
Memorial for photos the
morning of May 29. Then,
at the Vietnam Veter-
ans Memorial, each rider
had a name on the Wall to
commemorate.
“Mine was Robert J.
Sullivan,” Royer said. “I set
his picture under his name
on the Wall. The ride was
over. We did our mission.
We dispersed on our own.”
Sgt. First Class Robert
Joseph Sullivan entered
the U.S. Army from New
Hampshire. He served
in the Command and
Control Detachment of 5th
Special Forces Group. On
July 12, 1967, he was killed
in Savannakhet Province,
Laos, when this patrol came
under attack. His body
could not be recovered at
the time of loss. He remains
unaccounted for.
Subsequent to the inci-
dent, and while carried as
missing in action, the U.S.
Army promoted him to the
rank of master sergeant.
Today, MSG Sullivan
is memorialized on the
Courts of the Missing at the
National Memorial Ceme-
tery of the Pacifi c.
Royer attended grade
school in Athena and
Hermiston High School. A
football injury disqualifi ed
him from military service.
HERMISTON
Chamber of Commerce
seats new board members
By ERICK PETERSON
East Oregonian
H ER M ISTON —
The Hermiston Cham-
ber of Commerce recently
welcomed f ive new
members to its board of
directors, according to Val
Hoxie, chamber executive
director.
“I’m really just excited,
and I’m looking forward to
this next year,” Hoxie said.
“It’s hard to say farewell
to some of the old board
members that had stayed on,
some even after their terms.”
COVID-19 had made
it difficult to recruit new
board members, she said.
The members who had
spent extra time on the
board, then, provided a great
service to the organization,
she said.
She called the new
members “pillars of the
community.” They are
David McCarthy, Tami
Sinor, Beau Stackhouse,
Brian Sims and Chris
Bettencourt. Terms are two
years.
“They are going to add so
much success to the cham-
ber,” Hoxie said.
One of the new members
said she hopes to live up to
Hoxie’s high expectations.
Newcomer Chris Betten-
court expressed other feel-
ings and goals, too.
“Hermiston’s grow-
ing and thriving right now,
but there’s always room for
improvement,” she said.
“Whatever I can do to help,
that’s going to be my goal.
Bettencourt has been in
banking for 39 years. For the
last 24 years alone, she said,
she has worked for Colum-
bia Bank. She is the manager
for the Hermiston branch.
An Echo resident, she
said she grew up in the
town, raised on a farm that
has been in her family for
multiple generations.
The new members join a
board that includes Cham-
ber President Bennett Chris-
tianson, Kris Bennett, Dawn
Long, Marcy Rosenberg,
Nick Kennedy and Andy
Wagner. Ex offi cio members
are Steve Meyers and Philip
Spicerkuhn.
Hoxie said publicity is
a goal for this board. She
expressed her wish for this
board to make its presence
known. It should, she said,
be active in supporting local
businesses and events.