U.S. Airman charged with murdering SD woman who was reported missing in 2024
(March 17, 2025) Earlier today, news outlets began reporting that a serviceman in the U.S. Air Force had been arrested for the murder of a South Dakota woman who went missing back in 2024. Sahela Sangrait, 21, had been missing for almost seven months when a hiker discovered her decomposing remains earlier this month, according to CBS News.
Background: On Tuesday, March 4 at approximately 1:00 p.m., South Dakota’s Pennington County Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to a location south of Hill City, near the Pennington County and Custer County line, in reference to a badly decomposed body. A hiker in the area discovered the remains and contacted the Sheriff’s Office.
The body did not have any identifying information available.
By March 12, following a forensic dental analysis and an autopsy, the deceased individual was identified as 21-year-old Sahela Sangrait. The Box Elder woman was reported missing on August 10, 2024.
BY March 15, the investigation into her death of led to the arrest of a 24-year-old U.S. Airman. Quinterius Chappelle was arrested on federal charges for 2nd Degree Murder and is being held at the Pennington County Jail. Chappelle is an active-duty Airman currently stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base.
A missing persons poster shared on Facebook indicated that Sangrait was Native American. Although it’s still not clear what the relationship was between Chappelle and Sangrait, MSN shared that in the U.S., “… Native American women are disproportionately targeted in murders, sexual assaults and other violent acts, on reservations as well as in nearby towns, to the point that the rate at which they go missing or are murdered has been called a national crisis.”
Investigators determined that Sangrait was murdered on the Air Force base. Due to the jurisdiction of the crime, the case will be prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office. Anyone with information related to the murder of Sahela Sangrait should contact the Rapid City FBI office at (605) 343-9632.
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(Source and cover photos of Sahela Sangrait: Pennington County Sheriff’s Office)
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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