ST. PAUL – The last of five missing persons’ search kits has been placed with the Lower Sioux Tribal Police Department. The kits were sponsored by the Department of Public Safety’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) Office to ensure that searches for missing persons, especially on Tribal reservations, would not be delayed by a lack of proper equipment or logistical planning resources. The MMIR Office is housed in the Office of Justice Programs.

“While we always hope these kits are never needed, the unfortunate reality is that they are — far too often,” said MMIR Office Interim Director Ana Negrete. “Families have a deep desire to reclaim their power and take action at a time when so much is not in their control. We wanted to provide a tool that would empower everyone involved and allow us all to work together toward the common goal of reuniting a family.”

Indigenous persons are overrepresented in missing person’s cases. According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) Missing Persons Clearinghouse, 716 Indigenous persons were reported missing in Minnesota last year. Of those, 104 total were women (57 percent). Indigenous women make up less than 1 percent of Minnesota’s population, but they account for 10 percent of all reported missing females in the state.

“We hope we never have to use this search kit, but if we or our relatives and neighbors need help, we will be there with this resource,” said Robert Larsen, president of the Lower Sioux Indian Community. “We support the relatives that are left here. We have prayers for finding and recovering those missing and murdered. You are not forgotten. You are not alone.”

The idea for the kits began in February of 2023 following an unsuccessful search for a 47-year-old Mille Lacs man. Negrete, then a community planner for the MMIR Office, recalls watching Virgil Wind, now the chief executive of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, and Police Chief James West walking through snow and cold temperatures alongside the victim’s family and other community members in a sign of unwavering commitment to their relatives. 

“They were both not only present — they were active, walking alongside impacted families, and modeling exactly the kind of community support that’s needed in these moments,” said Negrete.

Chief West remembers how difficult it was for community members to keep their search lines accurate while walking through packed snow and brush. He had had a similar experience during an unrelated search the previous summer. A lack of communication obstructed visibility through wooded areas and the inability to mark off search lines also hampered that effort. 

“After experiencing firsthand the challenges of organizing community searches for missing persons, it became clear that we needed better tools to keep search teams safe and coordinated,” said Chief West.

Chief West consulted with Negrete on the equipment that would make search efforts more efficient and ultimately more successful. The following spring, with the new kit in hand, they conducted another community search in Mille Lacs together. This time, they were able to locate the remains of the missing 47-year-old. 

Search kits are now located in four Tribal nations (Red Lake Nation, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Lower Sioux Indian Community) and available for use by the public and law enforcement agencies. One additional kit is located at the MMIR Office in St. Paul and is available by request. 

Each kit contains:

• 10 two-way radios to mitigate communication barriers and keep communication open between all search groups.
• 10 GPS devices for precise and accurate mapping of grid lines and to keep track what areas have yet to be searched.
• 100 high-visibility safety vests.
• 10 walking sticks.
• Traditional medicines like tobacco, sage, cedar and sweetgrass.
• Additional consumables for 100 volunteers like first aid kits, rain ponchos and whistles. 
• Manuals with logistical guidance for community-led and law-enforcement led searches.

About the Minnesota Department of Public Safety

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s more than 2,100 employees operate programs in the areas of law enforcement, crime victim assistance, traffic safety, alcohol and gambling, emergency communications, fire safety, pipeline safety, driver licensing, vehicle registration and emergency management. DPS activity is anchored by three core principles: education, enforcement and prevention.

 

About the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) Office strives to reduce and end violence against all Indigenous people in Minnesota. ​ The office is housed in the Office of Justice Programs.