Latest news with #OperationNotForgotten
Hindustan Times
09-06-2025
- Hindustan Times
Where is Sa'Wade Birdinground ? Missing Montana teen's last-known location revealed
A $10,000 reward is being offered for any information that helps find 13-year-old Sa'Wade Birdinground. She went missing from her grandparents' home in Montana last October. The FBI's Salt Lake City office is offering $5,000, and the Crow Tribe, which Sa'Wade belongs to, is giving another $5,000. After a press conference on Friday, people from the community walked together and released red balloons at Little Big Horn College. This was a way to show their hope and support to bring Sa'Wade back home, according to Yellowstone Public Radio. Sa'Wade's case is part of a bigger problem in the U.S.—many Indigenous people, especially women and girls, go missing or are murdered. In states like Montana, where there are big Native communities, this happens more often. The group Native Hope says Indigenous women are killed at a rate 10 times higher than other women who live on reservations. Murder is the third top cause of death for Native women. The Department of Justice has a program called 'Operation Not Forgotten' that tries to help by giving more support to investigate these cases and fix the unfair treatment Native people often face. Sa'Wade was last seen on the night of October 6, 2024, at her grandparents' house on the Crow Indian Reservation in Garryowen, Montana. She hasn't been seen or heard from since. The reservation is about 65 miles southeast of Billings. It's near where Sitting Bull's camp used to be and close to the Little Bighorn River. Long ago, the area was used by Plains Indian tribes for summer hunting, and one of the biggest Native gatherings in North America happened there. Also Read: 5 bodies appearing to be missing musicians of Mexican regional music band found near Texas border At the time she went missing, Sa'Wade was around 5'4' to 5'5' tall, weighed between 130–140 pounds, had curly brown hair and brown eyes. She often wore an elk tooth necklace. That night, she was wearing a black hoodie with mushrooms on it, an anime T-shirt, basketball shorts, and purple slip-on Skechers. She might also have had a black and purple Adidas backpack, according to the FBI. So far, searches by the FBI, Bureau of Indian Affairs, local police, the Montana National Guard, and community volunteers haven't found any solid leads or sightings, local news station KTVQ reported. Officials say this case stands out because of Sa'Wade's young age and the situation around her disappearance. They also pointed out that many Native families go through this every year, with loved ones going missing and not enough answers.
Newsweek
07-06-2025
- Newsweek
FBI Offers Reward for Info Leading to Indigenous Teen Missing for 8 Months
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A combined $10,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the discovery of 13-year-old Sa'Wade Birdinground who vanished from her grandparents' Montana home last October. The FBI's Salt Lake City Field Office offered a $5,000 award that was matched by the executive branch of the Crow Tribe of which Birdinground is a part of. Following a Friday press conference, members of the community held a walk and presentation of red balloons at Little Big Horn College, symbolizing collective hope and continued efforts to bring Birdinground home, Yellowstone Public Radio Reported. Why It Matters The teenager's disappearance has drawn attention to the broader crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people in the United States, particularly in Montana and other states with significant tribal communities. Indigenous women make up a disproportionate majority of missing and murdered women in the U.S., with the murder rate 10 times higher for women living on reservations, according to the organization Native Hope. Murder is the third leading cause of death for Native women, the organization added. The Department of Justice's (DOJ) "Operation Not Forgotten" reflects a national push to boost investigative resources and address longstanding disparities in response to cases involving Indigenous individuals. What To Know Birdinground was last seen at her grandparents' residence on the Crow Indian Reservation in Garryowen, Montana, on the night of October 6, 2024. Since then, she has not been heard from. The reservation sits about 65 miles southeast of Billings and is near the former site of Sitting Bull's camp, on Garryowen bend of the Little Bighorn River, according to the city's website. The area was a traditional summer hunting campsite for many Plains Indian tribe and was the site of one of the largest Indian gatherings ever recorded in North America. When last seen, the 13-year-old was approximately 5'4" to 5'5" tall, weighing 130–140 pounds, with brown eyes, curly brown hair. She is also known to wear an elk tooth necklace. On the night she disappeared, she wore a black hoodie with mushrooms, an anime T-shirt, basketball shorts, purple slip-on Skechers and may have also carried a black and purple Adidas backpack, the FBI's release said. Early searches by the FBI, Bureau of Indian Affairs, local law enforcement, the community, and the Montana National Guard have led to no confirmed sightings or significant leads, according to a report from local news station KTVQ. Federal and tribal authorities described Birdinground's case as exceptional due to her age and the circumstances and highlighted the ongoing struggle of Indigenous communities where dozens of members are reported missing each year. So far this year, the FBI doubled the number of special agents assigned to investigate cases on the Crow and Northern Cheyenne tribal nations. Data from the Crow Tribe showed that while about 78 missing persons are reported annually, most cases are soon resolved. Sa'Wade Birdinground, 13, has been missing from the Crow Indian Reservation since October of 2024. Sa'Wade Birdinground, 13, has been missing from the Crow Indian Reservation since October of 2024. FBI What People Are Saying Mehtab Syed, FBI Special Agent in Charge of the Salt Lake City Field Office that covers Montana, Utah, and Idaho, said during Friday's press conference: "Eight months is an incomprehensible amount of time for any family to be without their child. For eight months, Sa'wade's family has had to know life without her." He added: "Sa'Wade is not forgotten. She matters, and we are doing anything in our power to bring her home." Wade Birdinground, Sa'Wade's father, said during the press conference: "It's been a whole different life. To be honest, it's been horrible. I just want to thank the FBI and the Crow Tribe and everybody else. Thanks for helping me out and continue to search for Sa'Wade." Frank Whiteclay, Crow Tribal Chairman, said during the press conference: "We wanted to match the FBI's award so we can show not only the family, but the community, that my administration is here for the community to assist whenever a crisis comes ahead." What Happens Next? Federal, tribal, and local agencies are continuing the active investigation, seeking public tips and following all available leads. The FBI urged the public to come forward with any information and have established a dedicated tip line for Sa'Wade Birdinground at the Salt Lake City Field Office (801-579-6195). Tips can also be submitted online at Community leaders also urged the public to remain vigilant and share information widely on social media.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Yahoo
FBI offers $5,000 reward for information on Montana teen missing for 8 months
GARRYOWEN, Montana () — The FBI Salt Lake City Field Office is now offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of a missing 13-year-old from Montana. A new tipline phone number has been established solely for her case: 801-579-6195. Sa'Wade Birdinground was last seen at her family's residence in Garryowen, Montana, on October 6, 2024. She is 13 years old, roughly 5'4″ to 5'5″ tall, 130-140 pounds, and has brown eyes and curly brown hair. According to the FBI, Birdinground was last seen wearing a black hoodie with mushrooms on it, an anime t-shirt, basketball shorts, and purple slip-on Skechers. She may have been wearing a black and purple Adidas backpack and an elk tooth necklace. Utah`s next earthquake could hit harder, U of U research suggests In a press conference today, Special Agent in Charge Mehtab Syed from the FBI's Salt Lake City Field Office held a press conference on the search for Birdinground. The SLC Field Office covers Montana, Utah, and Idaho. 'Eight months ago today, on October 6, 2024, Sa'Wade disappeared from her family home in Garryowen. This was the last time those of you who know and love Sa'Wade saw her,' Syed stated. 'Eight months is an incomprehensible amount of time for any family to be without their child.' Syed reiterated the FBI's commitment to finding Birdinground. He said that they are working closely with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Crow Tribe Executive Branch, the Tribe's Search and Rescue, and the Big Horn County Sheriff's Office to bring the 13-year-old home. According to Syed, the FBI and local law enforcement have 'conducted dozens of interviews, searched hundreds of acres of land, and brought every technical resource to bear.' He said that the FBI is 'fully committed' to this investigation and bringing Birdinground home. St. George to crack down on off-highway vehicles after fatal crash kills 9-year-old boy 'I've never met Sa'Wade, but I've learned a lot about what kind of teen she is,' he said. 'Quiet with strangers but outgoing with family and friends, kind, artistic … She is well-liked by her friends and teachers, many of whom talked about her sense of humor and how Sa'Wade makes them laugh … Sa'Wade enjoyed spending time with her siblings, and they miss her dearly.' This year, the FBI has 'doubled the number of special agents' who are working Indian Country cases in the Billings Resident Agency. These agents will assist with Birdinground's case and other investigations in the area. This effort is part of the FBI's Operation Not Forgotten, which launched in 2023. 'We want our Native American communities to know, you are not forgotten. We hear you; you matter. Sa'Wade is not forgotten, she matters, and we are doing everything in our power to bring her home,' Syed stated. Anyone with information on Birdinground's disappearance should contact the tip line established for her case, 801-579-6195, or their local FBI field office. Ram kills the $40K truck, brings back the HEMI Assassin dancers, existential nuns, and comedy that cuts deep Two inmates charged for allegedly stabbing 'rival gang member' at Utah State Prison FBI offers $5,000 reward for information on Montana teen missing for 8 months Pride Festival: Here are the street closures happening in Salt Lake City Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Miami Herald
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
As Trump administration floods the zone to combat crime in Indian Country, wariness prevails
MORTON, Minn. – Sitting on a bench surrounded by Lower Sioux Community members, Ana Negrete presented two industrial-sized bins to the tribe's leaders in a somber exchange. "I hope this helps," Negrete said quietly, gesturing at black crates filled with items she wishes they'd never have to use: tools to help find missing Indigenous people. Negrete leads the state's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) Office, a first-of-its-kind effort to address the disproportionately high rates of violent crime against Indigenous people. The kits delivered this month are part of a broader strategy involving tribal, local and state resources - and now, a promised surge in federal reinforcements. Last month, the Trump administration announced it would boost the FBI's "Operation Not Forgotten" with more agents to swarm Indian Country, including in Minnesota, in the "longest and most intense national deployment" of FBI investigators to date aimed at solving crimes against Indigenous people. In Minnesota, the pledge is prompting hope - but also deep skepticism. Some question whether the government will follow through on its promises; others wonder if the long-term solution has to come from within, given that many crimes involve victims and perpetrators from the same community. "It's a bit ironic actually. It's no secret that the Native American community in Minnesota is highly critical of President [Donald] Trump," said Irene Folstrom, a former Department of Public Safety tribal relations director who worked with the MMIR Office. FBI surge The latest phase of Operation Not Forgotten will see a boost of agents, totaling 60, the third deployment since the initiative began in 2023. Last year, there were closer to 50. "The additional resources from Operation Not Forgotten along with our continued partnership with local, state, federal, and tribal agencies will bolster the efforts of our dedicated personnel to bring cases closer to resolution," said Alvin Winston Sr., special agent in charge of Minneapolis' FBI office. The operation was created after the start of the federal government's Task Force on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives, which Trump established in his first term through an executive order. Since its start, Operation Not Forgotten has helped with more than 500 cases resulting in 52 arrests and 25 charges, according to the Department of Justice. The FBI will partner with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and tribal law enforcement agencies. Cases will be referred to U.S. Attorney's Offices for prosecution. Officials with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota said the operation supplements their efforts in recent years to prosecute crimes and "better serve" Indian Country, including opening an office in Duluth. An assistant U.S. attorney has been placed in the Duluth office and a victim witness specialist in Bemidji. "The U.S. Attorney's Office remains deeply committed to pursuing justice for our tribal communities," said acting U.S. Attorney Lisa Kirkpatrick. "We are grateful to the Department of Justice for their commitment to Operation Not Forgotten and its surge of much-needed FBI resources to our tribal lands." Agents have been stationed in Minneapolis and Bemidji for years as part of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Missing and Murdered Unit. Shawn Carr, an advocate in Duluth who's held annual news conferences for Sheila St. Clair since her disappearance in 2015, said missing persons cases in particular are a multifaceted issue. But the extra national resources "definitely helps," Carr said. However, for each case solved, or yet to be solved after years of searching, more missing person reports are filed. Kits to assist Beyond the influx of FBI agents, Negrete hopes the bins she's sent to tribes will supplement search efforts across the state. The kits are filled with a range of materials, from the practical (marking flags), to the technical (handheld GPS map) to the spiritual (sage). The office has now given out four kits to tribes across Minnesota, reserving one for the MMIR Office. The rate of missing and murdered Indigenous people remains elevated: While the community makes up 1% of Minnesota's population, it comprises nearly 9% of missing person cases. The MMIR Office reports having 20 active missing person and homicides cases. Last year, 10 people whose missing person cases were filed to the office were found. About 4% of people killed in Minnesota last year were Indigenous, the office's latest data show. This year, there's been more high-profile violence: A member of the Native gang is accused of shooting five Indigenous people, four fatally, earlier this month. Negrete said the need for the kits became apparent during a search for a 47-year-old man who went missing in November 2022 in the area of the Mille Lacs Reservation. The snow reached the waists of the search party. Sharp tree branches got in their way. "We just weren't prepared," Negrete recalled. The office provided its first kit to the Mille Lacs Band following the search. Each cost $13,000, totaling $65,000 for the five kits. To Negrete, the kits provide a tangible solution to a problem that can quickly become bogged down by bureaucracy and jurisdictional snafus. The MMIR Office has just four staffers, she said, making conducting searches across the state difficult. Negrete acknowledges the kits aren't a cure-all, but hopes they provide a balm to families whose only path forward is to scour the land for any clue. "Searching is a way for them to actively do something at a time when they feel powerless," Negrete said. A search within Some remain critical of state and federal efforts, saying they can be seen as performative instead of real boots-on-the-ground work. Those critics also say it's up to people, often within the Indigenous community, to stop withholding information on active cases. "It's time for people to start opening up and holding your own relatives accountable," said Lissa Yellow Bird-Chase, who founded in 2013 the Sahnish Scouts, a grassroots effort responding to disappearances of people in the Bakken oilfields of North Dakota where she lives. "As long as we keep blaming the white guys or the oil field people or whatever, then that makes an excuse for us not to look at ourselves," said Yellow Bird-Chase, 56, a member of the Arikara tribe. Her independent work brings her to place across the country helping Indigenous families find loved ones, including her own. She recently spent a week in Bemidji knocking on doors and tracking down information on Nevaeh Kingbird, who was 15 when she went missing in 2021, and Jeremy Jourdain, who was 17 when he disappeared in 2016. The Native teens went missing from the same neighborhood in Bemidji that Yellow Bird-Chase searched with her two golden retriever cadaver dogs. She's done this before over the years, along with searches on the Red Lake and White Earth reservations. But investigations stalled after the recent quadruple fatal shooting. She left Bemidji to help another family in South Dakota and allow time for Minnesota to mourn. "This might be the eye opener that people need," she said. Yellow Bird-Chase wants to see more searches instead of marches. Instead of gathering masses to protest and giving out signs to hold, she said groups of volunteers should be given neon vests and sent to knock on doors, areas to comb. Agencies tasked with solving cases are duplicating services, yet not producing results, Yellow-Bird Chase said. In 2021, the same year the state's MMIR Office began, BIA started a Missing and Murdered Unit (MMU). The unit has two agents in its Minneapolis field office and one agent in Bemidji. MMU has five active cases in Minnesota, including Kingbird and Jourdain. The MMIR Office is given $774,000 from the state, an increase from $500,000 at its inception. The office also generated $92,000 in revenue from the sale of nearly 3,500 special MMIR license places, money that will be steered into the reward fund once it launches. But Folstrom and Yellow Bird-Chase are critical of the MMIR Office still not having rewards for information from the public. Folstrom, who is enrolled in the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and considers Jourdain a relative, said it's unclear how the office is measuring outcomes of its work. "Show the intended beneficiaries what the results are," she said, "because we're out here looking around and not seeing any." Negrete countered that the search kits are just "one piece of the puzzle," and the root causes behind the missing and murdered Indigenous person epidemic "are complex and require a complex response." "The MMIR Office has a staff of four to serve the entire state and we do this work alone. The families cannot do it alone. Even law enforcement cannot do it alone," she said. Yellow Bird-Chase said Operation Not Forgotten has potential, but she's "not impressed until I'm impressed." Federal agents need to build rapport and trust in Native communities to counteract a historically fraught relationship. "We're in a Stockholm relationship with the government," she said. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Yahoo
12 dangerous criminals arrested, DOJ says
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — South Dakota's U.S. Attorney Department of Justice said Tuesday that an organized effort by law enforcement resulted in a large-scale arrest of 12 of the most violent offenders on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The arrests are an effort by the FBI, DEA, USMS, BIA, SD DCI, SD Highway Patrol, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety with assistance from the State of South Dakota in response to increased violent crime on the Pine Ridge Reservation including eight homicides since Sept. 1, information from the U.S. Department of Justice said. VIDEO: 1977 escapee dies in prison The individuals arrested are not low-level offenders – they represent a dangerous criminal element driving drug activity, intimidation, and deadly violence within the community, according to the DOJ. 'This coordinated operation represents a deliberate and strategic effort to dismantle violent criminal drug trafficking networks operating on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation,' Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston Sr. of FBI Minneapolis, said in a statement. 'These arrests are the result of extensive investigative work targeting individuals responsible for driving drug-related violence. The level of violence affecting the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is unacceptable — and this operation is just the beginning. In the coming months, we will be participating in Operation Not Forgotten, a Department of Justice initiative focused on locating violent offenders and resolving long-standing cases. With this surge in resources, we will continue to work closely with our tribal, federal, state, and local partners to pursue justice and strengthen public safety.' On April 1, the DOJ announced that the FBI would send 60 personnel, rotating in 90-day temporary duty assignments over a six-month period in Indian Country. This operation is the longest and most intense national deployment of FBI resources to address Indian Country crime to date. At the beginning of Fiscal Year 2025, the FBI's Indian Country program had approximately 4,300 open investigations, including over 900 death investigations, 1,000 child abuse investigations, and more than 500 domestic violence and adult sexual abuse investigations, according to the April 1 news release. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
