POLK COUNTY, Wisconsin — Calling it "a good day," authorities in western Wisconsin announced an arrest and charges in a cold case hit-and-run that claimed the lives of two men more than six years ago.
Polk County Sheriff Brent Waak said a tip broke the case and led to the arrest of 32-year-old Andrew Endres of Randolph, Minnesota, who is now charged with two counts of hit-and-run resulting in death.
"Our community and the family members can now start to heal," Waak said. "We now know the answers to the questions we all had."
It was the night of Jan. 11, 2014 that Richard Cobenais and Benjamin Juarez were struck on tribal land on County Road E by a pickup truck with two men inside. Witnesses say the truck stopped, the driver and passenger got out to check on the victims, then jumped back in and fled. Someone on the scene heard one of the men say "We need to get out of here" before they took off.
Pieces of the striking vehicle and clear footprints were recovered from the scene, but years passed, and no arrests were made.
Fast forward to January of 2020, when authorities from Polk County and the St. Croix Tribal Police released an emotional social media video to stir interest in the case and generate tips. The eight-minute production, which included interviews with both families and investigators, was posted on Facebook in an intentional strategy to reach eyeballs across the country.
It worked. On September 28, the Polk County Sheriff's Office received a call from a man who said his estranged wife was intoxicated one night, and told him a man named Andrew Endres had struck and killed Native Americans. The tipster said Endres was drunk and visiting his parent's cabin in western Wisconsin when the incident occurred.
His estranged wife told the tipster that Endres had seen a story on the hit-and-run on KARE 11, and that it was really getting to him.
The criminal complaint against Endres says investigators ran phone records that showed the defendant was in the area at the time of the fatal incident. They were also able to identify and locate the man who says he was the passenger in Endres truck at the time of the hit-and-run.
Investigators say during questioning, the passenger told them he and Endres had not talked about the incident for several years and both tried not to talk about it "as it brought about bad memories/feelings." He reportedly stated they left the scene that evening because they were both scared, had been drinking and didn’t know what to do.
At Thursday's press conference St. Croix Tribal Police Chief Frank Taylor credited the families of the two men for not giving up on investigators, or the possibility that the person responsible would be caught. "It's a good day, a day that healing can truly begin," Taylor said, emotion in his voice. "The families of Rich and Ben have shown me you never give up hope... you never stop searching... you never stop believing."
Richard's stepson, Thomas, appeared at Thursday's press conference and spoke on behalf of all family members impacted.
"There’s so much to be grateful for right now," Thomas said. "I'm just glad we can begin to close this chapter of our life and move on."
KARE 11 reached out to the Endres family to see whether an attorney could release a statement, but the suspect's mother declined comment.
Benjamin Juarez's uncle, David, said his family did not know much about the suspect accused of killing his nephew.
"Just to pray to god for forgiveness, and have mercy on your soul. Hopefully, we can all forgive, eventually," David Juarez said. "I hope he's somewhat remorseful. That's all I can say, that I hope he's remorseful."
Sheriff Waak told reporters that it was the social media video released earlier in 2020 and news media coverage of that event that led to the case being broken.
Endres will be extradited to Wisconsin from Dakota County, where he was arrested Wednesday around 11 a.m.