Justice Department working with tribes on missing and murdered Indigenous women
Updated: 2 days ago
Published 2 days ago
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HELENA, Mont. — Jermain Charlo vanished in June 2018. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribal member hasn’t been seen since.
Valenda Morigeau, Charlo’s aunt, reported her missing to the Missoula Police Department in the days after her disappearance. But Morigeau said the detective initially assigned to the case failed to take the report seriously and was slow to act, a pattern she said is common when Native Americans report missing loved ones.
“You would think that there would be more urgency to go find the person that is missing,” Morigeau said. “Here we are, three years later, because they assumed she was avoiding responsibilities.”