We Are Resilient: An MMIP True Crime Podcast

We’re excited to be back! We Are Resilient returns with more MMIP stories, and Sgili Queens is ready with fresh spooky and pop culture episodes. Catch both starting December 1 on Apple, Spotify, and more!

Melissa Montoya, 42, was of the Jicarilla Apache Nation and in 2001 was living with her boyfriend in Colorado, about about 30 minutes for her hometown of Dulce, New Mexico on the Jicarilla Apache Nation Reservation. On March 9th, 2001 during an evening out Melissa vanished without a trace.

Sources:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna164088

https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/search-continues-for-new-mexico-woman-23-years-after-disappearance/

https://radio.foxnews.com/2024/06/18/disappearance-in-dulce-the-case-of-melissa-montoya/

Shauntae Marshall, 26, is a member of the Navajo Nation in Albuquerque, New Mexico who went missing in June 2024. Her family desperately needs help to find her.

Sources:
https://mmip.nmdoj.gov/dashboard.html

In August 2022, 28-year-old Whisper Sellars was shot to death outside a saloon in Montana. Two years later, her killer finally had his day in court and Whisper’s family and friends finally received justice.

Sources:

https://www.krtv.com/news/crime-and-courts/del-orrin-crawford-found-guilty-for-deadly-martin-city-shooting

https://flatheadbeacon.com/2024/07/23/trial-begins-for-man-accused-in-martin-city-murder/

https://flatheadbeacon.com/2024/07/25/jury-convicts-kila-man-of-martin-city-murder/

According to the National Inquiry in Canada, Indigenous women are 12 times more likely to be murdered or go missing than any other women in Canada, and 16 times more likely than Caucasian women.

This  statistic is especially terrifying when the world learned that in 2022 a serial killer targeting Indigenous women was captured in Winnipeg. 

Sources:

https://ywcavan.org/blog/2019/10/mmiwg-truth-action

Canada: unidentified victim of alleged serial killer given name Buffalo Woman | Canada | The Guardian

Canadian man charged with murdering four Indigenous women | Canada | The Guardian

Jeremy Skibicki to plead not guilty on all charges in 1st-degree murder case: lawyer - Winnipeg | Globalnews.ca

Winnipeg trial hears admitted serial killer searched web for serial killer definition - Winnipeg | Globalnews.ca

https://globalnews.ca/news/10494416/trial-of-winnipeg-serial-killer-expected-to-hear-testimony-from-dna-expert/

Winnipeg trial hears victims’ clothing, jewelry found in serial killer’s apartment - Winnipeg | Globalnews.ca

‘As though they were garbage’: Trial hears serial killer targeted Indigenous women - Winnipeg | Globalnews.ca

Winnipeg serial killer told shelter worker 'he was just there to stalk his victims,' trial hears | CBC News

Women's remains believed to have spent 2 weeks in same Winnipeg dumpster before going to landfill, trial hears | CBC News

Serial killer who targeted Indigenous women gets life sentence in Canada - ICT News

Canadian serial killer Jeremy Skibicki found guilty of murdering four women (bbc.com)

In April 2024, 36 year old Utahnna Bearcomesout was out on drive with her husband and daughter in Fort Washakie, Wyoming when a tragic turn of events cost her, her life. With her husband behind bars, her family and friends are desperately seeking justice.

Sources:
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2024/06/10/hes-not-sorry-family-of-slain-woman-says-as-accused-killer-pleads-not-guilty/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2bOKmZWinWfA1crN1HP66CkkVSUngWbFaJALqKyY6b8XN72rS1mIeyjmI_aem_eWofmuH0NGtnzEmK_5dwUQ

Delema Sits Poor was just 12 years old when she disappeared from Pine Ridge, South Dakota in February 1974. She and another twelve-year-old girl left Delema's home walking a back road from Oglala to Manderson on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Her friend turned back to head back home, Delema did not. She was never seen again. 

Sources:

Delema Lou Sits Poor – The Charley Project

50 years later, Lakota girl still missing - ICT News

Search for Native woman’s identity reignites - ICT News

In October, 2010, 32 year old Sumi Gail Juan, a member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe, disappeared without a trace. Her story, mirroring similarities with another Hoopa Valley woman, further highlights the prevalence and complexities of the MMIW crisis that is happening in Northern California. 

Sources:

https://www.equatorinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Yurok-Tribe-Case-Study-English-FNL.pdf

https://www.equatorinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Yurok-Tribe-Case-Study-English-FNL.pdf

https://humboldtgov.org/DocumentCenter/View/115172/sumi-juan-case-press-releases

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-03-14/native-americans-tribes-california-missing-women-girls

On October 20, 2020, one day before her 18th birthday, Jalajhia Finklea of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe was last seen getting into a rental car driven by a Florida man near her mother’s home in New Bedford, MA.  She was never seen alive again.

Sources:
Missing Mass. Teen Jalajhia Finklea Was Pregnant: Police Report – NBC Boston

Pregnant teen, 18, found dead in Florida 1,400 miles from home after five weeks missing as 'kidnapper' shot by cops | The US Sun (the-sun.com)

Autopsy: Mashpee teen was shot - ICT News

Mashpee Teen Still Missing After Officers Shoot Man Wanted in Her Disappearance – NBC Boston

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (mashpeewampanoagtribe-nsn.gov)

Missing Pregnant Teen Found Dead In Florida, Believed To Be Jalajhia Finklea (balleralert.com)

Suspect Killed by Law Enforcement, But Mashpee Wampanoag Woman Still Missing | Currents (nativenewsonline.net)

Missing Mashpee woman's body found in Florida, autopsy confirms (heraldnews.com)

Gunshots listed as Jalajhia Finklea cause of death; phone led police to body in Fellsmere (tcpalm.com)

New Bedford Police search for missing teen, member of Mashpee Wampanoag tribe – Boston 25 News

In 2017, the body of 21-year-old Ci’Lina Deloney was found on a Comanche Country Road in Oklahoma. Known to her family and friends as CiCi, her murder remains unsolved and her family struggles with getting CiCi’s story heard.

Sources:

Family seeks answers for Ci'Lina Deloney's death (kswo.com)
Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation looking for leads in Comanche County cold case (okcfox.com)
Mother seeks justice in daughter’s murder (kswo.com)
Unsolved Homicide: Ci’Lina Teira Bell-Deloney – If you have credible information about Ci’Lina’s murder, contact the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-522-8017. You can remain anonymous. (wordpress.com)