Katharina Buczek
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.
