yranaivo@journalnet.com

FORT HALL - Police are investigating a local man's death as a possible homicide.

Chief Reginald Thorpe, of the Fort Hall Police Department, said Colin Dale Wetchie, 32, died on Feb. 27 at the Eastern Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls after being on life support for more than two weeks. Thorpe said Wetchie died from blunt force trauma injuries that were sustained on Feb. 11.

Thorpe said police found Wetchie unconscious at a home off Reservation Road on Feb. 11. Thorpe said Wetchie was transported to and placed on life support at EIRMC.

"Doctors there revealed that he suffered from some kind of trauma to the head," Thorpe said. "He was put on life support for a certain amount of time, but his doctor and wife agreed to take him off life support. Since that time, we've been following some leads. … We're treating this as if it were (a homicide) so that way we can delve more into our investigation."

Thorpe said blunt force trauma injuries can result from a variety of incidents.

"It can be a traffic accident or somebody reporting that someone else fell off a ladder," he said. "In this case, though, no one had seen (what happened) at the time (Wetchie) was discovered. There was no evidence on what had actually happened."

Thorpe said there will likely be more information on the investigation Monday.

Recommended for you

Welcome to the discussion!

The Idaho State Journal invites you to take part in the community conversation. But those who don't play nice may be uninvited.

Comments that are:

  • off topic
  • defamatory
  • libelous
  • obscene
  • racist
  • abusive
  • threatening
  • an invasion of privacy (doxxing)
  • profane (including attempts to misspell profanity in order to get around the profanity filter)

will be deleted. Repeat offenders will lose commenting privileges.

Comments are opinions of the author only, and do not reflect the opinions or views of Idaho State Journal.