Kriti Mehrotra
‘The Dakota Entrapment Tapes’ chronicles the death of Andrew Sadek, a 20-year-old student at the North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton, who mysteriously disappeared on the morning of May 1, 2014, only to be found lifeless in the nearby Red River almost two months later. It explores his double life as a confidential informant for a local multi-jurisdictional law enforcement task force and the possible involvement of the college campus police in his death. In short, this true-crime documentary is an emotional tale, especially with Andrew’s parents making an appearance and sharing their efforts to find the truth behind what happened to their son.
Who Are Andrew Sadek’s Parents?
The Sadek family are farming folk who have always lived a life that is “both calming and stressful” on a cattle ranch bordering a lake just outside Rogers in Barnes County, North Dakota. But this family, which used to consist of two kids and their parents, is now only survived by the adults – Tammy and John Sadek. The couple had two sons, Nicholas and Andrew, but while they lost the latter in 2014, their firstborn was taken away from them in 2005, in an unexplained accident on a level crossing. In other words, they lost both their sons early.
However, while Tammy and John know for sure that Nicholas’ death was by misfortune, they have never really found out the truth behind Andrew’s passing. All they understand is that his body was found submerged in the river with a gunshot wound to the head. This married couple has since made it clear that although the university campus police ruled Andrew’s death to be by suicide, they don’t believe that verdict for even a second. After all, they know their son better than anyone else and have always been certain that he had no suicidal tendencies.
Tammy and John have even backed this up by saying that Andrew left behind no note and was happy with his life. He had a girlfriend and excelling grades in his studies, in a major that was of his choosing. Andrew wasn’t depressed or troubled in the slightest, so why would he suddenly take his own life? His mother additionally revealed that the campus police had promised to search the river for Andrew as soon as its levels went down in the days after he went missing, which they never did, making her question if they were even capable of handling the case.
Where Are Andrew Sadek’s Parents Now?
To this day, even a decade later, Tammy and John Sadek, residing in Fargo, are fighting to get answers to give their son some much-deserved justice. They have since created a Facebook page for him, wherein they post information about the case, along with every update, as a way to prod authorities to investigate their son’s death seriously and see that all the evidence points towards murder. “The fact that a backpack with rocks was tied to him and he was wearing a jacket that I didn’t recognize, kind of still leads me to, somebody else did this,” Tammy once said.
As a CI, which his parents didn’t even know about at the time, Tammy says that Andrew must have been under a lot of pressure, but it still isn’t enough to convince her that he’d kill himself. On behalf of Andrew, Tammy, and John have also sought a trial in a wrongful death lawsuit against Richland County and one of its sheriff’s deputies. However, after they filed a motion for it, which went before the North Dakota Supreme Court last November, on September 15, 2020, it was dismissed. They tried again another class action lawsuit seeking post-judgment relief in a district court in 2022, yet even this was denied at both that level as well as in the Supreme Court.
In the original 2020 ruling, the judge said, “Due to the lack of available evidence to suggest how, when or even where Andrew Sadek died, a conclusion that his death was proximately caused by Defendants’ acts or omissions would be based on speculation.” Even though the couple is hurt by this decision, they are still grateful that at least some changes have been made. In 2017, a law called Andrew’s Law was passed, which put in place new protections for CIs, including law enforcement having to notify them of their right to speak to an attorney. Tammy is now also urging Richland County residents to not vote for Jason Weber to be Sherrif, especially as he was the one to convince her son to work as a drug informant.
Read More: Andrew Sadek’s Death: A Suicide or Murder?
