The FBI has released a list of more than 170 Native Americans it has verified as missing throughout the Navajo Nation in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
FBI officials said at a news conference Monday the effort is being publicized to address the crisis of missing Indigenous people, as well as increase transparency and accountability. The FBI says the list will be updated regularly by seven federal agencies.
The New Mexico Department of Public Safety is the first agency in the U.S. to modify its National Crime Information Center Missing Persons Form to report identification of tribes, clans, pueblos or nations.
The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program shows approximately 1,500 missing American Indian and Alaska Natives entered in the national database and 2,700 cases of murder or negligent homicide.