Prosecutors in New Mexico’s busiest judicial district and the state Indian Affairs Department are teaming up to create a special investigative unit to focus on cases of missing and slain Native Americans.
New Mexico’s Indian Affairs Secretary and the Bernalillo County District Attorney announced the memorandum of understanding last week to create the unit.
The team within the district attorney’s office will help a statewide task force with analysis, case investigations and interventions.
Officials said New Mexico has the fifth-largest Native American population in the U.S. and the highest number in the U.S. of Indigenous people who have been killed or are missing.