The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
55°F
Current Conditions
Clear sky
View complete weather report

Color Scheme

Subscribe now

WA bill would create cold case unit for missing and murdered Indigenous people

About 200 people rallied in the Indigenous Peoples Day March, which began at Mission Park and looped through the Logan neighborhood, Monday, October 10, 2022. The march was in honor of Native residential school survivors, the children who did not come home, the current nationwide MMIWP (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People) epidemic, as well as the domestic violence that indigenous people suffer through. (COLIN MULVANY/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW)
By Tammy Ayer Yakima Herald-Republic Yakima Herald-Republic

Proposed legislation would create a cold-case investigations unit in the Washington Attorney General’s Office focused on solving cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and people.

The new unit was recommended by a state task force focused on missing and murdered Indigenous women and people.

Bills in the state House and Senate are sponsored by Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, and Rep. Debra Lekanoff, D-Anacortes. They also are part of the task force.

The bill would create a unit in the AG’s office that would work with local and tribal law enforcement agencies to solve cold cases.

The unit would include investigators and a case navigator whose main role is to work with and maintain regular, consistent communication with families. The case navigator would also convey information between the investigators and families using culturally appropriate and trauma-informed practices, the news release said.

American Indian and Alaskan Native women and people experience violence at much higher rates than other populations. Indigenous victims are 5% of the unresolved cases throughout Washington while making up less than 2% of the population, according to data from the Homicide Investigation Tracking System in the attorney general’s office. The actual disparity is likely even more significant because of reporting practices, racial misclassification, data collection and jurisdictional issues.