Renzo Bullhead’s family hang on to hope and prayer as search continues

That’s what Diedra (“Roxy”) Leaf said when asked what advice she’d give to other families affected by the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People crisis.

“Don’t give up, don’t stand still, keep praying,” urged Leaf. “Keep reaching out, keep that hope, that faith, alive.”

It’s been nearly two-and-a-half months since Leaf’s son, 20-year-old Renzo Bullhead, disappeared. He was last seen on the cool, overcast evening of March 16, around 8 p.m., walking eastward on the Burlington-Northern railroad bridge toward Bismarck.

Leaf and Renzo’s stepdad, Delaine Blue Thunder, shared their latest thoughts with Buffalo’s Fire from the campus of the United Tribes Technical College, where Renzo was a student. On May 20, the family issued a news release questioning the “investigation’s integrity,” citing a lack of cooperation from law enforcement, unclear investigative protocols and the failure to release the full surveillance video from the night he disappeared.

“They said they searched?” said Leaf. “Search it again. Don’t think that you’re a bother. You’re not. You keep asking, ‘What did you do today? How? How far did you go? Where did you go?’

“That is a mother’s cry.”

Community support

On May 21, a special prayer gathering was held at the train bridge where Bullhead disappeared. Organizers called for mothers especially to participate, with drums, rattles, and songs.

“It just felt tremendous,” said Leaf. “You could feel the power and the love, helping me plead for my son to come home.”

At one point during the gathering, three eagles hovered overhead.

“One came kind of close, and even let out a cry,” said Leaf, while Blue Thunder nodded in agreement. “And it was so beautiful. They said, ‘Did you see it? Roxy, did you see it?’” She didn’t. But she heard it. “It was like standing next to a really loud speaker, and you could feel the pressure and the volume and it just was all the way around me, it just, it was so beautiful.”

Blue Thunder said the prayers and the activity gave its own presence, and it wrapped around them like waves of support.

“To be able to reach out to each other and give each other a hug and to be there for each other is … it’s beautiful,” said Leaf.

Memories of Renzo

Leaf and Blue Thunder said their son was a trusted protector and companion to many of his college classmates, including women.

People would come to Renzo’s dorm room and knock on the door constantly, Leaf said, laughing. “‘Is it alright if I hang out in your room?’ ‘Yeah,’ he said, ‘I got a TV right there, my fridge, my microwave, yeah, don’t steal anything!’”

Visitors became so comfortable and frequent that some asked if they could set up a space in Renzo’s room for taking photos and videos, essentially turning it into a selfie studio.

“He had a certain aura or certain vibe that people could connect with on a certain level,” said Blue Thunder, adding that Renzo would speak up whenever he’d see someone get bullied or mistreated. “He did that for his brothers as well. So he was like an older brother to people.”

Another memory the couple shared happened in Renzo’s last year of high school. Coming back from a shopping trip in Bismarck, the family and some friends were getting restless. So they stopped at a local park to toss a football around.

“Pretty soon, the boys got hungry and said, ‘Let’s get something to eat before we head back,’” recalled Blue Thunder. He said he ordered pizzas and soda, and left to grab the food while Renzo and his friends continued playing.

“By the time we came back they had everybody in the park playing a game with them,” he continued. “They even had little shorties, little guys on the team. They had plays where the little guys would run between others’ legs while they were playing. They had everybody in the park playing a game with them!”

Fortunately, the family had ordered enough food and sodas that all the kids playing could have some.

“Some of the kids came to us before we left, and they were like, ‘Thank you.’ ‘Thank you for what? Our boys were just playing,’” said Blue Thunder. “‘We’ve never done nothing like that, this is gonna be one of my best memories. I come to the park to play, but nobody wants to play.’ But when our boys showed up, everybody was there. They all had positions, they had places for the little guys!”

Next steps

This week, search efforts will involve more of the Missouri River. Watercraft owners, especially jet-ski owners, are being enlisted to see if Renzo can be found in the waters, as late spring weather has improved conditions for search crews.

Renzo’s family say they’ll keep pushing for more intensive efforts as well.

“I feel we need more feet on the ground,” explained Leaf. “We need more boats. We need more drones. We need horseback riders, because there’s areas that are too kind of rocky where we need horseback riders to get into. Drones, boats, sonar and dogs.”

There have been rumors circulating that authorities are treating the case as a suicide. But Mandan Police have denied this. Lt. Brent Wilmeth of the MPD’s investigations unit told Buffalo’s Fire that the search will continue and that no conclusions have been made.

Meanwhile, Leaf and Blue Thunder say they’re becoming involved with efforts to get a Feather Alert bill enacted in the South Dakota legislature, following the successful passage of one in North Dakota this past session. They want to help families get the word out about missing loved ones and prevent any further MMIP cases.

“Every day, every moment, every time I get with my son, it’s the best,” said Leaf, as her voice shook and tears welled in her eyes. “I don’t have just one memory. I don’t have a second Renzo. I have only one Renzo.”

Anyone with information on Renzo Bullhead’s whereabouts is encouraged to contact Leaf at 605-581-4424, Blue Thunder at 605-314-6425, or the Mandan Police Department at 701-667-3250. Owners of jet skis, kayaks, canoes and other small watercrafts who would like to join the next search can meet up at Standing Rock Game & Fish in Fort Yates, North Dakota, on May 29 at 9 a.m. Call Frank Jamerson at 605-848-2104 for more details.