BILLINGS - The names of two men who were found shot to death at the scene of a crash were released Thursday.
Yellowstone County Sheriff Mike Linder identified the men as Joshua D. LaForge, 34, and Dante J. Bezpaletz, 30, both of Billings. Both men died of gunshot wounds, Linder said.
Bezpaletz was wanted by authorities after he walked away from the Alpha House Pre-Release Center in Billings on Jan. 18. He had been convicted of felony theft in 2014 in Yellowstone County and was most recently incarcerated on a probation violation.
The bodies of the men were found Tuesday by Billings police officers who responded to the scene of a crash on South 37th Street at about 3 a.m. A pickup truck had slammed into a tree, and a third man was found at the scene suffering from severe trauma to the neck, police said.
The name of the third man and his condition have not been released, and police continue to investigate the circumstances of the deaths. So far, investigators have stated publicly only that they believe a disturbance occurred inside the truck prior to the crash.
