This story was originally published by . It's republished here with permission.
There are 194 Indigenous people listed as missing from New Mexico and the Navajo Nation in an online portal run by the New Mexico Department of Justice. The provides 鈥渁 comprehensive database for reporting and searching鈥� cases, the homepage reads.
But click on any of the individual names and, for the most part, all you鈥檒l find is age, sex, and the law enforcement agency the person was reported missing to. There are no photos attached to any of the entries.
鈥淗ow are you going to help us look for them?鈥� Darlene Gomez, an attorney who represents affected families, asked members of the department鈥檚 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Task Force on Friday. 鈥淗ow can the community look for these people when they don鈥檛 have pictures? This is a shame.鈥�
The department has been working to gain access to federal information systems, communications director Lauren Rodriguez said in an email to New Mexico In Depth, a process that should be done early next year. That鈥檒l allow for more complete entries, including photos.
It鈥檚 been nearly nine months since the department launched the portal.
The lack of photos is one of several frustrations advocates and families raised during a virtual, second meeting of the task force, the bulk of which was held in private.
Lawmakers earlier this year Attorney General Ra煤l Torrez to create the group, following the disbanding of a prior task force in 2023 by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham鈥檚 administration. The new task force鈥檚 goals are to update a published in 2022 and provide recommendations to the Legislature.
Task force chair Stephanie Padilla (Isleta Pueblo) asked community members to share their ideas.
The state should fund billboards with photos of missing and murdered Indigenous people, said Vangie Randall-Shorty (Din茅), the mother of Zachariah Juwaun Shorty, who was killed in 2020. Flyers get torn down and replacing them is costly, she said.
Gomez, whose friend Melissa Ann Montoya (Jicarilla Apache) has been missing since 2001, called for legislation similar to California鈥檚 Feather Alert, which police are meant to use to notify the public of suspicious disappearances of Indigenous people. There鈥檚 also a need for more legal advocates, Gomez said, to help families navigate the criminal justice system.
Two task force members addressed some of those concerns.
Bernadine Beyale (Din茅), founder of the nonprofit 4Corners K-9 Search and Rescue, spoke about helping search for Julius Largo (Din茅), who was last seen walking near Morgan Lake outside of Farmington on Nov. 25, the Navajo Police Department.
鈥淗is sister is so overwhelmed that she called me over the weekend at midnight, just stressed out, needed someone to talk to,鈥� Beyale said. 鈥淎re there advocates for these families that鈥檚 willing to be available 24/7 to talk to them? Because I get phone calls in the middle of the night from families just not knowing what to do, where to go.鈥�
After public comment, Padilla said the rest of the meeting would be closed. The agenda includes a presentation on last month鈥檚 on violence against women and discussion of 鈥渋nteractions with public and media.鈥�
It鈥檚 unclear if the task force will continue to meet privately.
The group is accepting nominations for additional members until noon on Wednesday, Dec. 11, Padilla said. The open seats are:
- Indigenous survivors of violence or family members of an indigenous relative who has been a victim of violence; members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and two-spirit plus community; and indigenous youth
- People with experience working as a tribal prosecutor, a tribal criminal investigator, a tribal emergency dispatcher, a tribal police chief or a tribal social worker or program director
Nominations can be submitted using the task force鈥檚 or to Assistant Attorney General Michael Kiehne at 505-627-3487.
