A Native American man has been found dead after becoming the first person to appear on a new Colorado rig meant to find missing Native Americans.
Wanbli Vigil, a 27-year-old Lakota man, disappeared on December 29, which was the day before Colorado’s new missing-person alert system went live. CBS News reported.
An alert was issued on January 3, and her body was found three days later in a discovery that police say “does not appear to be suspicious in nature at this time.”
Although the alert failed to save Vigil’s life and some have raised questions about why the alert was not activated sooner, experts hope the new system will help solve a disproportionate number of missing persons cases in Native American communities.
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A rally and march in honor of National Missing and Murdered Indian Relatives Day Awareness Day at Acacia Park in Colorado Springs, Colorado on May 5, 2022.
(Hyoung Chang/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
“It seems like we’re always in the background,” Daisy Bluestar, a member of the Southern Ute tribe and an advocate for the system, told Colorado Public Radio.
Native Americans, according to data from the National Crime Information Center, make up a disproportionate share of missing person cases in the United States, making up more than 9,500 reported cases as of 2020.
Vigil is believed to be the 69th Colorado Indian to go missing or be killed since 1977.
Also, CBS News reported that more than 82% of Native Americans in the United States, both men and women, reported that they have experienced violent victimization as domestic violence continues to be a problem affecting the Native American community.
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Darling Pérez Ramos, right, and her friends pray and sing on National Missing and Murdered Indigenous Family Members Awareness Day at Acacia Park in Colorado Springs, Colorado on May 5, 2022.
(Hyoung Chang/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
Colorado recently became the second state in the nation to enact an alert system specifically aimed at finding missing Indians to combat a growing problem in that community.
A similar program in Washington state has shown initial results, with two dozen missing-person cases resolved in a six-month period, according to Colorado Public Radio.
“It’s been extremely effective because you can’t find someone unless you know they’re missing,” Patti Gosch, a tribal liaison with the Washington State Patrol, told the outlet.
Colorado’s new system requires local law enforcement to notify the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to request a Missing Indian Person Alert which is sent statewide within eight hours for a missing adult and two hours for a missing child.
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Missing persons sign is put up for a rally and march in Acacia Park in Colorado Springs, Colorado on May 5, 2022.
(Hyoung Chang/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
“Once a MIPA is activated, Colorado law enforcement will be notified electronically, while the media, stakeholders and others can distribute the information via email and text messages to your current list of MIPA subscribers. alerts,” the Colorado Department of Public Safety said in a news item. launching.
The state Department of Transportation will display information on known vehicles on red flags throughout the state, in addition to “notifying the media and asking them to distribute it to their audiences,” the statement said.
“Some of our tribal communities are actually closer to an Albuquerque news outlet than a Denver news outlet, for example,” Audrey Simkins of the Colorado Department of Public Safety told Colorado Public Radio. “So we have to think outside the box and make sure we reach out to our partners that are in our neighboring states.”
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Supporters say the system will shed a brighter light on time-sensitive cases, address communication breakdowns between tribal, local and state law enforcement, and bring more media attention to cases.
The Colorado program also created a state office with a budget of half a million dollars that will have the objective of resolving cold cases in the indigenous community.
“It is important that we take all possible steps to achieve a resolution to these cases,” said Arron Julian, director of the Missing and Murdered Indian Relatives Liaison Office of Colorado.
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The CBI told Fox News Digital that the new system is just one of many tools at the disposal of law enforcement and still depends on rapid coordination between agencies. The agency also said two MIPA alerts were issued in the new system, one for Vigil and one for a missing indigenous teen that was canceled after the teen was located.
“The CBI understands the importance and effectiveness of the various alerts that exist in Colorado, and we are pleased that we have been asked to develop this new alert in an effort to quickly locate missing Indians and safely return them to their loved ones.” .” said CBI Director John Camper.
