PHOENIX (AP) — From heartbreak and devastation to outrage, Emily Pike’s tragic death is stirring heavy emotions and spotlighting a crisis that has long plagued Native American communities, where a disproportionate number of people have been killed or have gone missing.

In the case of the San Carlos Apache teenager, she disappeared from her group home in a Phoenix suburb in late January.

Authorities posted her picture on social media, saying she was missing and had possibly run away. Sheriff’s deputies in a neighboring county reported finding Pike’s remains nearly a month later and more than 80 miles (129 kilometers) from where she was last seen.

Since then, news of her brutal death has reverberated through Indian Country and beyond. A crowd gathered Thursday at an intersection in Mesa, near her group home, to honor Pike’s life and to press for changes that might help curb the violence.

Dozens of people of all ages from various tribal nations viewed the vigil’s program on a large inflatable projector. Clad in red, they embraced, shielded candle flames on the windy night and held posters that read “No more stolen sisters” and “Justice for Emily Pike.”

A trio no more

Four of Pike’s cousins, all close in age to her, recounted a girl they knew as a funny, kind and happy person who loved animals, K-pop and Roblox. Jadyn Palmer, 15, said she and Tyraya Steele, another 15 year-old cousin, grew up with Pike on the San Carlos Apache reservation. The three were always by each other’s side and laughing, Palmer said.

She said Pike would call her every so often and the last time they spoke was just weeks before she disappeared. In their last conversation, Pike shared she was going to return to the reservation within a month. Palmer and Steele became excited about the shopping trips they wanted to plan.

“We’re not going to have a trio anymore,” Palmer told The Associated Press, her voice choking up with Steele by her side.

Tony Duncan and his 12-year-old daughter performed a jingle dance, which he said has an origin of healing. Duncan’s father spoke in Apache before the dance, and sang a lullaby.

Mary Kim Titla, a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, wore pink — Pike’s favorite color — to the vigil and said the teen had dreamed of becoming a veterinarian.

“These tears that are shed are a part of a healing process,” Titla said.

Titla has three female relatives who went missing and were killed. She said the community has come together to honor Pike and to demand justice. This shared solidarity comes from a desire for healing from historical and generational trauma, she said.

“It affects so many people,” Titla said, “and I think the reason is because we all know someone.”

Advocates say the crisis stems from colonization and forced removal, which marginalized Indigenous people by erasing their culture and identity. Limited funding, understaffed police departments and a jurisdictional checkerboard that hinders authorities from working together have only exacerbated the issue.

‘Everyone’s daughter’

Pike’s case has drawn attention across social media. Some people have shared photos of themselves, their mouths covered with a red handprint that has become emblematic of the movement to end the violence. Posts included the hashtags #NoMoreStolenSisters, #SayHerName and #JusticeforEmily.

In Wisconsin, organizers planned for their own candlelight vigil. Fliers in Colorado encouraged people to wear red, and Daisy Bluestar, a Southern Ute tribal member on Colorado’s Missing & Murdered Indigenous Relatives Task Force, posted a video about Pike.

The girl’s basketball team at Miami High School in Arizona wore jerseys with “MMIW” and a red handprint on the back.
“We’re all mourning this terrible loss of a precious young girl. Emily really has become everyone’s daughter, granddaughter and niece,” Titla said.

What happened to Emily?

Pike’s remains were found northeast of Globe, Arizona, the Gila County Sheriffs Office said.

Like many others, her case involves multiple agencies. Gila County is working with Mesa police, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Mesa police assign cases of children who have run away and are missing to investigators who follow up on tips, according to police spokesperson Brandi Myers. Pike had run away three times prior from the group home, Myers said.

The Arizona Department of Child Safety requires notification of a child’s missing status to occur within a day of receiving the information. However, that requirement doesn’t extend to tribal social services, according to Anika Robinson, president of the nonprofit foster care advocacy group ASA Now. Pike was in the custody of San Carlos Apache Tribe Social Services, which could not be reached for comment, at the time she went missing from the group home in Mesa.

Mesa police reported Pike as missing to the National Crime Information Center the evening of Jan. 27 – the same day police got word of her disappearance. Police have said it would have been up to the group home to contact her case manager who then would have contacted Pike’s family or tribe.

Pike’s mother, Steff Dosela, has said in interviews that she didn’t hear about her daughter’s disappearance until a week later.

Robinson questioned why it took so long.

“Imagine what probably had already transpired by that week,” she said.

Addressing the crisis

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs in 2023 created a task force to identify policies for addressing the high rates of disappearances and killings among the Native American population. A final report is due in 2026.

Washington, New Mexico, Michigan, Wisconsin and Wyoming have created similar task forces.

President Donald Trump during his first term created the nation’s first task force to begin looking at the problem, dubbing it Operation Lady Liberty. The Biden administration followed with a special unit within the Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. attorneys’ offices in key areas began taking a closer look at unsolved cases, and top officials held listening sessions across the nation. Last month, the federal government launched an initiative to help solve missing and unidentified person cases.

Tiffany Jiron, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women, said more comprehensive law enforcement training that address jurisdictional challenges, increased funding for tribal programs that provide shelter, mental health resources and legal aid to impacted families and survivors and strengthened alert systems are among the policy solutions for which advocates should continue to fight.

“As an Indigenous people, we are not invisible,” she said. “We deserve just as much attention from law enforcement. Our cases are involving real people, real families, real children.”