‘He should still be here’: Family mourns man found dead on Moapa reservation

The killing of a man on a small Southern Nevada Native American reservation has his family mourning and seeking answers from federal investigators.

Victor Saganitso, 20, was found dead on Oct. 17 outside his cousin’s home on the Moapa River Indian Reservation, said his sister Roselynn Saganitso. He died of a stab wound to the chest, according to the Clark County coroner’s office, which ruled his death a homicide.

“It’s hard to believe that he’s no longer here with us,” said his grandmother Verdie Marble. “It just breaks my heart.”

Moapa River Police Department Chief Kyle Wilson said the FBI is leading the investigation into Saganitso’s death. The department has said it sought FBI assistance shortly after beginning the investigation. Detectives found “reason to believe that foul play may be involved” in Saganitso’s death, the department said.

An FBI spokesperson did not say whether an arrest had been made in the case when asked by a Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter, but confirmed on Wednesday that the agency was investigating the man’s death and added that it cannot further comment on an ongoing investigation.

The reservation, roughly 55 miles northeast of Las Vegas, is home to about 420 people, according to the Nevada Department of Native American Affairs. Roughly 30 of them are family members of Saganitso, said his sister Roselynn Saganitso.

She and Marble described Saganitso as a vibrant, easygoing man who was a devoted father to his 3-year-old daughter named Alaia.

“He was the light of the room,” Roselynn Saganitso said. “He was funny, generous and just an outgoing person.”

She said her brother bounced between the reservation and Las Vegas where his girlfriend lived. Saganitso made the most of his time with his daughter, Marble said.

“He loved his little girl so much,” Marble said. “She had him wrapped around her little finger. And every time I asked how baby girl was, he’d say she’s doing good. Spoiled, but good.”

Jacob Padilla, Roselynn’s boyfriend, said Saganitso would go out of his way to make plans for his family. He brought people together by organizing barbecues and cooking for others, Roselynn Saganitso added.

Marble described Saganitso as “a little protector” of her.

“He’d always come in and say, ‘You got everything you need, grandma?’” she said. “He’d bring a plate of food in, what he had cooked. He was just always thinking of others.”

Roselynn Saganitso said she’s still in disbelief that her brother is dead. His absence has left her feeling “broken inside,” she added.

“Everybody was heartbroken when we heard the news,” she said of her family’s reaction to Saganitso’s death.

Marble was with family at the 50th Annual Fort Mojave Indian Days in Needles, California, when she said she got a call saying something had happened to Saganitso. The family quickly packed up and drove to Moapa.

“It was a quiet ride home. My aunt and sister, we were just crying all the way home and I was just praying and praying,” Marble said.

They arrived to find Saganitso still lying in the road, Marble said, concealed from the knees up by a cover atop him.

Marble said Saganitso’s family has been left mourning his death, hoping that anyone who knows what happened will come out and speak to the FBI.

“They just can’t believe that he’s gone because he should still be here,” she said. “This shouldn’t have happened.”

Contact Spencer Levering at [email protected] or 702-383-0253.