She Made It Her Mission To Help Find Missing Indigenous Women, But In The Process, She Would Up Missing Herself
In recent years, the government has been increasingly criticized for its lack of reliable and up-to-date data on missing and murdered Indigenous women.
The public’s awareness of the data inadequacies was largely driven by a 2018 report published by the Urban Indian Health Institute.
The report revealed that even though the National Crime Information Center logged nearly six thousand reports of missing Indigenous women and girls during 2016, just one hundred and sixteen cases were subsequently logged in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) database.
This crisis has countless demographic regions throughout the country and has led some states to suffer skyrocketing numbers of missing Indigenous women– especially Montana.
Indigenous women and girls only account for three to four percent of the entire state’s population.
Yet, they also make up about thirty percent of missing person cases reported to the Montana Department of Justice.
One twenty-year-old Montana Indigenous woman named Ashley Loring HeavyRunner made it her mission to help curb this crisis.
But, in the process, Ashley tragically went missing herself.
Facebook; pictured above is Ashley
If true crime defines your free time, this is for you: join Chip Chick’s True Crime Tribe.
The week of Ashely’s disappearance in June of 2017, her sister– Kimberly– had visited Morocco. Following the trip, Kimberly was supposed to move into Ashley’s apartment with her in Missoula, Montana.
But, once Kimberly arrived in town, Ashley was nowhere to be found. Kimberly knew that her sister frequently lost her cell phone and did not worry too much.
The Loring HeavyRunner family also considered that Ashley might have been visiting a friend out of town.
So, they let Ashley be and figured she would return home soon. Then, her father had to be hospitalized for liver failure, and Ashley still did not contact her family. At that moment, they knew something terrible had happened.
Kimberly reported Ashley as a missing person to Blackfeet Law Enforcement and tribal law enforcement on June 13, 2017.
A three-day search of Ashley’s reservation was immediately launched, but no answers were found.
Facebook; pictured above, Ashley smiles
Then, two weeks later, law enforcement did receive a tip regarding a possible sighting of Ashley on U.S. Highway 89. The tip claimed to have seen a young woman running from a vehicle on the busy reservation road.
Another extensive search was conducted, in which officers found a grey sweater near a dump site. The sweater is believed to have been Ashley’s, yet it was never sent out for crime lab testing.
Instead, the Loring HeavyRunner family learned the sweater had been left in an evidence box.
Nine months after Ashley’s disappearance, her case was turned over to the FBI. Nonetheless, the bureau has still not made any progress on her case, and she has now been missing for five years.
The Loring HeavyRunner family refuses to give up hope and continues to advocate for Ashley and the greater community of missing Indigenous people. They have created a Facebook group on Ashley’s behalf, as well as a GoFundMe campaign.
“This GoFundMe was created for the tireless efforts of Ashley, her family, and their search for justice. The funds will be used for searches, memorial walks, and any way Ashley’s family sees fit,” the GoFundMe began.
“Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) is a crisis that needs to be told at the forefront of the media and news. This is the opportunity to give direct support to MMIWG families who often struggle to have their voices heard,” the fundraiser continued.
So far, five hundred and twenty-two donors have contributed nearly fifteen thousand dollars to the cause.
To learn more about Ashley and help bring her case justice, you can visit the GoFundMe campaign linked here.
And if you have any information regarding Ashley’s whereabouts or disappearance, you are urged to contact the Blackfeet Law Enforcement Agency at (406) 338-4000 or the FBI at (800) 225-5324.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
This Woman Booked An Airbnb In Bali That Turned Out To Be An Abandoned Building
This Study Confirmed That Imposter Syndrome Is Real And Can Be Detrimental To Mental Health
More About:True Crime