across the nation, it s heart wrenching. to really think about how we are invisible. i don t want another family to ever feel like how we felt. hello, and welcome to dateline. we carla yellow bird mmiw grew up surrounded by love on her north dakota indian reservation, when she vanished her family was frantic to find her, and believed authoritarians were not doing enough. it is a common feeling in native american circles. but the yellow birds had a secret weapon, carla s own aunt happened to be a no nonsense investigator determined to find the truth. here s andrea canning with the secrets of spirit lake. there s been a lot of sacrifice that went with this, on a personal level, you know. but you are never done? never done. her name is lisa yellow bird, her job defies description. investigator, interrogator, searcher of last result. the one people turn to in their very worst moments. this is backbreaking, this is 24/7. this is you living and breathing this. const
missing and later turns up dead. what was unusual in carla s case was that her killers were brought to justice. dylan st-pierre said he had carla on the head with a gun and then accidentally discharged. he pleaded guilty to felony murder and related charges and was sentenced to 27 and a half years. dakota charbonneau pleaded guilty to second degree murder for aiding and abetting the killing. he was sentenced to 50 years in prison for carla s murder and other charges. as part of a plea deal, suna guy was sentenced to 15 years for second degree murder and related charges. you came face to face with suna guy? yes, i did. what did he say to you? he just told me he was sorry and not listen to him. did you say anything to him? well, i was just happy that he showed where my daughter was. there was a surprise witness at suna s sentencing. you actually spoke on behalf of suna. why would you do that when suna
something was very wrong? yes. i did. carlo is out there, somewhere, maybe alone. if anybody knew how to find her it was her aunt lissa. turns out carla and aunt lissa shared more than family, they shared a past. coming up carla had gone down a bad path. she went down the same path i went down. aunt lissa gets to work. i will keep digging and digging, it wasn t even a question of if i was going to find her, it was just i am going to find her. investigators uncover the first clues. there was a report that she had been in the silver car. when dateline continues. teline continues breeze driftin on by. .you know how i feel. you don t have to take. [coughing] .copd sitting down. it s a new dawn,. .it s a new day, it s time to make a stand.
bird? a detective had given carla s on lissa the names of three men seen with carla. lissa blasted the names out on social media, then her phone rang. suna guy insisted he had nothing to hide, but if suna thought lissa was done with him, he had another thing coming. back to andrea canning with the secrets of spirit lake. carla yellow bird had vanished into the north dakota wind. her loved ones held out one last bit of hope that she was still alive. but lissa yellow birds experience searching for missing women told her that time had run out for her niece. for her, this was now a recovery mission. whatever it takes to bring her home. lissa felt, in her bones, that suna guy, despite his claims to the contrary, knew what really happened to carla. something wasn t sitting right for you. well, it was bs, i knew
of fun. she had this big ring on and when she put her hand up it was like, oh my god. i was like, lose the ring. that looks horrible. what did she say? she was like, why? you know, she asked, do you want it? like, what, no. carla enrolled in college, had children, and got married. what her once promising life fell apart. drugs got a hold of her. you must feel helpless as a parent. yes, i did and you know, she tried, you know? she put herself into treatment. how proud were you of her that she did go into treatment and that she did try? i m very. that s why she was happy, she made some friends, but when she got out, it still, like, like she never went in there.