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Pierce County highlighting cases of missing Indigenous people throughout May
During the month of May, the Pierce County government will be using its website and social media platforms to raise awareness about the current 20 missing Indigenous people from the county.
PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. - During the month of May, the Pierce County government will be using its website and social media platforms to raise awareness about the current 20 missing Indigenous people from the county.
Every day, the sites will highlight someone’s name, picture and last known details. County officials said the hope is someone will share information connected to their disappearance.
Indigenous people are at a disproportionate rate of violence and disappearance in Washington. The state has some of the highest case numbers of missing Indigenous people in the country.
As of May 1, 2023, Washington State Patrol said there were 142 missing Indigenous people in the state.
"The longer they are away from those tight bonds, the more likely they are to fall into some sort of danger. That’s why the timeliness and exposure is so important," said Carri Gordon, program manager for the Missing Indigenous Person Alert System.
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Gordon said the more exposure to each person’s case, the more answers to help investigators.
"Every time that face is put on display, we’re getting new information. It may be that one tip to who it is we need to find," said Gordon. "We don’t lose hope, we don’t lose focus on finding these people who are missing."
"It’s really important to keep people visible and keep people aware," said Patti Gosch, a Washington State Patrol tribal liaison.
In Tacoma alone, 12 cases of missing Indigenous people were reported. A key part of bringing them home is awareness. WSP tribal liaisons said that awareness includes educating more communities about the Missing Indigenous Person Alert (M.I.P.A.) system.
"A lot of people still don’t know that the alert is available to them. So, we do a lot of outreach and education still with law enforcement and the general public," said Dawn Pullin, a Washington State Patrol tribal liaison.
The M.I.P.A. system launched in July 2022. Since then, Gordon said about 60 alerts were activated. Washington State Patrol said as of May 1, 2023, 26 Indigenous people were found.