Every Van der Linde Gang Member and What Happens to Them

Major spoilers ahead for Red Dead Redemption & Red Dead Redemption 2!

By 1899, America was becoming a land of laws, with no room for outlaws and gangs. As such, the Van der Linde gang is presented in Red Dead Redemption 2 as already on the decline, far from the glory days, and even worse off after a botched ferry heist in Blackwater. The events of Red Dead Redemption 2 aren’t the kindest to some members of the Van der Linde gang, but to others, they get to see another sunrise.

Those curious about what happened to all gang members in Red Dead Redemption 2 might want to check out below to see the fates of the Van der Linde gang so that they can have peace of mind when it comes to these former outlaws, whether they live or die.

Arthur Morgan

The Troubled Outlaw Succumbs to His Illness

• Performance by: Roger Clark
• Fate: Dies of tuberculosis / killed by Micah Bell
• Status: Deceased

Arthur Morgan was Dutch Van der Linde’s protégé, and soon his right-hand man. Arthur was a strong arm in the gang, and undoubtedly one of their best gunslingers, who proved his loyalty with each breath and bullet. Due to the sins of the gang’s loansharking business, Arthur gets into a fight with a debtor, Thomas Downes, who coughs up blood into Arthur’s face, transmitting tuberculosis.

Pursued relentlessly by Pinkertons, and battling the terminal illness of TB, Arthur Morgan makes his last stand at Beaver Hollow where he helps John Marston escape to be with Abigail Roberts and their son, Jack. Unfortunately, Arthur Morgan succumbs to his injuries after a fight with the gang’s rat, Micah Bell, and passes away from tuberculosis while witnessing his final sunrise.

The ending for Arthur Morgan as described is if players help John, but should they go back for the money instead, they will have a fatal fight with Micah Bell who will stab Arthur, thus killing him.

Abigail Roberts

Abigail Gets the Peaceful Life She Wants, Until the U.S. Army Finds Her

• Performance by: Sophia Marzocchi (RDR), Cali Elizabeth Moore (RDR2)
• Fate: Passed away due to unknown causes
• Status: Deceased

Abigail first met the gang as an orphan and a prostitute, and while she did sleep with most of the Van der Linde gang, her eyes fell for John Marston. The two eventually had a son, and although John was a reluctant and doubtful father, Abigail was a loving mother throughout. When the Van der Linde gang fell at Heaver Hollow, Abigail was already safe with the women and children at Copperhead Landing, where she would reunite with John Marston and flee to a better life where they would become farmers with land of their own in Beecher’s Hope.

Despite years of relative peace on Beecher’s Hope, Abigail is abducted in 1911 by government agents to force John Marston to kill the survivors of his old gang. Despite doing their bidding, Abigail loses her husband to the U.S. Army, and Abigail, consumed by grief, dies in 1914 at the age of 37. While it’s never stated what killed Abigail, the loss of John and her age could imply either alcoholism or a disease, like cancer.

Bill Williamson

A Brash Man Who Forms His Own Gang and is Hunted by John Marston

• Performance by: Steve J. Palmer
• Fate: Killed by John Marston
• Status: Deceased

Dishonorably discharged from the U.S. Army, Bill Williamson fell into a life of violence and frustration as he tried to find who he actually was, all while riding with the Van der Linde gang. Bill Williamson isn’t the smartest man in the gang, and his susceptibility to those smarter than him sees him loyal to the bitter end of Dutch Van der Linde.

After the gang falls apart at Beaver Hollow, Bill Williamson goes on his own whereby 1911, he has his own gang without his former family, and especially without Dutch, whom Bill seems to somewhat resent at this time. Despite having his own gang, and fleeing to Mexico, John Marston manages to catch up to him and kill him, as forced to by the U.S. Government.

Charles Smith

An Honorable Man Who Seeks a New Life in Canada

• Performance by: Noshir Dalal
• Fate: Potentially raising a family in Canada
• Status: Alive

One of the newest members of the Van der Linde gang is also one of their best. Charles Smith is an extremely competent man who can both hold himself in a fight and hold his own ethics despite the outlaw nature of the gang. Charles is as decent as he is deadly, which is why he takes no part in the Van der Linde gang’s fall at Beaver Hollow.

By 1907, Charles is competing in fighting tournaments in Saint Denis, but after reuniting with John Marston, elects to regroup and help build Beecher’s Hope, and eventually find and kill Micah Bell. After avenging Arthur Morgan by helping to kill Micah, Charles leaves Beecher’s Hope and expresses interest in moving to Canada, free from his past sins, with interest in starting a family of his own.

Dutch Van der Linde

The Gang’s Charismatic Leader Lost Himself to Sanity and Gravity

• Performance by: Benjamin Byron Davis
• Fate: Suicide to avoid being killed by John Marston
• Status: Deceased

There is perhaps nobody as charismatic and deadly as Dutch Van der Linde, a man who openly opposes government, encroaching civilization, and those who doubt him and his plans. Dutch Van der Linde’s charisma, and sanity, begin to slip as the Pinkertons squeeze the gang ever closer, and by 1899, Dutch has betrayed those most loyal to him like Arthur and John.

Dutch goes missing after his gang falls apart and isn’t seen until 1907 when he’s seen helping Micah get the money back from Blackwater. Dutch shoots Micah in a standoff, and leaves without saying a word to John, his former son. By 1911, Dutch had his own gang of savage Native Americans, who Dutch had manipulated into a band of killers. John Marston hunts Dutch, but before he can be killed, Dutch embraces death by falling off a cliff to commit suicide and avoid capture.

Hosea Matthews

The Voice of Reason in Dutch’s Ear, Killed by Pinkertons

• Performance by: Curzon Dobell
• Fate: Killed by Agent Milton
• Status: Deceased

Hosea Matthews might not be the best gunslinger, nor a man who can fight against Father Time, but he is a genius when it comes to being a con artist. Hosea is a great thief, and the closest friend of Dutch Van der Linde, which often sees the two hold heated debates about what the best strategy for the gang is. For Dutch, Hosea is the voice of reason, which is why chaos brews in the gang after his death.

Hosea sends the Van der Linde gang to rob the Lemoyne National Bank in Saint Denis, with himself acting as a prime distraction. However, Hosea is captured by the Pinkertons and held hostage outside the bank, where the Van der Linde gang is forced to witness Agent Milton execute Hosea with a gunshot to the chest.

Javier Escuella

A Dutch Loyalist Turned Mexican Government Hitman

• Performance by: Antonio Jaramillo (RDR), Gabriel Sloyer (RDR2)
• Fate: Killed by John Marston
• Status: Deceased

Javier was a young man who killed the wrong man out in Mexico and was forced to flee to the United States of America. From here, he immediately fell in with the Van der Linde gang due to his strong beliefs in Dutch’s ideals, passion, and loyalty. This all but sealed Javier’s fate as he decided to stick by Dutch during the fall of Beaver Hollow, but he would ultimately leave in the disbandment of the gang to return home.

Javier left America to go back to Mexico. The price on Javier’s head soon caught up to him, as he became a forced hitman for Colonel Allende, a Governor of Nuevo Paraiso. Despite the Mexican Army’s protection of Javier, John Marston managed to capture and kill him in 1911 at the request of the Bureau of Investigation.

John Marston

A Family Man Who Was Killed by the U.S. Army After Doing Their Dirty Work

• Performance by: Rob Wiethoff
• Fate: Killed by Agent Ross and the U.S. Army
• Status: Deceased

Often teased as the Golden Boy, John Marston would ride with Dutch Van der Linde ever since he was found at the age of 12 by the gang. John is just a young man, confused by his place in the universe as an unwilling father, husband, and outlaw. John’s confidence in questioning the leadership of Dutch is something that leads to the gang betraying him, where he is shot during a train robbery, and left to die. Despite this, John manages to escape to reunite with his family, and should Arthur Morgan help him, he will thank him as a brother.

By 1907, John Marston and Abigail Roberts settle down on some farmland of their own at Beecher’s Hope, but John enters into the cycle of revenge by finding and killing Micah Bell, the gang’s former rat, which draws the attention of the Bureau of Investigation. By 1911, John is forced by the Bureau of Investigation to hunt down the surviving Van der Linde gang in order to save his wife and son. Despite doing their dirty work, John is killed by the U.S. Army at his ranch, where he makes his brave last stand to hold them off so that Abigail and Jack can escape.

Jack Marston

The Last Surviving Member of the Van der Linde Gang Joins the Cycle of Revenge

• Performance by: Josh Blaylock (RDR), Marissa Buccianti (RDR2), Ted Sutherland (RDR2)
• Fate: Unknown, but likely fought in World War 1.
• Status: Alive

Little Jack Marston only ever knew the Van der Linde gang as his family, and his innocence was kept in place due to how the gang would be careful when shielding him from the criminal elements of their lives. With Abigail Roberts as a loving mother, Jack was coddled in his youth, and sheltered to lead the life of a more modern citizen who adores literature and the mundane of life, over that of outlaws and murder.

When the gang begins to fall apart with the Pinkertons reaching ever closer, Jack is taken by Tilly Jackson to Copperhead Landing to await escape with his mother. By 1911, Jack was a teen who would often read at the family farm in Beecher’s Hope, and despite his strained relationship with his father, John Marston, the two did love each other – to the point where by 1914, Jack Marston would throw his life away to engage in the cycle of revenge by becoming the last surviving outlaw of the Van der Linde gang after finding and killing Edgar Ross, the Bureau of Investigation agent who had his father murdered.

Josiah Trelawney

A Flamboyant Conman Leaves the Gang to Be With His Wife and Kids in Saint Denis

• Performance by: Stephen Gevedon
• Fate: Returned to his wife and sons in Saint Denis
• Status: Alive

Few conmen are as flamboyant and skillful as Josiah Trelawney, who may not exactly be a man with a smoking gun, but he will be a man of many charismatic talents, with friends seemingly everywhere, and leads that always result in plenty of cash. Josiah Trelawney was a good friend of Dutch Van der Linde, who often brought good leads, and tried to steer clear of the other less clean and sophisticated members of the gang.

Trelawney often has a talent for disappearing, and he uses this talent for his final adieu, he leaves Beaver Hollow and leaves the criminal life behind to go be with his family, which includes a wife and two sons in Saint Denis.

Karen Jones

A Tragic Woman Who Drinks Herself to Death

• Performance by: Jo Armeniox
• Fate: Unknown, but likely died due to alcoholism
• Status: Unknown (Presumed dead)

Karen Jones wants to fight alongside the big leagues, often trying to get herself involved in bank robberies and other scams for the Van der Linde gang that proves she’s not just a damsel. Karen is rather bold, extremely fun, and someone who adores being an outlaw almost as much as she clearly (but refuses to admit it) adores the young Irishman, Sean MacGuire.

Despite Karen’s cheer about reuniting with Sean, the man’s death makes Karebamkn spiral into alcoholism. This condition worsens into bitterness and full-on dependence by the time the gang gets to Beaver Hollow to the point where she is a hostile shell of her former self. After the gang falls, nobody hears anything from Karen, but with a letter from Tilly Jackson to John in 1907, Tilly expects Karen to have died of alcoholism after drinking herself to death.

Kieran Duffy

An Innocent Man, Decapitated by the O’Driscoll Boys

• Performance by: Pico Alexander
• Fate: Tortured and decapitated by the O’Driscroll Boys
• Status: Deceased

Kieran Duffy was a poor, young, and stressed fool who managed to get himself caught between a rock and a hard place. Kieran’s affinity for horses showed his innocence, but his lack of prospects saw him run with the O’Driscoll Boys, a rival gang to the Van der Lindes. However, Kieran is later kidnapped by Arthur Morgan, and after saving his life, he decides to remain as a Van der Linde, despite the reservations and mistrust about him.

Kieran was a good man, but 1899 was not for good men. For betraying the O’Driscoll Boys, he is kidnapped in the night at Shady Belle. The O’Driscolls torture Kieran by gouging out his eyes and decapitating him, before sending his corpse on horseback to Shady Belle for the entire Van der Linde gang to witness.

Lenny Summers

Killed by the Pinkertons During the Escape from Saint Denis

• Performance by: Harron Atkins
• Fate: Gunned down by Pinkertons
• Status: Deceased

One of the youngest and newest members of the Van der Linde gang is Lenny Summers, who had spent a few prior years on the run from the law due to the murders he committed to avenge his father. Lenny’s run-in with the Van der Linde gang was for survival, and he certainly has his wits about him, even if he is a tad green when it comes to being a fighter against the law.

Lenny’s inexperience would eventually lead to his death, as during the botched robbery of the Lemoyne National Bank, he tries to escape with the Van der Linde gang, only to meet the barrel of a Pinkerton rifle. Lenny is immediately killed and avenged by Arthur Morgan, but there is no time to mourn him due to the bullets flying and Pinkerton’s heat within Saint Denis.

Leopold Strauss

The Loan Shark Was Kicked From the Camp and Captured by Pinkertons

• Performance by: Howard Pinhasik
• Fate: Interrogated and killed by the Pinkertons
• Status: Deceased

Leopold Strauss is no killer, and his methods of sin and criminal activity extend to that of bookkeeping over holding a smoking gun. Herr Strauss is the gang’s bookkeeper, who runs the money-lending operators that result in Arthur Morgan’s tuberculosis diagnosis.

The blood-sucking operations of Strauss result in a resentful Arthur kicking him out of camp in Beaver Hollow to fend for himself, where he is later found and picked up by the Pinkertons. The Pinkertons interrogated Strauss and eventually killed him in custody. Despite being kicked out of camp, Strauss died loyal to the Van der Linde gang and revealed nothing.

Mary-Beth Gaskill

A Young Woman Who Became a Renowned Novelist

Performance by: Samantha Strelitz

Fate: Becomes a renowned romance novelist

Status: Alive

Mary-Beth is one of the most innocent members of the Van der Linde gang, and also one of the youngest. She’s a good-natured young woman who may have stolen a few watches in the past, but that doesn’t make her a cold-blooded killer like the rest of the outlaws she rides with.

Due to her youth and innocence, Mary-Beth leaves the outlaw life behind in search of something more modern. Since she always loved to read and write, Mary-Beth eventually became a novelist who specialized in romance and would go on to be quite successful under the pen name of Leslie Dupont.

Micah Bell

An Evil Traitor, Gunned Down by John Marston in a Cycle of Revenge

• Performance by: Peter Blomquist
• Fate: Killed by John Marston
• Status: Deceased

Micah Bell is a career criminal who knows nothing outside of robbing and killing folk. Micah is the definition of a bad man, and his snake-like tendencies make him hard to trust, especially when he’s only been with the Van der Linde gang for a few months. While Micah is a seedy rat, he’s an expert gunslinger who will happily shoot anyone in the back.

Micah’s manipulative forked tongue would often worm its way into Dutch’s ear, influencing the fall of the Van der Linde gang through becoming a Pinkerton informant. By 1907, Micah had his own gang, but none of them could stop the American venom of a vengeful John Marston, who aided by Sadie and Charles, would kill Micah during a standoff at Mount Hagen with Dutch.

Molly O’Shea

A Woman Driven Mad by Her Love for Dutch Van der Linde

• Performance by: Penny O’Brien
• Fate: Killed by Susan Grimshaw
• Status: Deceased

Molly O’Shea was an adoring Irish girl who was swirled into the whirlwind of an outlaw’s life due to the love she experienced for Dutch Van der Linde. Molly doesn’t do much for the camp, and it seems that all this running, and the eventual disdain of Dutch, proves too much for Molly as her stress begins to ramp up into alcohol-induced bitterness.

Molly eventually confronts Dutch, lying to him about how she told the Pinkertons all about the Saint Denis bank job. Enraged, Dutch threatens to kill her, but it’s Susan Grimshaw who de-escalates the situation by putting a bullet through her stomach, killing her, and burning her body.

Orville Swanson

A Recovering Addict Becomes a Minister in New York

• Performance by: Sean Haberie
• Fate: Becomes the minister of the First Congregational Church of New York
• Status: Alive

A clergyman who fell into a life of sin through an addiction to alcohol and morphine, Reverand Swanson has too many demons to count, and while he has lost so much of himself, he still holds onto religion, somewhat, which helps him to break his addiction as the metaphorical Pinkerton noose tightens on the gang’s neck.

Swanson, regaining his faith and his sensibilities, decides to leave the Van der Linde gang to avoid witnessing its collapse, and takes to Emerald Station to leave for New York. By 1907, Orville Swanson has not only beaten his addictions to substances, but has become a preacher, and a minister for the First Congregational Church of New York.

Sadie Adler

A Widower Turned Bounty Hunter

• Performance by: Alex McKenna
• Fate: Potentially moves to South America
• Status: Alive

Sadie Adler begins her tale of vengeance as a grieving widow, but she quickly proves she’s not very lady-like as she takes up a rifle to take revenge on the O’Driscroll Boys and embrace the outlaw life. Yet, even Sadie’s grief can’t stop her from being a good person, and she decides to save the women and children of the Van der Linde gang before the Pinkerton attack.

By 1907, Sadie Adler had left behind her grief and her short-lived outlaw stint and decided to become a bounty hunter. Being paid to shoot bad folk seemed right up Sadie’s street, and she was one of the best at it, to the point where after avenging Arthur by helping to kill Micah Bell, she expresses interest in moving on to South America.

Sean MacGuire

Killed in Rhodes During an Ambush From the Grays

• Performance by: Michael Mellamphy
• Fate: Killed in an ambush by the Grays
• Status: Deceased

Extremely cocky and extremely Irish, Sean MacGuire would often be seen as the annoying little brother of the gang. Despite his annoying behavior and affinity for pushing buttons, Sean is family, which is why his death is all the more tragic after a short walk through a little town.

Sean MacGuire, alongside Bill Williamson, Micah Bell, and Arthur Morgan, walk through the town of Rhodes, only for Sean to be shot in the head by a rifleman on the Sheriff’s Office rooftop. Sean is killed in an ambush by the Grays in retaliation for getting directly in the middle of a century-old blood feud between the Braithwaites and the Grays.

Simon Pearson

The Camp Cook Becomes the General Store Owner in Rhodes

• Performance by: Jim Santangeli
• Fate: Becomes a shopkeeper at the General Store in Rhodes
• Status: Alive

The Van der Linde gang’s prestigious butcher and camp cook, Pearson might not be the best chef in the world, but he’s an honest one, who prefers to reminisce longingly about his short stint in the Navy rather than getting involved in the murderous nature of the outlaw life.

When the Van der Linde gang collapses, Pearson leaves with Mary-Beth and Uncle and eventually settles into a new life in the town of Rhodes where he marries a woman named Ethel and runs the general store. It’s a peaceful and happy life for this old sailor.

Susan Grimshaw

The Camp’s Matriarch, Killed by Micah Bell in the Gang’s Last Stand

• Performance by: Kaili Vernoff
• Fate: Killed by Micah Bell
• Status: Deceased

The matriarch of the Van der Linde gang who was one of Dutch’s original riders, Susan Grimshaw keeps the gang in check with her ruthless rules and demand for tidiness. Susan rules with an iron will with her lack of nonsense, but she also has a bright heart for the girls of the camp, and those who deserve her loyalty.

When the remaining members of the Van der Linde gang have a standoff with John Marston and Arthur Morgan against the suspected Pinkerton informant, Micah Bell, Susan Grimshaw joins Arthur’s side, but is quickly shot in the stomach and killed by Micah Bell after an ambush from the Pinkertons.

Tilly Jackson

A Survivor of the Foreman Brothers Who Married a Wealthy Man

• Performance by: Meeya Davis
• Fate: Married with kids to a wealthy lawyer
• Status: Alive

After being kidnapped by another gang at such a young age, the gang life is all Tilly Jackson knows. The gang of kidnappers that took her in would abuse her, to the point where Tilly would murder one of them and run away – falling in with Dutch Van der Linde and his gang. This gang treated Tilly like family and would protect her from those who would seek to do her harm.

Tilly may be innocent, but her survival should never be doubted. Thanks to Tilly Jackson, both herself and Jack Marston managed to escape the Pinkertons when the Van der Linde gang fell. By 1907, Tilly Jackson had moved on from the outlaw life, and had married a wealthy lawyer named Pierre in a house with servants, and children of her own to raise.

Uncle

An Old Man With Lumbago Fights to Save the Marston Farm

• Performance by: Spider Madison (RDR), John O’Creagh (RDR2), James McBride (RDR2)
• Fate: Killed by the U.S. Army
• Status: Deceased

Uncle is a man with a singular talent: being the most lazy human being to ever walk the earth. Uncle is so lazy, that nobody even knows his real name, and he enjoys the simplicity of life with a whiskey in hand and a shady tree to nap under. Despite Uncle’s sleazy behavior and reliance on lumbago as an excuse for doing nothing, he’s not entirely a bad person, and he still holds loyalty to those close to him.

Uncle leaves the Van der Linde gang after everything goes to Hell in Beaver Hollow, but he later reunites with John Marston in 1907 and even helps him build Beecher’s Hope. As a payment for this service, Uncle invites himself to stay with the Marston family, and his loyalty is proven tenfold when he stays to fight and die for them during the U.S. Army’s raid on Beecher’s Hope in 1911.