Police in Miami continue searching for Dylan Isaacs’ killer as the Six Nations man was laid to rest on the reserve over the weekend.
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Isaacs, 30, was shot to death just before midnight on Jan. 7, shortly after leaving an NFL game in Miami, Fla.
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The avid Buffalo Bills fan had just watched his team defeat the Miami Dolphins to clinch the AFC East Division title when he was reportedly hit by a car while walking through traffic outside the stadium.
According to his family and local police, Isaacs gave chase, and the driver got out of the car and allegedly shot him multiple times. Isaacs died on the pavement despite efforts from first responders to save his life.
Florida police found the suspect car two days later and interviewed a “person of interest,” but no arrests have been made.
Police have offered a $5,000 reward for a tip submitted through Crime Stoppers that leads to the arrest of Isaacs’ killer.
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A fundraiser started by family friend Ashley Cooke to bring Isaacs’ body back to Six Nations for burial raising $105,325.
A traditional Haudenosaunee funeral service was held for Isaacs at the Onondaga Longhouse on Six Nations on Saturday. He was later buried at the family homestead.
In a message on the GoFundMe page for the since-closed fundraiser, Cooke conveyed the family’s “sincere and heartfelt gratitude” to the more than 1,800 donors who contributed, including Bills fans from the self-proclaimed “Bills Mafia.”
“Thank you for coming together and showing up with so much love and support for us and our community,” Cooke wrote.
In an interview with The Spectator, Sue Sky-Isaacs described her son, who worked for the band council as an archaeological community monitor, as a “character” with a great sense of humor and a love of family.
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“It’s a struggle, that’s for sure,” Sky-Isaacs said of the days following Isaacs’ murder.
“Right now, family and friends are all around us,” she said. “It’s those days that nobody’s going to be there…”
Isaacs’ final Facebook post, from the night he died, is a picture of him standing between two cousins he met up with inside the stadium. All three are smiling.
In a lighthearted comment under the picture, Sky-Isaacs quipped that the three should “babysit each other.”
“Have fun,” she wrote. “Be safe.”
JP Antonacci is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter based at the Hamilton Spectator. The initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
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