Contact us at: whispernthunder1@gmail.comBe Bold. Support MMIWG Victims & Advocacy
~ Sarah King
A few weeks ago I attended one of many
candlelight vigils for 14-year-old Emily Pike,
a Native American girl who was found
murdered on Feb. 14th, approximately 2
weeks after she ran away from the group
home where she had been residing off and
on for about 4 years. Her body had been brutally cut to pieces and left along a forest road in a pile of garbage bags. At 14, Emily was just discovering life as a teen-ager, developing her own identity, grappling with the joys and challenges that accompany adolescence.
Acquaintances describe her as “friendly,” " kind," “sweet;" a girl whose “smile was infectious;” a girl who was known as “Tinkerbell” by many family members.
Emily was a member of the San Carlos Apache community, with family in the Globe/Gila County area. Before her death, she had been living at Sacred Journey, Inc., a group home in Mesa, AZ. According to official reports, Emily had resided there for a few turbulent years, during which she ran away four times. Three of those absences occurred in 2023; the fourth and final one began with her escape from the home on the night of January 27th, 2025, ending with the discovery of her body along US Rt. 60, close to mile marker 277 about100 miles from Mesa.
While nobody knows for certain what prompted her exit from Sacred Journey, various witnesses report that she was unhappy with the way residents were treated and (according to one person close to her) “It made her uncomfortable when staff gets into arguments with the other kids in the home.”
Emily wasn’t the only one unhappy with her placement. News sources report that no less than 30 children have run away from Sacred Journey in the last three years. Except for the most basic information about the facts of case the facility itself has offered no comment on either Emily’s tenure there or the details surrounding the other runaways.
Last month’s vigil was just one of many held throughout the state to honor Emily and to bring attention to the plight of thousands of Native American and Alaska Native women and girls who go missing or are found murdered every year. Indeed, a 2016 study by the National Institutes of Justice found that more than four in five American Indian and Alaska Native women (84.3 percent!) have experienced violence in their lifetime, including 56.1 percent who have experienced sexual violence. Overall, more than 1.5 million American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced violence in their lifetime. Community advocates describe the crisis as a legacy of generations of government policies of forced removal, land seizures and violence inflicted on Native peoples.
As a response to this latest unnecessary death of a young Native American woman, the San Carlos Apache community has sent a resolution to lawmakers in the State of Arizona (HB 2281) which aims to establish a Missing Indigenous Person Alert, a quick response system designed to issue and coordinate alerts following the report of a missing indigneous person. Moreover, San Carlos Apache leaders want more investigation into group homes located off of reservation lands, tightened regulations and increased transparency on the part of group home personnel as to the status of those in their care. They are also looking at the possiblity of developing more of these facilities on reservation lands where the juvenile esidents have closer contact with relatives and support systems that are a better match for their psychological and spiritual needs.
Emily Pike’s story is heart-breaking and compelling, and it is rightfully drawing attention to a problem that continues to pervade communities all over the United States and Canada. It will take a powerful and organized effort from many nations and cultures to raise awareness and combat the mindset that gave rise to the current plight of indigneous women.
AZ Leg Bill History: https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/BillOverview/82045