Ronan community mourns victim of alleged murder

The community of Ronan is reeling from the loss of Ed Loder, 67, who was allegedly murdered Saturday, Aug. 31, as he walked along the bike trail near his home and shop on Timberlane Road, southeast of Ronan.

“Ed is one of them guys – he's a helper. He helps people all the time, and just expects nothing in return,” said his neighbor Jerry Emerson Monday, still referring to his friend in the present tense. “I could never stay even with him on paybacks.”

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office announced last Friday that officers have arrested a suspect in the alleged murder. James Lawrence of Polson, 70, is being held without bond at the Lake County Jail on charges of homicide and tampering with evidence.

According to a press release, officers conducted “an around-the-clock investigation” after Loder was reported missing Sept. 4, with the aid of other law-enforcement agencies.

Lawrence was picked up Thursday evening and eventually cooperated with investigators, which resulted in the recovery of Loder’s body at 1:30 p.m. Friday in the area of Twin Lakes, southeast of St. Ignatius.

Police say his body has been transported to the Montana State Crime Lab for an autopsy.

Emerson, who said he walked regularly with Loder along Timberlane, first noticed that he appeared to be absent from home over the Labor Day weekend.

“We noticed there were no lights on at the house during the night, but we didn't think too much of it through the weekend,” he said. “Sometimes he'd been known to just take off and go see one of the kids or something.”

When Emerson went for his walk last Wednesday morning, he noticed that his neighbor still seemed to be gone so he reached out to Loder’s son, Greg, who lives in Sidney, and his daughter, Erica, who lives in Bend, Ore. Both said they had tried to reach their dad over the weekend, to no avail.

“So Greg said, ‘if you don't mind, would you kind of nose around a little bit and see if one of the vehicles is missing?’”

Loder, a car enthusiast who retired in 2022 from a long career as an auto body repairman, had several vehicles.

Emerson checked the garage, which was unlocked, and the porch door on the east side of Loder’s house, which was also unlocked. “And I opened it up, and here's his kitty inside, and his TV was on,” recalls Emerson.

He called another set of neighbors, and they searched the outbuildings on the property, and determined that none of his vehicles were missing. By then, more friends and neighbors had assembled. “We all decided it’s time to call the sheriff’s office,” Emerson said.

According to the initial press release, Lake County Dispatch took the report of a missing person at around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 4. Investigators determined that “the last confirmed contact with Loder was on Friday, Aug. 30.”

Sherrie and Jay McBurney met Loder in eighth grade, when his family moved to Ronan from Plains, and have been close friends ever since. Sherrie had stopped by his house Friday morning, Aug. 30, for a quick visit, and chided him “like a big sister” for not locking his house or letting people know when he was going somewhere.

“I’m guessing I may have been the last person to talk to him,” she said Monday, still clearly shaken by the loss.

As officers began to arrive on the scene, Emerson remembered something disturbing: he had noticed blood on the walking path since Saturday morning, but thought it was from an animal, possibly hit on Timberlane Road. He took the officers to the spot, and they located shell casings nearby and glasses, covered in blood, that may have belonged to the missing man.

Within 38 hours of receiving the call, law enforcement had a suspect in custody. They were aided, Emerson says, by video cameras posted along the road and the pings emitted by Loder’s cell phone, which was apparently still in his pocket.

In a statement released Monday by Erica and Greg, and also posted on social media, the family called his death “a heinous act born from a stranger’s misguided sense of entitlement to a family inheritance.”

They also expressed “our heartfelt thanks to the Lake County Sheriff's Department and the Lake County and Flathead County Search and Rescue teams for their tireless efforts during this difficult time. We also want to express our sincere appreciation to the Montana Highway Patrol, whose dedication in gathering critical evidence was crucial for the recovery of Ed's remains.

“Additionally, we would like to thank Flathead Tribal Police and Game Wardens and all of the local businesses and neighbors who cooperated with the investigative efforts of law enforcement by providing statements and security footage. With the tireless efforts of selfless people with a vested interest, we were able to bring Ed home.”

A celebration of Loder’s life will be held in Ronan at a future date, when plans are finalized. Meanwhile, the family requests “privacy from the press as we navigate this tough time.”

“But know that we feel the love and support of the community, and it truly means the world to us,” they said.

Loder’s friends are also bereft, yet determined to remember all that he did for them and others.

He was the proprietor of Collision Service and known for his meticulous work and attention to detail. He also often helped neighbors and friends in need and was known to repair vehicles for free (including this reporter’s).

Coral and Dave Lockwood have known Loder since he was 14. “He has always been the man that was always giving of his time, would help you whenever you needed him, whether it was cutting wood, fixing your car, painting your porch or whatever, Ed was always there,” Coral said. “He even took time to come help me kill mice.”

He and her husband were frequent hunting buddies, and once riddled a buck with 13 bullets to bring him down. “Every time he would see the rack, he would say there's old number 13,” she recalled.

Close friends also knew him as a prankster. “For years, he would call us at three in the morning, singing, ‘You took a fine time to leave me, Lucille,’” Coral recalls. “I would holler at him and he would proceed to keep singing. He was always happy and positive – no one was a stranger.”

Emerson says they used to exchange bottle rocket barrages on the Fourth of July, until one landed on Jerry’s roof and another grazed the side of Ed’s favorite pickup. “So we finally called a truce.” They referred to each other as DON – those Damn Old Neighbors – and were mortified when Greg, as a little kid, earnestly picked it up.

For the McBurneys, Loder has been a constant friend since middle school. “He was a good guy and he’d help anybody, anybody,” Sherrie said. “And he did it all the time.”

“We had a long, long close relationship and we did so much together,” she added. “To have all that stolen from us … We just can’t understand it.”

Emerson says Loder told him one time, “I just want to be remembered as a helper.”

And so he will. As his family writes, “Ed would want us all to keep living life to the fullest, to keep helping others, and to keep finding joy in the little things. So let's do that – for Ed.”