Dead men were known on street

One had to move, one had to drink; pair died outside

By Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published April 15, 2008 at 11 p.m.

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Howard Lawrence Huntsinger, 44, described himself as an alcoholic.

Chase Alone, 47, told his family he did odd jobs in Denver.

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Two weeks ago, George Chase Alone called his mother on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and told her he was living in a shelter after he had to move from his apartment.

Mary Chase Alone once again invited the son she hadn't seen in years to live with her. Once again, he declined.

George Chase Alone Jr. is finally coming home, but not the way his family had hoped. His body is expected to be released today by the Denver coroner and taken to the Sioux Funeral Home in South Dakota.

"He's been gone for a long, long time," Mary Chase Alone said Tuesday.

George Chase Alone, 47, had lived in Denver for about 15 years, sometimes on the streets. He told his family he got by by doing odd jobs and living on a Social Security disability check for his arthritis. He also was, according to homeless advocates, an "amazing bead artist."

The bodies of Chase Alone and Howard Lawrence Huntsinger, 44, another fixture on Denver's streets, were found Sunday near Speer Boulevard and West Colfax Avenue. The homeless are known to congregate and panhandle in that area.

Their causes of death are under investigation. Mary Chase Alone said the coroner told her that her son might have overdosed.

Huntsinger, who went by Larry, was an alcoholic with an 18-page arrest record for mostly petty offenses such as urinating in public and littering in a park.

He was convicted of assault a year ago after Denver police say he slapped his common-law wife, Kelley Forbes, and pulled her hair. In a May 2007 letter to the judge, Huntsinger described their relationship.

"When she first asked me to go out with her, I told her I was an alcoholic and like to drink," he wrote, "I've tried to quit drinking but all of my friends are drunk, also. I now believe the only way to achieve this goal is by leaving Colorado."

But Huntsinger stayed in Colorado when his sentence in the Denver County Jail ended.

Forbes said she and Huntsinger met in a shelter, but were kicked out for drinking. Although the couple broke up last year, she said they remained friends and she saw him about a month ago. He usually panhandled around Speer Boulevard and Champa Street.

"When Larry was sober he was a sweetheart, but when he got to drinking his whole attitude changed," she said.

Forbes said she found out Huntsinger was dead when an investigator called Monday, and asked if she knew how to locate his family. She did not. Huntsinger had told her his father was in the military and he moved around a lot.

She was surprised to hear that Huntsinger and Chase Alone were together when they died. She said they knew each other but weren't good friends.

Chase Alone, a short man with black glasses, was a regular at the St. Francis Center, where the homeless can get a shower, clean clothing and their mail. Huntsinger visited now and then but was not well-known, said director Tom Luehrs.

"(George) had a very gentle spirit," Luehrs said.

Chase Alone was the second of seven kids of Mary and George Chase Alone Sr. He was born on Dec. 24, 1960, and grew up on the reservation. Chase Alone, who was a member of the Oglala Sioux tribe, moved to Rapid City, S.D., with relatives when he was about 14.

"I don't think he liked the reservation life," his brother Homer said. "He drifted from town to town."

The family hadn't seen him in about seven years. Every time they suggested he come home, he'd tell him there were no jobs there and in Denver he could find enough work to get by.

His funeral is scheduled for Monday at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Manderson, S.D.

bartels@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5327

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