Montana Halts Probe Into Boys’ Liquor Deaths

The investigation into the liquor deaths of two Ronan children has been closed after failing to produce enough evidence to charge anyone, the Lake County Sheriff’s Department said last week.

The department investigated suspicions that an adult gave Justin Benoist and Frankie Nicolai III, both 11, the vodka they guzzled. But almost from the time their bodies were found in a Ronan field March 1, there were claims that the boys might have stolen the liquor from area homes.

“We cannot disprove that at this point,” said Jay Doyle, a detective in the sheriff’s department. Doyle said the investigation would be reopened if new information arises.

Alcohol poisoning killed Frankie, whose blood-alcohol level was 0.50%, more than six times the drunken-driving threshold in Montana. Justin, whose blood alcohol level was 0.20%, died from a combination of alcohol poisoning and hypothermia.

The deaths of the sixth-graders shocked Lake County and beyond, raising questions not only about the extent of underage drinking, but about society’s responsibility for their deaths. The boys went missing after they skipped afternoon classes at Ronan Middle School on Feb. 27, a Friday. Another boy found their bodies the following Monday.

The Benoist family lost another son three months earlier. Justin’s older brother, Tyler, 14, was found drunk and dead in a burned trailer. He died of smoke inhalation.