The day that would reshape the trajectory of Clem Pellett’s life began like any other.

It was early spring in 2009 in Bellevue, Washington. Pellett had grown weary of watching his beloved Seattle Mariners get trounced in their season opener and switched off the TV after the seventh inning.

With the game over and the evening stretching quietly before him, the Great Falls native’s eyes landed on a cardboard box in the corner of his living room. Inside were mementos from his mother, who had recently passed away, that he hadn’t yet brought himself to sort through.

“I had nothing else to do,” Pellett said. “So I started going through it all, and it wasn't long before I ran across the newspaper articles.”

The brittle clippings carried stark headlines: “Foul play suspected” and “Dryman senten

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