Latest news with #MissingandMurderedIndigenousPeoples
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arizona Legislature unanimously approves Turquoise Alert System for missing Indigenous people
Community members wait in line at the water tank in Peridot, Arizona, so that they can place a red hand print of the mural honoring Emily Pike and everyone impacted by the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples crisis. Photo by Shondiin Silversmith | Arizona Mirror The creation of the Turquoise Alert System cleared its final legislative hurdle on Wednesday when it passed the state House of Representatives unanimously The new system, which would function similarly to the existing Amber Alert and Silver Alert notification systems, would coordinate alerts for missing Indigenous or endangered persons through the federally authorized Emergency Alert System. The final passage comes less than a week after the state Senate amended the legislation, House Bill 2281, to include minors who go missing. The change allows the alert system to be activated in cases like Emily Pike's, an Indigenous teen whose disappearance and murder earlier this year was cited by lawmakers as the impetus for the measure. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Rep. Teresa Martinez, R-Casa Grande, said she introduced the bill before Pike's story became public, and that the Turquoise Alert could have prevented her murder. 'It breaks my heart that we, the State of Arizona, didn't even go looking for this little girl,' she said. 'We cannot let children go missing without somebody being alerted.' Democratic Rep. Brian Garcia, a member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, said the alert will save lives. 'One day, what happened to Emily won't happen to another child,' he said. More than 10,600 Indigenous people were reported missing in the U.S. in 2023, roughly 3,300 of whom were 18 or older, according to the FBI. The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System reported that more than 23,700 missing persons cases were in the database at the end of 2023, and 255 of those were for Indigenous people. In 2021, Arizona was ranked as the state with the third-largest number of unresolved missing Indigenous people cases in the country, according to NamUs. There are currently 91 missing Indigenous people cases in the NamUs database for Arizona. A study from the Urban Indian Health Institute found that Arizona also has the third-largest number of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in the country. That study reported 506 known cases in 71 urban areas across the country, 54 of which were in Arizona, including 31 in Tucson. There is still no single database that provides accurate numbers or data related to missing and murdered Indigenous peoples across the country. With no centralized database among the thousands of federal, state and tribal entities, the information available is limited. The Turquoise Alert system has been a priority for Indigenous advocates for years, and was requested in 2019, when Arizona's first Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women study committee examined the crisis. 'Indigenous people go missing at a higher rate than any other ethnicity,' Elayne Gregg, whose 7-year-old daughter was abducted and killed in 2009, told the Arizona Mirror earlier this year. 'Because that rate is so high, something like this needs to happen.' The bill has received broad bipartisan support as it moved through the legislative process, making it likely that Gov. Katie Hobbs will sign it into law. Hobbs has already directed the Arizona Department of Public Safety to develop a plan for implementing a new alert for Indigenous people by summer. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arizona missing person alert system may go live by summer
Shondiin SilversmithArizona Mirror For years, Indigenous families have shared their experiences of reporting a missing loved one, highlighting how it is often met with a lack of response or urgency from the entities meant to assist them. 'We do know that there is a huge issue,' Capt. Paul Etnire, tribal liaison for the Arizona Department of Public Safety, said. Etnire is Hopi and grew up on the Hopi Nation in northern Arizona. Since 2019, he has worked in ad hoc committees, task forces and federal committees focused on addressing the ongoing crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples. 'It was very heartbreaking hearing testimonies,' he said of the state and federal hearingsheld to allow MMIP victims to share their experiences. The blame, he said, belongs across the board: law enforcement, prosecutors, social services, tribal governments, non-tribal communities and Indian Country. 'The whole system failed,' Etnire said. 'It was just heartbreaking that we failed in every single way for the victims and for the victims' families,' he added. Finding ways to address and develop solutions for the MMIP crisis within Indian Country has been a priority for Indigenous women, leaders, advocates and communities for years. Part of that work included advocating for the creation of a multijurisdictional missing persons alert system — something that is finally about to become a reality as states across the country, including Arizona, work to implement the Federal Communications Commission's new Missing and Endangered Person alert code. In March, Gov. Katie Hobbs met with several key stakeholders, including the Arizona Department of Public Safety and representatives from tribal nations, to develop a plan for implementing the new alert code by summer. 'I know that so many families have been affected by this crisis and have fought for years,' Hobbs told the Arizona Mirror, adding that she hopes that, with the implementation of the MEP alert, these families will finally feel a sense of justice. Hobbs said that when an Indigenous person goes missing, a lot of times their case does not rise to the level of getting an Amber, Silver or Blue alert, and the goal of the MEP alert is to 'fill in that gap.' 'As governor, I see my role as elevating those voices and making sure we're taking action on the issues that matter most to communities across the state,' Hobbs said. 'And this is just one example of that.' The governor said that implementing the FCC's new MEP alert in Arizona was prioritized based on the recommendation from the MMIP task force, and seeing it come to fruition is great and validates the task force's work. 'It's important to keep the work going,' she said. The MEP alert code will be used for missing and endangered persons who do not meet the Amber and Silver Alert criteria, according to the FCC, enabling a more rapid and coordinated response to these incidents. The FCC adopted the new alert code in 2024, stating that it will be especially beneficial to tribal communities, where Indigenous peoples face a disproportionate risk of going missing, experiencing violence and murder. More than 10,600 Indigenous people were reported missing in the U.S. in 2023, roughly 3,300 of whom were 18 or older, according to the FBI. The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System reported that more than 23,700 missing persons cases were in the database at the end of 2023, and 255 of those were for Indigenous people. In 2021, Arizona was ranked as the state with the third-largest number of unresolved missing Indigenous people cases in the country, according to NamUs. There are currently 91 missing Indigenous people cases in the NamUs database for Arizona. A study from the Urban Indian Health Institute found that Arizona also has the third-largest number of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in the country. That study reported 506 known cases in 71 urban areas across the country, 54 of which were in Arizona, including 31 in Tucson. There is still no single database that provides accurate numbers or data related to missing and murdered Indigenous peoples across the country. With no centralized database among the thousands of federal, state and tribal entities, the information available is limited. When looking at the numbers, it's important to note that Indigenous people make up only about 6% of the population in Arizona. The state has only three major metropolitan areas, all of which have large Indigenous populations, and each of the 22 tribal nations in Arizona has a large number of people living on their tribal lands. In Arizona, the recommendation for a missing endangered persons alert was first made in 2022 by the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls ad hoc committee and has continued as a recommendation by the task force. Jason Chavez, who leads Hobbs' Office on Tribal Relations, said there has been positive feedback from tribal leaders and tribal law enforcement regarding the implementation of the MEP alert. Chavez said that tribal leaders and communities have long called for this type of alert, and the MMIP task force has advocated for it. 'Under the governor's leadership, we're finally ready to implement,' he said. Increasing public awareness about MMIP is a challenge, Chavez said, but he believes that once this alert goes live, it will help shed some light on the ongoing crisis. 'This is one step in the right direction,' he added. According to the FCC, the MEP alert is part of the nation's Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alert System. It will be part of a set of codes utilized by tribal, state and local law enforcement agencies with access to the system, delivering a critical alert message to the public through television, radio and wireless phones. The Arizona Department of Public Safety will utilize the IPAWS alerting system for MEP alerts. This system can send alerts to specific locations, as narrow as the cross streets where a person went missing or as broad as the state. Once the alert is set up in the system and activated, it will immediately be pushed out to the public. The language in the MEP alert will closely resemble that of Amber and Silver Alerts. Capt. Thomas Neve, with the Arizona Department of Public Safety Emergency Management District, oversees the operations of Arizona's alert system. Neve has worked with the alert program for over a decade. He said the department has offered a Missing and Endangered Persons Advisory, but never an alert. Neve said that DPS issues about 150 emergency alerts annually. In 2024, they dispatched 131 Silver Alerts, but no Amber Alerts and 16 missing endangered person advisories. He said the MEP alert now allows them to send out an alert through TV broadcasts, radio and cellphones in real time when a person goes missing. 'It's a little bit of extra horsepower,' he said, adding that it sends the messages out all at once, which ensures consistency in the messaging. The U.S. Department of Justice will release guidelines on pushing out MEP alerts, but they have not been released yet. Neve said they are preparing to fully establish the alert for Arizona so that they are ready when the guidelines are released. In general, Neva said the agency's first step is to verify that the report does not fall into any of the other alert categories and ensure that the reporting agency has identified that the missing person has truly gone missing. For instance, if the missing person is a minor, Neve said it needs to be verified that it is not a runaway or part of a custody issue where the biological parent may have taken the child, and that there isn't any danger to the child. 'Sometimes, people are reported missing because they didn't come home, but that doesn't mean they didn't go to another residence,' he said, which is why there are a lot of things that need to be done by the local agency before an alert is considered. Neve said that agencies across the state have the potential to find that person without having to issue an alert, which is why part of the process of being eligible for an MEP alert is that the reporting agency needs to have exhausted all their available resources first. 'We recognize that some agencies are much larger than others that have better capability of doing that, but every agency has the basic capability of at least entering that person as a missing person,' he said. Once that local agency has exhausted those resources and they otherwise meet the criteria, Neve said the final step would be an MEP alert. The local agency would request an MEP alert from the Arizona Department of Safety. Once their criteria are approved, Neve said they evaluate the request and determine whether it qualifies. 'We're the gatekeepers,' he said. 'We would facilitate that activation on behalf of that agency, making the request.' Neve said it is important to have a clear guideline for what constitutes an MEP alert because there is potential for overloading the public with alerts that it 'desensitizes the general public' to the point that they ignore the alerts. 'There are several thousand missing person cases a year in Arizona,' Neve said, and having an alert does not guarantee success in missing person cases. However, Neve said having an MEP alert is a 'big step' because it solicits the public's help finding these missing people and bridges the gap in other alerts. All Arizona tribes can make an MEP alert request, and Neve said they would work closely with any tribal agencies. 'It doesn't matter if the tribal person went missing on or off the reservation; we can do an activation for that person,' he said. Etnire said that the MEP alert system is not the tool that will end the crisis of MMIP, and it should not be viewed as such. 'This is not the tool that will end this,' he said. Etnire said implementing the MEP has been a long time coming and the alert technology is another tool they can capitalize on. 'This is not the thing that's gonna solve the issue of MMIP within this country (or) within the state,' he said, but it is a tool that law enforcement can use to hopefully fill in some of those gaps with the Amber Alert Program and the Silver Alert Program. Etnire said that for a tool to be effective, it has to be used. 'It's not just incumbent upon local law enforcement to utilize,' he added. 'We have to work together as a whole.' Navajo Nation Council Delegate Amber Kanazbah Crotty said she hopes that as Arizona works through implementing the MEP alert, there will be a clear idea of how the multiple agencies can work together to push the alerts. 'We need a collective effort to bring our relatives home,' Crotty said, noting that the first 24 hours are vital for missing people. 'It's another layer of collaboration and data because of the different jurisdictional issues that we chronically have,' she added, noting how the Navajo Nation spreads across three states and the tribe has a large population living on and off the reservation. She said having an MEP alert available is crucial for tribal communities because it enables them to notify more people and potentially increases the number of individuals searching for the missing person, which 'hopefully decreases the trauma for the family.'
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Yahoo
‘Apache Strong': Mural honors slain teen Emily Pike as community demands justice
Community members wait in line at the water tank in Peridot, Arizona, so that they can place a red hand print of the mural honoring Emily Pike and everyone impacted by the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples crisis. Photo by Shondiin Silversmith | Arizona Mirror Alika Harvey from the White Mountain Apache Tribe placed her hand covered in red paint firmly on the water tower, adding to the hundreds of other red hand prints stamped across a mural painted in honor of late San Carlos Apache Teen Emily Pike and other Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples. 'Emily was the same age as me,' Harvey said. 'She was 14. I am 14.' Emily, a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, went missing in January. Her remains were found on Feb. 14 outside of Globe, in a remote area off of U.S. Route 60. Harvey, who serves as Jr. Miss White Mountain Apache 2024-2025, drove with her family to San Carlos when she heard that local artists had created a mural in Emily's honor and the community was hosting a vigil for the family. When Harvey heard about Emily's story, she said it made her mad, especially after hearing about how Indigenous women go missing and experience violence at higher rates than the national average. 'Why are we still going through this as Indigenous people?' she said. Harvey's mother, Desiree, watched her daughter place her handprint on the water tower and said it was beautiful. They came out in support of Emily, Desiree said, because her tragedy impacts all Indigenous peoples. 'We're all coming together,' she added. Seeing the mural of Emily and all the hand prints on it, Alika Harvey said it really touched her as an Indigenous woman because she's happy to be a part of it. 'It's important for this to be put up in her memory, to spread awareness (and) to show people that we care,' she said. 'We're still here and we see that this shouldn't be happening anymore.' The mural of Emily Pike is on a large water tank that can be seen off U.S. Route 70 near a Bashas' grocery store in Peridot. San Carlos Apache artist Myron Starr said when he learned about Emily's love for art, he started thinking of how to use his talent to honor her. He decided a mural for her was the best way. 'I didn't know what to expect,' Starr said when he approached the family about the mural. To his surprise, they already knew who he was. 'They were honored,' he added. Starr began the mural on March 7 and ultimately brought five other artists on board to contribute to it. The mural, which stands more than 40 feet tall, was completed on March 11. A few days later, they held an event to involve the community by asking them to place red hand prints on it. The artists who joined Starr for the project were Carrie Sage Curley and Samuel Bendle, who are both San Carlos Apache, and AJ Larson, Felicia Garcia and Erica Raymond. 'This is something that had to be done,' Starr said of the mural. 'She needed to be brought home the right way.' The mural's centerpiece is a portrait of Emily wearing a red Apache camp dress surrounded by medicinal plants used by the San Carlos Apache people. Silhouettes of Apache warriors stand beside her. The words 'Apache Strong' are written boldly in white, surrounded by a butterfly and stars. The final touches of the mural were the individual red hand prints from people who wanted to honor her and support the fight against the murdered and missing Indigenous people's crisis. 'It speaks volumes without speaking,' Starr said of the mural. When the idea of allowing the community to add red handprints came up, Starr said the artists did not expect how well it would be received. 'It united the community,' he said. Hundreds of people came through to place a red handprint. The artists had Emily's mother, Stephanie Dosela, right in the center of the mural. Her red handprint is the only one in that area. Curley joined Starr and the other artists after passing by the area late one night and seeing them working on the mural. She contacted Starr and said he invited her to join. 'As an artist, it's such an honor to be part of it,' she said, and she thanked all the other artists who worked on the mural because it was hard. 'People think that art is just beautiful, but it's heavy,' she said. 'It's heavy at many times to paint crosses, to paint memorial things — but this is beautiful.' Curley said they chose to paint Emily wearing an Apache camp dress because it's a shield for them as Apache women, and she believes that a lot of Indigenous women can understand that. 'This is us respecting her,' she said, adding that having a mural for Emily is 'bringing her home in a good way.' Curley said the water tank off Highway 70 was a great canvas for the mural because it allows people to see it from the road and brings more awareness to what's happened. 'Having her be seen is number one,' Curley said. 'This is our way as artists.' Larson thanked the San Carlos Apache Tribe and the community for letting them work on their land and paint the mural. 'It's been one of the most powerful experiences I've ever been through,' he said. 'I painted other murals that people have lost their loved ones, but this one hit differently for me.' He said witnessing everyone come and place their handprints on the mural was beautiful. 'Each one of you basically signed that water tower,' he said. Emily's aunt, April Victor, talked about the mural during a candlelight vigil on March 15. She said that it was an emotional experience to place her handprint on the water tank. 'Once I put my hand on the tank, I couldn't help but cry and tell Emily I'm sorry,' Victor said. 'I'm sorry nobody was there to protect you. I'm sorry you had to be alone when you died. I'm sorry that you had to suffer the way that you did. I'm sorry that none of us were there to save you.' She said she commends the work that all the artists did for Emily. Hundreds of people, some holding signs, others wearing red or having red handprints across their mouths, gathered in front of the Apache Gold Casino on March 15 to honor Emily Pike and demonstrate their support for her family and those affected by the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous peoples. San Carlos Apache Tribal Chairman Terry Rambler spoke during the vigil, updating the community on the investigation and announcing an award. Rambler said the Gila County Sheriff's Office is leading the ongoing investigation, but the San Carlos Police Department and Game & Fish Department are assisting. 'The Gila County Sheriff's Office is committed to finding whomever committed this horrible act,' he said. 'They will continue to update us, and we will share what we can.' Rambler shared with the community that the San Carlos Apache Tribal Council is offering a $75,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. He said the council has launched an independent study to help determine where the tribe can improve its internal processes to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again. 'Our San Carlos Council will be meeting with Governor (Katie) Hobbs, our state legislators, and our sister tribes to work with our representatives to help improve group home standards off reservation to help prevent something like this from happening again,' Rambler said. At the time of her disappearance, Emily lived in a group home in Mesa. She was last seen on the evening of Jan. 27 near Mesa Drive and McKellips Road. Two days later, the Mesa Police Department issued a poster for Emily, listing her as a missing or runaway juvenile. When Emily went missing, it took a week before San Carlos Tribal Social Services notified the family. A month after she went missing, the Gila County Sheriff's Office reported that Emily's remains had been found. 'She was so young, super young. She had everything ahead of her,' San Carlos Apache teen Alayna Redhouse said about Emily. She attended the vigil and placed a handprint on the mural in her honor. 'We care about our people,' Redhouse, 16, said. She attended the vigil with her friend, Dlavin Thompson, 15. They both had a red handprint over their mouths and danced with the community during a prayer song. 'She deserved better than this,' Thompson said of Emily. When she heard what had happened to her, she was heartbroken and started crying. 'This needs to stop, because why us?' she added. As the sun set behind the snow-covered mountains and the temperatures started to drop, supporters remained well into the night to hear from Emily's family, listen to the drum group, enjoy community members singing and hear from tribal officials. Emily's uncle, Allred Pike Jr., spoke during her vigil, thanking the community for supporting the entire family. Allred Pike said that Emily knew that all life was precious and her life may have been cut short, but her name will be remembered all over. 'Her name is not confined to this reservation anymore,' he said. 'It has spread throughout all of Indian Country.' Allred Pike said people are saying her name because they all want one thing: justice for Emily. 'We've got to continue to say her name,' he added. 'We've got to let the world know that we want justice for our very own.' San Carlos Apache Tribal Vice Chairman Tao Etpison said the tribe will continue to work until an arrest and conviction is made for what happened to Emily. 'We will not rest. We will not sit back,' he said. 'Apaches are known everywhere, and this has happened to us. We are victims of a missing and murdered Indigenous person.' Etpison said that the tribe will continue to look for people who are missing and make sure they are returned safely if that's possible. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Yahoo
Gila River Indian Community holds prayer vigil in honor of Emily Pike
Family members of Emily Pike accept hugs from community members during a prayer vigil held by the Gila River Indian Community's Victim Services Department on March 13, 2025, in Sacaton. Photo by Shondiin Silversmith | Arizona Mirror Family members of Emily Pike received hugs, handshakes and condolences from dozens of people during a prayer vigil hosted by the Gila River Indian Community. Emily was a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe and 14 years old when she went missing in January. Her remains were found on Feb. 14 outside of Globe, in a remote area off of U.S. Route 60. In response to her tragic death, Indigenous people and communities throughout Arizona have been holding prayer vigils and memorials in Emily's honor. Emily's aunt, grandmother and two other relatives drove from the San Carlos Apache Reservation on March 13 to attend an early morning prayer hosted by Gila River Indian Community's Victim Services Department. 'It was comforting to see all of these people,' said April Victor, Emily's aunt. 'I felt the support for not only my loved one but all the others.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Victor said that Emily's story has impacted so many people, and their family has heard from so many other Indigenous people who have been affected by the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples crisis. Seeing so many people gather in the Gila River Indian Community reminded Victor of how, as part of Apache traditions, the community comes together to provide support when someone passes away. 'We, as Indigenous people, that's how we show comfort,' she said. Victor said that death is such a lonely feeling, and it often leaves those grieving the death feeling alone or deserted from the world. But having so many people come together has helped them start to heal, she said. Despite the early morning and cold temperatures, dozens of people attended the prayer vigil in front of the Gila River Governance Center in Sacaton. The victim services department handed out red ribbons for attendees to pin to their shirts, representing the MMIP crisis. 'We wanted to have this gathering to show support for everybody who's going through a loss of a loved one or who doesn't know where their loved one is,' said Katherine Lewis, the director of the victim services department of the Gila River Indian Community. Lewis said the prayer was a way for community members to provide that strength and support for fellow community members during trying times. 'One thing that always stands out about us is our resiliency as a people, as a community,' she said, and with everyone showing up to the prayer vigil, it shows the continued resilience and strength of Indigenous people. During the vigil, Lewis thanked everyone who showed up because it is essential to keep talking about what happened to Emily and continue to raise awareness about MMIP. She said that, despite extensive local news coverage about Emily Pike, there has still been little national coverage of what is happening. 'Keep saying her name,' Lewis said. During the prayer vigil, Gila River Chief of Police Jesse Crabtree asked the community to speak up when they see anything unsafe. 'By saying something, you could be saving a life,' he said. Crabtree said Emily's story should never have ended in her death, so it is important to 'stand together as a community, ensuring that no other family has to endure this pain.' 'Tribal communities across the country will not let Emily's name be forgotten,' he said. 'Let her memory be a call to action.' Crabtree said that police officers are committed to doing their part, but the issue is bigger than law enforcement alone, and that is why it would take a community. 'We need more people to start coming forward to speak up, to stand up and to help prevent something like this from happening again in the future,' he added. 'Silence always allows violence to continue.' Gila River Indian Community member Della Morago attended the vigil and offered her condolences to the family before leaving because Emily's story impacted her. 'It's not right,' Morago said of what happened to Emily. 'She was only a baby.' She said she was happy to see the community come together to support the family because it shows they're not alone. Morago said she hopes that the people involved in Emily's death are brought to justice so the family can have some closure. She is still waiting for closure and justice of her own: Morago has loved ones who are currently missing and others who have been murdered. And she was also a victim. Morago said she was shot in the face when she was in her 20s and left on the side of the road for dead in District 6 of the Gila River Indian Community. 'I was almost a statistic, but I was found,' she said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
