Olivia Lone Bear, a 33-year-old member of the Spirit Lake Tribe, lived among relatives on the oil-rich Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. On July 31, she was found dead, joining a long list of missing and murdered Indigenous women. The mother of five had been missing for nine months, last seen on October 24, 2017, driving through New Town, North Dakota.

Those searching for her used boats with sonar to discover her remains, which were in a submerged truck with broken windows in Sanish Bay on Lake Sakakawea, according to Inforum. With no arrests made, the FBI is working on the case but is also not providing any updates to its status.

“At least 20 to 40 people passed over her [on boats] per day since the water thawed. It’s a shame someone else didn’t find her sooner.” Lissa Yellowbird-Chase, a volunteer who helped search for Olivia, tells Teen Vogue. Yellowbird-Chase is the founder of the Sahnish Scouts of North Dakota, a volunteer organization that actively searches for missing Native men, women, and children. Along with Olivia’s family members and other volunteers, she never gave up looking for her. “The community really stepped up and came together to assist,” she says.

Sadly, Olivia is one of many Native women who have gone missing in the United States. Native Americans and Alaska Natives represent only 0.8% of the U.S. population, but in 2017, they made up 1.8% of missing persons cases in the FBI’s National Crime Information Center database.

The circumstances surrounding Olivia’s death are not currently known, but many missing and murdered Indigenous women experience sexual violence at some point in their lives. While statistics surrounding missing and murdered Indigenous women are not often available, it is known that Native women are more likely to be sexually assaulted by non-Natives than other Natives. A report from the National Congress of American Indians Policy Research Center found that 86% of American Indian and Alaskan Native women who’ve been sexually assualted or raped described the perpetrator as “non-Indian.”

According to Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), who is working on legislation concerning the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (#MMIW) epidemic, there were more than 5,700 known incidents of missing and murdered Indigenous women reported to the National Crime Information Center in 2016 in the United States alone — but missing and murdered Indigenous women are more than statistics. They’re human beings with families who love them.

Tuff First, Fort Peck Sioux, Olivia Lone Bear’s uncle, tells Teen Vogue that he’s “still in disbelief” about the loss his family has suffered.“I’m still confused and angry. [It’s] hard to find the right words...When she first disappeared, her two brothers, her uncle, and myself searched on ATVs every day of the first month. We all prayed so hard to find her.”

First was a police officer for 19 years. He says he hopes that everything is being done to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice. While the case is still being investigated, First believes there was foul play involved in Olivia’s death.

“Those of us on her mom’s side of the family are so heartbroken,” First says. “We have some closure now that she has been found and laid to rest, but [we] are still wondering who did this to her.”

Even though justice would bring the family some solace, First doesn’t think they’ll ever fully heal from Olivia’s loss in this life. “I think that healing will happen when we see her smile again, and hug and hold her in the next life,” he says. “We’re gonna continue on, with a piece of our heart missing.”