Latest news with #Beson
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Yahoo
$25,000 reward offered for info on Lac du Flambeau woman missing since March 17
Melissa Beson photo courtesy LDF Police Department For information resulting in the return of Melissa Beson, 37, who has been missing from a Vilas County reservation since March 17, and/or the arrest and prosecution of anyone involved in Beson's disappearance, the Lac du Flambeau (LDF) Band of Lake Superior Chippewa is offering a reward of $25,000. 'Melissa's family desperately wants to know where she is, and the Tribe is fully committed to helping its law enforcement agency exhaust every investigative resource to find her and bring her home,' said T.J. Bill, LDF Tribal Police Chief, in a press release. Beson is a Native American female, 5'7', with a medium build, brown hair and brown eyes. She has numerous tattoos, including on her neck, arms and legs. She was reported missing on March 23, 2025. The last confirmed sighting of her was on Monday, March 17, 2025, during the late afternoon. At that time, Beson was observed walking on Indian Village Road, near Wayman Lane, in Lac du Flambeau. When last seen, she wore red sweatpants, a black sleeveless shirt and a gray sweatshirt. 'The Lac du Flambeau Tribal Police Department (LDFTPD) remains steadfast in its investigation into Melissa's disappearance,' said Bill. 'Every lead, no matter how small, is being thoroughly pursued to find her. Authorities have searched relentlessly in the area where Melissa was last seen, as well as other areas of interest. LDFTPD Officers and assisting agencies have conducted grid searches on foot, have deployed high-tech drones and airplanes, and have searched using specially trained canines. To date, over 3,400 acres have been carefully searched.' Based on the information his office has received, Bill told the Wisconsin Examiner two theories about Beson's disappearance have been pursued: she either walked out into the forest and became lost and is probably deceased, or she left the area and is living with other persons. Besides the large-scale searches for Beson, coordination with other law enforcement agencies has been conducted regarding reports of Beson being in another community in the Wausau area, but follow-up investigations have yet to produce any information on Beson's whereabouts. 'The reward offered by the Tribe will be apportioned as deemed just by the Tribe, in the event, for example, multiple credible tips are received, which lead to the discovery of Melissa Beson and/or the arrest and charging of anyone responsible for her disappearance,' said Bill. Employees of law enforcement and correctional agencies are not eligible to collect the reward. Anyone with information regarding Beson's disappearance or location is asked to call the Lac du Flambeau Tribal Police Department at (715) 588-7717 or the Vilas County Sheriff's Office at (715) 479-4441. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Yahoo
False sightings, hoaxes plague search for missing Ojibwe woman in northern Wisconsin
Tribal police in northern Wisconsin have been frustrated in their efforts to find a missing Ojibwe woman, Melissa Beson. Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe Police Chief TJ Bill said in a statement that police have been following up on numerous leads, including on the reservation and in the Wausau area, only to learn they are false sightings or hoaxes. Beson, 37, was last seen March 17 near Indian Village Road and Chequamegon Forest Trail on the Lac du Flambeau Reservation within Vilas County. She was wearing red sweatpants, a black sleeveless shirt and a gray sweatshirt. She is 5'7' with a medium build, brown hair, brown eyes and has numerous tattoos, including on her neck, arms and legs. Beson was reported missing by her family members on March 23. Bill said that police and tribal officials have searched more than 1,300 acres of forested reservation land, much of which is extremely treacherous terrain. He said the tribe's emergency management director nearly lost her life during one of the searches in a floating bog area. Bill said police have not requested untrained volunteers in the search because of the dangerous terrain. He said Beson's family members have not given up hope that she will be found safe. Bill said it has been suggested that Beson is 'hiding out' somewhere for some reason and is afraid to come back to Lac du Flambeau. If that's the case, he said, he has a message: 'Melissa, please know that you are not in trouble. We are not going to arrest you or take you to jail. All anyone wants is for you to come home. Your family is frantic and the entire community is worried about you. There will be relief and much happiness upon your return. We all know that it was not your intent to cause such concern and worry." Sign up for the First Nations Wisconsin newsletter Click here to get all of our Indigenous news coverage right in your inbox Frank Vaisvilas is a former Report for America corps member who covers Native American issues in Wisconsin based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact him at fvaisvilas@ or 815-260-2262. Follow him on Twitter at @vaisvilas_frank. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Hoaxes plague search for missing Ojibwe woman in northern Wisconsin
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Yahoo
Search continues for missing woman as authorities follow up on reports of sightings near Wausau
Melissa Beson photo courtesy LDF Police Department The authorities searching for Melissa Beson, 37, a missing member of the Lac du Flambea (LDF) Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians in Vilas County, who has been missing since March 17, say they have followed up on reports that Beson was seen around the city of Wausau as they continue searching the forest near where Beson was last seen. On March 17, Beson was noticed walking on Village Road near Wayman Lane toward Hwy. 47 on the Lac du Flambeau Reservation. Six days later, family members reported Beson missing on March 23. Beson was last seen wearing red sweatpants, a black sleeveless shirt, and a gray sweatshirt. She is a Native American female, 5'7', with a medium build, brown hair, and brown eyes. She has numerous tattoos on her neck, arms, and legs. Ground searches began on March 24 and 25, and aerial and underwater drones covered the Bear River in the vicinity where Beson was last seen. Over 360 surveillance cameras positioned near tribal properties and monitored by full-time police employees had recorded footage reviewed without any evidence of Beson. Subsequent ground searches were hampered by the heavy snowfall, but since most of the snow has melted, ground searches have resumed. Lac du Flambeau Tribal Police Chief TJ Bill reports that on April 16, a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) plane provided aerial coverage, and he expects the DNR aircraft will again be available on Monday, April 21. So far, Bill said, searchers have covered over 824 acres of forest. 'We are not saying she is out in the forest, but we need to make sure, and this is why we are doing the searches,' said Bill. Recently police received reports that Beson was seen in the Wausau area. Beson's mother, Winifred Ann Beson, 'Winnie,' told the Wisconsin Examiner on Tuesday, April 8, that her daughter might be with friends and she noted her daughter also likes to travel to other states, but in the past, Beson has always stayed in communication. 'Usually, she calls me if she needs money or is in trouble, but she hasn't called me,' she said. 'We have been getting numerous reports Melissa is in the Wausau area,' said Bill, 'but nothing has been substantiated. We have our officers travelling to Wausau and other areas.' Beson's mother also said she is afraid Melissa might have been kidnapped by human traffickers. Native Americans have been targeted by human traffickers who prey on vulnerable populations where there is poverty and high drug use. According to the Indian Law Resource Center, Native American women experience the highest rates of sexual assault of any group and are10 times more likely to experience domestic violence than white women. On some reservations, Native American women are murdered at a rate that is 10 times the national average. The missing and murdered Indigenous women plus relatives (MMIW/R) movement has strived to raise awareness of the plight of Indigenous people in North America. May 5 is Red Dress Day, a national day of awareness for MMIW/R. Wisconsin has a MMIW/R Task Force that is part of the Department of Justice, but Wisconsin doesn't have a full time office as in Minnesota, which monitors MMIW/R cases, assists families, coordinates information for r law enforcement agencies and offers rewards for information. Concerning the search for Beson, Bill said his office has one officer dedicated to the case who is also coordinating the searches with the help of the tribe's emergency management office. 'Our two detectives are spending the majority of their time on the case, working social media search warrants for cellular telephones (Verizon), Facebook, Snap Chat and Google, working with these entities on past history locations,' said Bill. 'If we're not handling current cases/calls coming into the PD, we are working this case non-stop.' Bill said the public may be invited to help in the search for Beson, but he is concerned that volunteers stay safe in the large forest where it is easy to become disoriented and lost. 'These areas are dangerous to the novice, and we cannot afford the volunteers to work the swamp and bog areas,' he said. 'There is still some ground freeze, but areas of the swamps have thawed areas with deep mud. We got stuck at times [Thursday] in the swamps. When safe and weather conditions are good, we will ask for volunteer support.' Anyone with any information regarding Beson's whereabouts should call the Lac du Flambeau Tribal Police Department at (715) 588-7717 or Vilas County Sheriff's Office at (715) 479-4441. Bill wanted to acknowledge organizations that have helped with the search for Beson. 'We literally have thousands of hours into this investigation, which involves so many entities, not just ourselves,' said Bill. Organizations that have helped include: LDF Emergency Management, LDF Tribal Roads, LDF Tribal Wardens, LDF Natural Resources, LDF Victim Services, LDF Economic Support, LDF Prosecutor, Newbold Fire Search and Rescue, LDF Fire and EMS, Arbor Vitae Fire and EMS, Vilas County Sheriff's Office and Dispatch, Vilas County Sheriff's Office Jail, Vilas County IT Department, LDF IT Department, Manitowoc County Sheriff's Office, DNR, Wisconsin Emergency Management, Wausau Police Department, Mountain Bay Metro Police, Taylor County Sheriff's Office, Medford Police Department, Forest County Sheriff's Office, Crandon Police Department, Kenosha County Sheriff's Office, Atkins County Sheriff's Office – Minnesota, Milwaukee High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) agency, Vilas County Emergency Management, State of Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation, State of Wisconsin Department of Corrections Probation and Parole, Lake of the Torches Casino surveillance, Missing Murdered, Indigenous, plus Relatives (MMIW/R) Wisconsin Task Force, and Native American Drug and Gang Initiative (NADGI) Task Force. The tribal police department also received free software from Intrepid Networks, a company whose platform allows police to monitor searchers via cell phone using GPS coordinates.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Yahoo
Police searching for missing Ojibwe woman last seen a month ago in northern Wisconsin
Melissa Beson, a Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe tribal member, has been missing for more than a month as tribal and local police continue to search for her in northern Wisconsin. Beson, 37, was last seen March 17 near Indian Village Road and Chequamegon Forest Trail on the Lac du Flambeau Reservation within Vilas County. She was wearing red sweatpants, a black sleeveless shirt and a gray sweatshirt. She is 5'7' with a medium build, brown hair, brown eyes and has numerous tattoos, including on her neck, arms and legs. Beson was reported missing by her family members on March 23. Lac du Flambeau Tribal Police Chief Thomas Bill in a statement said finding Beson has been his department's top priority. 'We have conducted extensive ground searches on foot, even in severe weather conditions,' he said in a statement. 'Our officers have even come in on their days off to search for her.' Bill said search dogs appeared to have picked up Beson's scent where she was last seen and police have used drones, including an underwater one, to search the surrounding vast wilderness area. He said police have covered about 824 acres of forested areas looking for Beson as of April 14. 'Although we are expending monumental efforts in searching the area in which Melissa was last seen, we are in no way ignoring the possibility that she may be elsewhere,' Bill said in a statement. 'Our officers are working non-stop during every shift to follow up on every lead and tip that we receive.' He said police have interviewed dozens of people and have reached out to other law enforcement agencies around the state. That includes departments in the Wausau area where police followed up on a lead where Beson may have been. Other local police departments, including the Vilas County Sheriff's Office, are assisting in the search. Beson's disappearance is the latest in what tribal officials and advocates call an epidemic of murdered and missing Indigenous people. More: 'Somebody in Lac du Flambeau knows something': Siblings seek help in solving their mother's 1990 cold case murder On March 18, a day after Beson was last seen, St. Croix Chairman Thomas Fowler mentioned the crisis during his State of the Tribes address to the Wisconsin Legislature in Madison. 'We need adequate funding allocated to serve our understaffed police departments, more cohesive law enforcement training, strengthened alert systems, increased funding for tribal programs that provide shelter and increased mental health resources," he said in his address. Homicide is the third-leading cause of death for Indigenous girls and young women, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And Indigenous females are more than three times more likely to be murdered than white females, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. The Wisconsin Attorney General's Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women Task Force expects to release its report about the crisis later this year. More: Jurisdiction, human trafficking and drugs play roles in violence against Indigenous people, Wisconsin AG says Sign up for the First Nations Wisconsin newsletter Click here to get all of our Indigenous news coverage right in your inbox Frank Vaisvilas is a former Report for America corps member who covers Native American issues in Wisconsin based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact him at fvaisvilas@ or 815-260-2262. Follow him on Twitter at @vaisvilas_frank. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Search for missing Ojibwe woman continues across Wisconsin
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Yahoo
Authorities looking for missing woman from northern Wisconsin, last seen in mid-March
LAC DU FLAMBEAU, Wis. (WFRV) – Authorities have issued a missing endangered person alert on Thursday, saying they are searching for a woman from northern Wisconsin who was last heard from on March 17. According to the Lac du Flambeau Tribal Police Department, officers are looking for 37-year-old Melissa J. Beson. It was noted that she is Native American, 5'7″, and roughly 170 pounds. Beson has brown eyes, brown hair, and numerous tattoos on her neck, arms, and legs. Wisconsin pregnant teen missing for 2 months found in Nebraska, man in custody Officers say Beson has not been heard from since March 17th, and her family is concerned for her safety. She was last seen on Indian Village Road near Wayman Lane in Lac du Flambeau. She was reportedly last seen wearing red sweatpants, a black sleeveless shirt, and a graysweatshirt. Firefighters rescue cat from basement fire in Kaukauna The alert was sent out to Forest, Oneida, and Vilas Counties. No additional details were provided. Local 5 will provide an update when more information is released. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
