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An all-new episode of Dateline: Unforgettable will delve into Carla Yellowbird's August 2016 murder at the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation located in North Dakota. The episode titled The Secret of Spirit Lake is set to air on Oxygen at 8:00 pm ET on Wednesday, September 6, 2023.
The official synopsis states:
"An advocate for missing and murdered Indigenous women searches for answers in the disappearance of her niece and exposes cracks in law enforcement; Andrea Canning looks back on this important story, one that became her passion project."
Carla Yellowbird went missing after she was last seen with a male friend named Suna Guy on August 23, 2016. A subsequent confession from Guy led to shocking revelations about the happenings from that night and the discovery of Yellowbird's body in the remote Reservation area. She had been shot to death.
Guy, who admitted to the crime and implicated Dakota Charboneau and Daylin St. Pierre as the other two suspects, claimed they intended to rob the 27-year-old when Pierre accidentally shot her. All three were charged with federal counts and later pleaded guilty.
Carla Yellowbird's murder: The mother's disappearance, a shocking confession, three suspects, and other details about the case
1) Yellowbird went missing in August after she was last seen with a male friend
Carla Yellowbird was a mother of seven children from Mandan, North Dakota when she went missing in August 2016. She was last spotted with a male friend named Suna Guy on August 23. At the time, the 27-year-old was reportedly holding a laundry basket and a duffle bag in hand. The two were headed to the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation for an alleged drug run. She never returned home that night and was later reported missing.
2) A month later Suna Guy made a shocking confession
Since Suna Guy was the last person Carla Yellowbird was seen with, authorities focused on him as a suspect. He also had a criminal background, which made him seem responsible for the disappearance. About a month later, Guy gave in under pressure and made a shocking confession, detailing the plot to rob the 27-year-old.
As per the confession, Guy drove Yellowbird to the remote location where he and Dakota Charboneau plotted to rob her of money and other possessions. A third individual named Daylin St. Pierre was later involved in their sinister plot.
There, Pierre attempted to threaten Yellowbird by striking her with a gun, which accidentally discharged. She got shot in the head, following which the trio hid her body in the bushes and burned her belongings.
3) Carla Yellowbird's body was discovered in September 2016
Following the confession from Suna Guy, authorities were able to locate Yellowbird's body concealed under bushes at the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation near St. Michael a month later, in September 2016. Her body was sent for an autopsy, which revealed that she was shot at close range and reportedly died of a single, fatal gunshot wound to the head.
4) All three suspects pleaded guilty to separate federal charges in Yellowbird's slaying
Out of the three suspects in Carla Yellowbird's shooting death, Suna Guy was the first to plead guilty to a felony murder charge in June 2017. He received a 15-year prison term, and is currently serving his sentence at the FCI Greenville. A year later, both Daylin St. Pierre and Dakota Charboneau were charged with federal counts of murder, conspiracy to commit robbery, and use of a firearm.
Then, in November 2018, Pierre, then 21, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, use of a firearm, and felony murder. He was given twenty-seven-and-a-half years in prison, followed by a five-year supervised release.
Shortly after, 24-year-old Charboneau also pleaded guilty. The charges included second-degree murder, aiding and abetting, and use of a firearm. He was handed a 50-year prison term, followed by five years of supervised release, and was later sentenced to another 60 years in prison term for three unrelated assaults he committed in 2017.
Dateline: Unforgettable will further delve into Carla Yellowbird's case on streaming platform Oxygen this Wednesday 8:00 pm ET on September 6, 2023.
