Teddi Wind now gets to see her daughter’s smile on her way to work each day.

It’s a sight she has missed dearly over the past four years that Nevaeh Kingbird has been missing. The then 15-year-old was last seen Oct. 22, 2021. Every day since then, Wind has tirelessly advocated to find her daughter through community searches, awareness events and media engagements. Wind wants every Minnesotan to know Neveah’s name, she is number 12 on her volleyball team, she loves her language and speaks fluently in Ojibwe.

This November, Neveah’s was among the first set of billboards to go up across the state in communities most directly impacted by the epidemic of violence known as missing and murdered Indigenous relatives, or MMIR. The purpose is not only to ensure community members are aware of the reward up to $10,000 for tips but to send a powerful message to those impacted that their loved ones will never be forgotten.

“That face will never stop bringing joy to my heart,” said Wind, who is the co-chair of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) Office’s advisory council. “It pushes me to find answers and bring you home. I’ll never stop searching and I know there are others with me in this fight.”

 

This new effort is funded by donations to the state’s Gaagige-Mikwendaagoziwag Reward Fund. In Ojibwe, the reward fund's name means “they will be remembered forever.” 

“For too long, Indigenous lives were invisible and our deaths were met with silence. But we were never and will never be silent,” said Guadalupe Lopez, director of the MMIR Office. “Every name is a loss and deserves to be spoken aloud and honored.” 

The MMIR Office has begun the process of collecting names of Minnesota’s Indigenous relatives who have gone missing or who have been murdered. The purpose isn’t just to document the numbers. The hope is that the living memorial will serve as witness to the true scale of the MMIR epidemic in the state while paying tribute to each name as an individual who is loved, known and deeply missed. 

“Writing and speaking these names aloud affirms that these are lives that still matter. They are not silent statistics,” Lopez said.

 

Kateri Mishow and Frank Ortley are two of the names now written along Interstate 35 in Minneapolis. Hundreds of thousands of drivers will see these billboards, according to estimates from Clear Channel Outdoor which generously donated the rental costs of the billboard locations. 

“So many people have seen the billboard. I’m so happy that after all these years her face is being shared and her story is being told,” said Kateri’s mother, Kathy Mishow.

 

The remaining printing costs are paid for by the reward fund which is funded by the sale of specialty MMIR license plates. Drivers donate a minimum of $25 annually to the fund when they purchase a plate featuring the MMIR Office logo.

There were 5,291 active MMIR license plates in Minnesota as of November 2025.

Plans are currently underway to expand the billboard program to include all active cases open with the MMIR Office.

Learn more about the Gaagige-Mikwendaagoziwag Reward Fund and how you can support MMIR awareness through your license plate purchase. 

If you have a loved one who should be included in Minnesota’s MMIR memorial, please fill out our form online.