Family, friends remember homicide victim

The loss of a Kalispell man who was the victim of an alleged homicide has left a hole in the lives of those who loved him.

On the evening of April 26, Anthony Andrew Walthers, 34, was allegedly pushed off the Old Steel Bridge in Evergreen and disappeared beneath the surface of the freezing water of the Flathead River.

Identified as a transient, Walthers, affectionately known as “Andy,” left behind a family that knew him for more than his residential status and are mourning the loss of a father, son, cousin and friend.

Walthers’ first cousin, Brandi Rodriguez, said her family was incredibly close and she remembers Walthers’ as more of a brother than a cousin.

Growing up, Rodriguez said there wasn’t a holiday or special occasion when the whole family did not gather to celebrate together.

She recalled playing, laughing and getting into trouble with her cousin when they were kids.

“We probably made every good and bad decision together growing up,” Rodriguez said.

She described Walthers as a sweet yet accident-prone child who grew up to be a loving father and devout football fan.

Rodriguez laughed remembering Walthers’ die-hard love of the San Francisco 49ers, despite the rest of the family being Raiders fans.

According to Rodriguez, the one thing Walthers loved more than football was his family and his children.

Walthers is survived by his two young children, one boy and one girl, both younger than 10 years old.

Rodriguez said they were the reason Walthers moved back to Kalispell, and they are now struggling to understand the circumstances surrounding their father’s death.

Walthers and his ex-wife married young, according to Rodriguez, but during their time together, she said he was devoted to providing for the family. Despite their divorce, they maintained a good relationship that allowed Walthers to continue to see their kids frequently.

Though Walthers had, in his cousin’s words, “lost his way” toward the end, he formerly worked as a plumber and handyman.

THE LOSS of his job and a drinking habit brought Walthers to his status as a transient and more recently lead him to the Kalispell’s Samaritan House. There he began working toward putting his life back together and met a man who considered him a good friend in the process.

Peter Mason said he roomed with Walthers and a group of five other people at the Samaritan House last summer after his work “dried up” and he lost his housing. Mason said he kept in touch with Walthers even after leaving, and said his death came as a shock to him.

“I don’t think Andy had a mean bone in his body,” Mason told the Inter Lake in a letter. “Andy stayed two nights at my house and had a few meals only a few weeks ago. I even told him where my key was. He was a trustworthy man even if he was a ‘transient.’”

Mason said he saw Walthers struggling with the same things that plague many homeless “transients.”

“How easy is it to discount the intentional drowning death of a man when we put the label ‘transient’ on him,” Mason said. “I’m 61 years old and working my butt off trying not to be homeless anymore and I’m not happy about it. I’m too old for this crap.”

According to Rodriguez, Walthers had been making strides toward ending his own homelessness. She said he had just told his mother a few days before his death that things were looking up and he had just gotten some good news. He was filled with hope, according to Rodriguez, after visiting with his kids and had just found a permanent place to live.

“I always tried to tell him there were brighter days,” Rodriguez said. “A week later he might not have been in that situation with those people. He was so close to getting out of it.”

The Flathead County Sheriff’s Office has identified Cecil Thomas Rice, 26, and Heather Joy Meeker, 25, as suspects who allegedly fled the scene after Walthers went into the river. Rice is charged with deliberate homicide and Meeker is charged her with tampering with evidence. Arraignment for Rice and Meeker is scheduled for May 25.

Authorities have not yet located Walthers body.

Walthers’ family has a lot of questions and a lot of anger, but they mostly just pray that his body will be found, Rodriguez said. She said she hopes the people responsible pay for what they did and that she and her family are grateful for the witnesses who reported it and for the volunteers who continue searching the river for their lost loved one.

“Let us never forget that every ‘transient’ is somebody’s little boy or little girl, somebody’s brother or sister and possibly somebody’s daddy or mommy,” Mason concluded in his letter. “We need each other in this crazy messed up selfish world.”

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.