Native American Women Say Their Daughters Are Disappearing But No One is Taking Action Share Shares Copy Link Copy

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SOLEDAD: THERE’S AN EPIDEMIC HAPPENING RIGHT NOW IN AMERICA THAT’S GETTING VERY LITTLE ATTENTION. NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN AND GIRLS ARE VANISHING. ACCORDING TO THE FBI, NATIVE WOMEN ARE 10 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO BE MURDERED THAN NON-NATIVE AMERICANS AND FOUR TIMES MORE LIKELY TO BE RAPED. THOSE STATISTICS HAVE SPARKED COMMNITY OUTRAGE BUT VERY LITTLE LAW ENFORCEMENT ACTION. AT LEAST THAT’S WHAT THE FAMILIES OF THE VICTIMS TELL US. >> I’VE BEEN HAVING A LOT OF FRIENDS THAT HAVE GONE MISSING AND NEVER FOUND. SOLEDAD: FOR DECADES, INDIGENOUS WOMEN AND GIRLS HAVE BEEN DISAPPEARING, INCLUDING LARISSA LONE HILL. >> THAT WAS ONE OF THE RECENT ONES BEFORE SHE WENT MISSING. SOLEDAD: MORE THAN TWO YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE LISA LONE HILL LAST SAW HER DAUGHTER. >> I WAS JUST SO MAD, JUST WRITING DOWN MY FEELINGS. CAN YOU IMAGE YOUR OWN DAUGHTER BEING MISSING? TRY TO IMAGINE HOW PAINFUL THAT IS. I PRAY FOR STRENGTH TO GO ON BUT IT’S SO HARD WITHOUT MY GIRL. SOLEDAD: IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO KNOW HOW MANY NATIVE WOMEN HAVE DISAPPEARED OR HOW MANY HAVE BEEN MURDERED BECAUSE SOME CASES GO UNREPORTED. OTHERS AREN’T PROPERLY DOCUMENTED. AND THERE ISN’T A SPECIFIC GOVERNMENT DATABASE TRACKING THE CASES. >> I USED TO COME OUT HERE AND SIT ALL THE TIME. AND THERE WOULD ALWAYS BE AN EAGLE. SOLEDAD: TWO HOURS AWAY ON T ROSE BUD RESERVATION, ELIZABETH ROUBIDEAUX’S DAUGHTER RYCHINDA WENT MISSING 20 YEARS AGO. >> SHE WANTED TO BE IN THE ARMY AND FLY. SOLEDAD: THE 11-YEAR-OLD’S BODY WAS FOUND IN THE TREES. >> FROM WHAT I WAS TOLD SHE ONLY HAD UNDERWEAR ON. IT MAKES ME MAD TO KNOW THAT SHE WAS OUT HERE, I DON’T KNOW HOW LONG. SOLEDAD: RYCHINDA’S MURDER REMAINS UNSOLVED. >> THAT’S ONE THING WE REALLY WANT, IS JUSTICE FOR HER. >> DO YOU KNOW OF ANY PLACE YOU ARE AT TODAY -- SOLEDAD: WHEN WE FIRST MET MATTHEW LONE BEAR IN JANUARY OF 2018, HE WAS ORCHESTRATING A SEARCH FOR HIS SISTER OLIVIA. THE 32-YEAR OLD MOTHER OF FIVE VANISHED FROM THE FORT BERTHOLD INDIAN RESERVATION IN NEW TOWN, NORTH DAKOTA. SHE WAS LAST SEEN DRIVING A PICK -UP TRUCK. LONE BEAR SAYS AUTHORITIES WERE SLOW IN LAUNCHING THEIR SEARCH AFTER SHE WAS REPORTED MISSING. >> YOU LOOK AT ALL THESE PEOPLE THAT WANTED TO STEP IN AND THEY DIDN’T ALLOW THEM TO. SOLEDAD: DESPITE HIS PLEAS, LONE BEAR SAYS IT TOOK MONTHS TO HAVE BOATS SEARCH A NEARBY LAKE. BY THAT TIME, THE SEASONS HAD CHANGED. >> IF THEY WOULD HAVE SAID YES TO EVERY AGENCY THAT WANTED TO SEARCH THE WATER AND THEY WORKED WITH THE FAMILY, WE COULD HAVE GOT THAT WATER SEARCHED SIX TIMES ALREADY, BUT THEY DON’T WANT TO FOR SOME REASON. WHAT IF IT’S SITTING UNDER THE WATER THE WHOLE TIME, TRIBAL PD WILL HAVE TO ANSWER FOR THAT. SOLEDAD: NINE MONTHS AFTER SHE DISAPPEARED, VOLUNTEERS USING SONAR FOUND THE TRUCK WITH OLIVIA’S BODY INSIDE. SUBMERGED IN A LAKE LESS THAN A MILE FROM HER HOME. >> WE WANT TO MAKE A PROTOCOL THAT WILL HELP OTHER FAMILIES SO THEY DON’T HAVE TO JUMP THROUGH ALL THE HOOPS LIKE WE HAD TO DO. AND GET RID OF SOME OF THE EXCUSES THAT LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES AND OTHER AGENCIES HAVE. WE ARE TRYING TO ELIMINATE THOSE SO IF SOMEONE GOES MISSING ON A RESERVATION, IT HAPPENS RIGHT AWAY. LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES ARE WORKING COHSIVE TOGETHER, THAT STATE RESOURCES CAN COME INTO THE RESERVATION RIGHT AWAY, NOT NINE MONTHS DOWN THE ROAD, RIGHT AWAY. SOLEDAD: BACK ON THE PINE RIDGE INDIAN RESERVATION IN SOUTH DAKOTA, LISA LONE HILL IS STILL WAITING FOR HER DAUGHTER LARISSA TO COME HOME. AND SO IS LARISSA’S THREE-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER. >> WHEN SHE SEES HER MOM’S PICTURE, SHE SAYS, IS SHE GOING TO BE GONE FOREVER? THE DETECTIVES SAY SHE IS NOT WITH US NO MORE. MAYBE THEY GAVE UP ON HER, BUT I DIDN’T, AND I REFUSE TO BEL

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