Inside the Shocking Case of a Colo. Dad Who Beheaded Son After Boy Made Disturbing Discovery
On a cold November evening in 2012, 13-year-old Dylan Redwine landed at Durango-La Plata County Airport in Colorado. He was there for a court-ordered Thanksgiving visit with his father, Mark Redwine. Dylan’s parents were embroiled in a bitter divorce and custody battle, and the teenager had little choice but to spend the holiday with his dad. It would be the last time he was seen alive.
The next day, Dylan’s mother reported him missing. Panic gripped the small mountain community near Vallecito Reservoir as search teams combed rugged terrain. For months, his father appeared on television, pleading for answers and insisting on his innocence. But behind the public mask, investigators began piecing together a far darker truth.
By June 2013, the first grim discovery was made: partial remains of Dylan’s body were found on Middle Mountain, not far from Mark’s home. Two years later, hikers stumbled upon Dylan’s skull nearly two miles away. Experts testified he suffered blunt force trauma and sharp injuries. Prosecutors alleged Mark had mutilated the remains to hinder the investigation.
As the case unfolded, a chilling possible motive came to light. Dylan’s older brother, Cory, revealed that both boys had discovered shocking, degrading photographs of their father. The images allegedly showed Mark dressed in women’s clothing, wearing a diaper, and engaging in obscene acts involving human waste. Cory said Dylan planned to confront Mark about the photos during his Thanksgiving visit.
That confrontation may have been the spark that ended Dylan’s life. At trial, prosecutors painted a portrait of a father enraged, desperate to silence his son after the disturbing discovery.
In 2017, five years after Dylan vanished, Mark Redwine was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death. His trial in 2021 exposed the fractured family dynamic and the horrifying details of Dylan’s final hours. Even as evidence mounted against him, Mark showed no remorse. When sentenced to 48 years in prison, he dismissed the judgment as “fake justice.”
Judge Jeffrey Wilson delivered a stinging rebuke: “You still take absolutely no responsibility for what you did to Dylan. I have trouble remembering a convicted criminal defendant that has shown such an utter lack of remorse.”
The case of Dylan Redwine is more than a murder story — it is a tale of betrayal within a family, a child silenced after discovering a secret too heavy to bear. Nearly a decade later, the tragedy continues to haunt Colorado, a reminder of the danger that sometimes hides behind closed doors.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or visit www.childhelp.org. Calls are toll-free, confidential, and available 24/7 in over 170 languages.
