The FBI is looking for potential victims who may have been recruited to live in government funded group homes in Phoenix between January 2020 and the present.
The Navajo-Hopi Observer reports organizers of these behavioral health residential facilities are targeting Native Americans from the Navajo Nation and other reservations in Arizona, New Mexico and South Dakota.
In some cases, intoxicated individuals are offered help or are offered alcohol while being transported to a group home. They may not know where they are, how they got there or have a way to get home. In some cases, victims are reportedly being asked to a apply for state Medicaid benefits and food stamps as a means of “payment” for services. This practice has led to a number of missing persons cases filed with local law enforcement agencies.
The FBI says anyone who may have been victimized or knows someone who has been recruited to such a group home in the Phoenix area is encouraged to fill out an online questionnaire at www.forms.fbi.gov/phoenixgrouphomes.