Indigenous women and relatives continue to feel the devastating impacts of colonization in many ways, one of them being rampant interpersonal violence. There are an estimated 7,000 open homicide and missing persons cases involving American Indians, but very few of them have been solved. The Law Offices of Darlene Gomez in Albuquerque, NM represent the next-of-kin for sixteen Missing or Murdered Indigenous Women & Relatives (MMIWR) on a pro bono (free) basis. Common barriers to achieving justice are the lack of inter-agency cooperation, halfhearted searches, stonewalling by law-enforcement officials working the case, and funding problems for Tribal investigative agencies. Of the sixteen individuals that our office represents, only two have progressed to an arrest and/or trial. 

Currently, there is no way for civilians to hold Investigators accountable for actually working these crimes. The three investigative agencies that are responsible for working crimes in Indian Country (the FBI, BIA, and Tribal Criminal Investigations), do not have a system in place for facilitating inter-agency cooperation on these cases. The FBI "passes the buck" when they hear complaints about Tribal investigators, the BIA's role in working cases is not clear, and Tribal investigators simply do not have the funding or manpower to effectively work their jurisdictions. On the Navajo Nation, for instance, there are approximately 300 Navajo PD law enforcement personnel patrolling more than 17.5 million acres of mostly rural land with a population of more than 170,000 people. Members of the community often take it upon themselves to interfere with criminal activity because of the incredibly long time it takes for officers to respond to a call (See pg. 54 of NPD Organizational Assessment linked below). 

Recently, the remains of Jamie Lynette Yazzie were found just beyond the border fence between Navajo Nation and the Hopi Reservation on the Hopi side. The FBI did not search there because the BIA has investigative jurisdiction. Jamie's alleged killer was Navajo, and he lived just a short distance from where Jamie's body was found. But her remains were found by chance more than two years after she went missing. Neither the FBI or the BIA searched on the Hopi side of the fence. Why?

Please sign our petition to hold Deb Haaland, the US Secretary of the Interior, accountable for fixing these issues and prioritizing the resolution of violent crimes in Indian Country. Secretary Haaland must provide more funding to the Bureau of Indian Affairs investigative officers and work to increase cooperation and information-sharing with other Federal and Tribal investigative agencies.

Sign to support Justice for all Indigenous victims, including but not limited to: 

Joey Apachee (Navajo Nation) - Deceased, homicide
Corren Bedonie (Navajo Nation), - Missing
Ella Mae Begay (Navajo Nation), - Missing, presumed deceased
Marcus Bowman - Murdered
Ranelle Rose Bennett (Navajo Nation), - Missing
Ashley Collins (Navajo Nation/Jicarilla Apache Nation), - Missing
Travis Howland (Jicarilla Apache Nation), - Deceased, homicide
Melanie James (Navajo Nation), - Missing
Calvin Martinez (Navajo Nation/Jicarilla Apache Nation), - Missing
Melissa Montoya (Jicarilla Apache Nation), - Missing
Pepita Redhair (Navajo Nation), - Missing
Zachariah Juwan Shorty (Navajo Nation), - Deceased, homicide
Laverda Sorrell (Navajo Nation), - Missing, presumed deceased
Shawna Toya (Jemez Pueblo), - Deceased, suspicious accidental death
Jonathan Jay Wacondo (Laguna Pueblo), - Deceased, homicide
Kaelin Woundeface (Navajo Nation), - Deceased, suspicious accidental death
Jamie Lynette Yazzie (Navajo Nation). - Deceased, homicide

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21675814-mmiw-210527-navajo-police-dept-report?responsive=1&title=1

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