A 15-year-old boy who went missing in Denver on Thursday is described by police as an Alaska Native who was last seen wearing a baggy black and white checkered outfit.
Missing Indigenous Person Alert Activation Michael Davis, described as a 15-year-old Alaskan Native male, last seen at 11:00 AM January 22, 2026 in the 1000 block of North Cherokee Street in Denver, Colorado.
Shaida Ghaemi was last seen Sept. 9, 2007, in Wheat Ridge. (Photo courtesy Colorado Bureau of Investigation)
Arash Ghaemi has wondered for 18 years what happened to his mother after she disappeared from a Wheat Ridge motel.
So Ghaemi, an artificial intelligence developer and entrepreneur, turned his profession into his passion.
“What if I can get the case files and run it through AI?” he said of the police investigation into his mother’s disappearance. “Maybe it will show me something and make the connections. If I could build it to solve my mom’s case, I could likely build it to solve other cases.”
Ghaemi launched CrimeOwl, an AI program that searches cold-case files to generate new leads for investigators, last year.
So far, the AI platform is in the hands of a few private investigators who are using it to chase leads on behalf of families searching for missing loved ones. Ghaemi hopes one day the program will have its big break in solving a case, and maybe — just maybe — it will help figure out what happened to his mother, Shaida Ghaemi, when she disappeared in 2007.
Ghaemi, who goes by “Ash,” on Tuesday met with investigators, information-technology staff and commanders at the Wheat Ridge Police Department to show off his AI tool and to ask for an update on his mother’s case.
For now, Wheat Ridge police say CrimeOwl is too unproven to use in the department’s investigations, including Shaida Ghaemi’s disappearance.
And they are tight-lipped about her case.
“We were really happy to meet with Ash. It’s part of our philosophy of relationship policing,” said Alex Rose, a Wheat Ridge police spokesman. “It was a twofold meeting to explain what we could about the case and to give some professional insight on the AI tool so it can become more widespread and of use to agencies across the country.”
‘Still trying to make sense of it’
When Arash Ghaemi was growing up, his mother was almost too good a mother, he said, describing her as “almost overbearing” in taking care of him and his older sister.
But when Arash was 17, his parents divorced, and everything changed.
Shaida Ghaemi became distant from her children. She left home a lot.
“It was weird,” he said. “She went from always needing to be in contact with me and my sister to she could take it or leave it.”
Shaida Ghaemi did not have a permanent home and did not have a job, her son, now 40, said. She traveled between Colorado and Maryland, where her parents lived.
In 2007 — five years after the divorce — she moved into the American Motel in Wheat Ridge with her boyfriend, Jude Peters.
“I am still trying to make sense of it,” he said of the changes in his mother’s behavior.
Arash Ghaemi was a 22-year-old server at a Red Robin restaurant in Highlands Ranch when his grandfather called from Maryland on a September night and told him they were unable to reach his mother. He asked his grandson to call the police.
Shaida Ghaemi, then 44, was last seen on Sept. 9, 2007, by Peters. Drops of her blood were found in their motel room. At the time, Peters told 9News it was menstrual blood and that Ghaemi often left for months at a time.
Wheat Ridge police still consider her disappearance a missing-person case, and there is no “clear indication of foul play,” Rose said. “Jude is not considered a person of interest in this investigation at this time,” Rose said of Peters.
“They still don’t know where she’s at and they don’t have any trace of her,” Ghaemi said.
‘True value’ of AI
Artificial intelligence is gaining ground as a law enforcement tool. Multiple police departments across Colorado are using the technology, most commonly for converting body-worn camera footage into written crime reports. It’s also being used to track license plates and to scan people’s faces.
The Wheat Ridge Police Department uses Axon’s Draft One to help write police reports, based on their body-worn camera footage.
“Our officers know they’re accountable for every single word,” Rose said. “It gives them a who, what, when and where and can save them time, but it’s not a substitution for good police work.”
Ghaemi launched CrimeOwl about six months ago. He is also developing AI programs for the dental industry and a new sports statistics program that could eventually be used by the NBA.
He programmed CrimeOwl to sort through all of the documents in a case file and build a map of the people connected to the missing person, such as partners, family, close friends and neighbors. The AI also creates a timeline of events leading to the disappearance or death and then maps all of the geographic locations connected to the crime, he said.
The platform has a chat function so investigators can ask the AI to sift through files to find answers to their questions.
While CrimeOwl was designed to help with missing-persons cases, Ghaemi said he hopes it can be used to solve other crimes.
No police departments have bought the product so far.
Ghaemi, who lives in Miami, said he tested CrimeOwl on a solved cold case in Florida and, after uploading the police case file into his program, the AI created a list of credible suspects within 30 minutes, he said. Police confirmed it had identified the actual perpetrator, he said.
“It took me 30 minutes to do what it could have taken them weeks or months to do,” Ghaemi said. “That’s the true value here.”
Not ready for police use
CrimeOwl, however, is not ready for active law enforcement investigations, Rose said.
The CrimeOwl platform would need to be secure so no one could tamper with the evidence once it is uploaded, Rose said. It would need to receive various certifications before any law enforcement agency used it, he said.
It would also need to be vetted by lawyers so any leads it generated would hold up at trial, he said.
“There are a lot of details and a lot of hypotheticals that would need to be heavily vetted for AI technology in a real-world police setting,” Rose said.
Still, Wheat Ridge police are intrigued by Ghaemi’s AI tool and were more than willing to offer advice and expertise, he said.
“We’re always going to applaud somebody who is trying to use technology to find ways to help,” Rose said.
Ghaemi said the Wheat Ridge investigators declined to hand over his mother’s case file because of the security concerns. He had wanted to upload those documents into CrimeOwl to see if it could generate new leads.
Police officials also told him that if they used CrimeOwl to identify a suspect, that person’s defense attorney would likely argue bias since the AI platform was built by the missing woman’s son, Ghaemi said.
“My stance is it has been 18 years. You guys have passed it on to other investigators. It’s not solving the case,” he said. “I’m willing to take that risk.”
Ghaemi hopes to overcome the legal barriers and law enforcement skepticism before his new company folds under financial pressure. He said CrimeOwl has a revenue stream, but it loses money every month.
“I built this thing with a mission in mind at first,” he said. “I didn’t really know how it would work or if it would work or if I would go broke. Even if it’s not me and CrimeOwl went broke tomorrow and we had to shutter the doors, I just want investigators to use AI to solve these cold cases.”
More than 80,000 service members who went missing in action in previous conflicts are still unaccounted for. However, through research and new technology, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency estimates the remains of 38,000 fallen veterans could be recoverable. Nonprofit organization Project Recover is working with the agency to bring some of those service members home through complex underwater missions.
“This is a great American story here,” former Navy Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet said. “Our work is to use technology, like underwater drones and scuba diving gear, to find the platforms that these members perished on and then do the DNA analysis of detecting and recovering their remains and matching them to those that are missing.”
Project Recover members stand with folded American flags during a ceremony honoring fallen World War II aviators.(Project Recover)
Gallaudet also serves as a Project Recover advisory council member. The group was founded by Dr. Patrick Scannon. He came up with the idea in 1993 when he was touring the Palau islands with his wife and discovered a downed plane from World War II.
“That 65-foot wing essentially changed my life,” Scannon said in an interview with GoPro.
Project Recover teams have located dozens of aircraft sites around the Palau islands associated with nearly 100 service members who went missing in action.
“The recovery is difficult. We first have to find the aircraft or ships,” Gallaudet said. “And then we’ve got to go determine if there are any remains there and then ID them, match them to the service members. “
In 1944, U.S. officials determined the Palau islands were a crucial part of a larger mission to liberate the Philippines. The effort to capture the island of Peleliu ended up being a costly effort for the U.S. Located around 500 miles away from the Philippines, the island held an airfield, which U.S. officials believed could be used to launch an attack during their larger mission. More than 10,000 Japanese troops were stationed on Peleliu at the time.
U.S. Air Force B-52 bombers are parked on a military airfield.(B-52 Bomber Down)
The battle was expected to last just a few days but ended up going on for 74. The U.S. began its bombardment by dropping more than 600 tons of bombs, but the Marines had little intelligence on enemy positions. Japanese troops hid in coral caves and mine shafts around the islands. The initial aerial attacks had little impact unless pilots flew dangerously close to the island.
On Peleliu, 1,800 Americans were killed in action and more than 8,000 were wounded or missing. Nearly all the 10,000 Japanese troops were killed in action. Across the Palau islands, the U.S. had carried out nine major air campaigns in which around 200 aircraft were lost.
Now Project Recover is working to bring some of those service members home.
“There were three service members on the aircraft that perished, a lieutenant and then two enlisted crew members. And over the last few years, we were able to recover the remains of all three. And we didn’t identify them all at the same time. It took forensic analysis and DNA. Technology. But the last one was finally identified,” Gallaudet said.
Lt. Jay Manown, AOM1c Anthony Di Petta and ARM1c Wilbur Mitts took off for a bombing mission in September 1944. They were conducting pre-invasion strikes in preparation for the invasion of Peleliu when their plane spun out of control and crashed into surrounding waters.
“The plane was hit by enemy fire, and it burst into flames,” Di Petta’s niece, Suzanne Nakamura, said in an interview with Media Evolve.
Project Recover located the plane in 2015. After more than a dozen dives to investigate the wreckage, teams began removing the remains of the three service members. Lt. Manown was the last to be repatriated.
“We held the ceremony in his hometown in West Virginia, and the relatives of all three service members came to that final ceremony,” Gallaudet said.
The three nieces of the men have become especially close.
A diver examines a wreck during an underwater mission to locate and recover missing U.S. service members.(Project Recover)
“We’ve communicated beautifully and become friends through this experience and almost a sisterhood of type,” Manown’s niece, Rebecca Sheets, said in an interview with Media Evolve.
“We’ve talked so much by phone and feel so close,” Mitt’s niece, Diana Ward, told Media Evolve. “This is just a joy to meet each other in person, and we’re just sharing the emotion we’ve felt about bringing our uncles home.”
The three women have also connected over how their grandmothers, or the mothers of Manown, Di Petta and Mitts, may have felt about their sons finally coming home.
“We have a connection because our uncles were involved in not only defending the freedom of the United States, but as human beings who fought together and died together,” Nakamura said.
Including their work in Palau, Project Recover has completed more than 100 missions across 25 countries. They have repatriated 24 missing Americans and have located more than 200 missing in action awaiting further recovery efforts. The group is raising money for a mission it hopes to complete in 2026 — the search for a B-52 aircraft that disappeared during a training accident.
“It’s off the coast of Texas. We’ve not yet found the aircraft. And of those eight service members, they all had families,” Gallaudet said. “There are about 32 of those family members still alive today who want the answers to know what happened to their loved ones.”
In addition to the more than 80,000 missing-in-action service members, 20,000 are missing from training accidents. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency is not permitted to allocate funds toward a search effort for the eight men who disappeared along with their B-52 because the crash occurred during a non-conflict training accident.
“Not having found the wreck yet, we don’t know what the cause of the failure was. And so it’s our goal to find that wreckage and then take the remains and repatriate them to the families,” Gallaudet said.
U.S. Air Force B-52 crew members pose for a group photo.(B-52 Bomber Down)
The Air Force Bomber was on a routine training mission in February 1968 when it disappeared from radar and radio contact. The Air Force immediately conducted an extensive nine-day search of the flight path but found no trace of the bomber. As the military concluded its search, determining it went down in an unknown location, three pieces of debris washed ashore in Corpus Christi, Texas.
“This B-52 off the Texas coast hasn’t been located yet, but we think we know where the area is. We’re going to find it,” Gallaudet said.
More than $300,000 has been raised for the mission so far. Project Recover estimates another $200,000 is needed to search for the eight men. If the organization can locate the remains, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency will be able to allocate resources for a recovery effort.
You can learn more about Project Recover and the missing B-52 and donate to help with the search on Project Recover’s website.
Bret Baier currently serves as FOX News Channel’s (FNC) anchor and executive editor of Special Report with Bret Baier (weeknights at 6-7PM/ET), chief political anchor of the network and co-anchor of the network’s election coverage. Baier is also host of FOX News Audio’s “The Bret Baier Podcast” which includes Common Ground and The All-Star Panel. He joined FNC in 1998 as the first reporter in the Atlanta bureau and is now based in Washington, D.C. where he was recently described as “the most influential news anchor in America right now” at the 2025 Semafor Trust in News summit.
Jimmy Fowlie posted on multiple social media platforms asking Angelenos if they have seen his sister Christine Lynn Downey who vanished in late November
A writer for Saturday Night Live is asking Angelenos to help the search for his sister, Christina Lynn Downer, who was last seen in Koreatown.
Jimmy Fowlie, who also works as an actor, wrote on social media that his family is “worried that my sister isn’t safe,” and urged Angelenos to call police if they see her.
The LAPD says it has opened a case into the 38-year-old woman’s disappearance. “Christina Lynn Downer was last contacted on December 10, 2025, via text message with a friend. Her last known location was in the Koreatown area of Los Angeles. She has not been seen or heard from since,” the LAPD said in a statement, adding, “The family wants the public to be aware that Christina Downer has no known medical conditions and has not gone missing before.”
Christina Downer is described as a 38-year-old female with black hair and brown eyes. She stands five feet one inch tall and weighs approximately 115 pounds. Anyone with information regarding her location is asked to contact the Los Angeles Police Department’s Missing Persons Unit at (213) 996-1800.
A 15-year-old Denver boy is missing after he was last seen Thursday morning in the Athmar Park neighborhood, according to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Michael Davis was last seen at 8 a.m. in the 700 block of South Lipan Street, state officials said in a Missing Indigenous Person Alert.
Michael is affiliated with the Athabascan tribe and is described as 5 feet, 10 inches tall and 130 pounds with brown eyes and brown hair. He also wears glasses.
Anyone with information about his whereabouts should call 911 or the Denver Police Department at 720-913-2000.
ACTIVATION – Michael Davis (15-Year-Old Indigenous Male) last seen on 12/11/25 at about 8am in the 700 block of S. Lipan Street in Denver, CO. Michael is affiliated with the Athabascan tribe. Michael’s last clothing is unknown, but Michael does wear glasses. If seen Call 911. pic.twitter.com/G1CVuFc0zk
Ann Evans, an American cruise ship passenger, has gone missing in the Caribbean after she did not return to her ship after a stop in Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, on November 20.
Newsweek has contacted the Police Force of Sint Maarten and the Holland America Line for comment outside of regular working hours via email.
Why It Matters
Missing persons cases are often the subject of fascination, and specific instances of people going missing on cruise ships regularly spark public interest. Attention is often drawn in the U.S. when American tourists go missing.
There are no official figures for people going missing on cruises, and instances of this happening are rare, though earlier this year, an American woman named Jessica Collins went missing after she did not return to her cruise ship after a stop in the Caribbean. It was later revealed that Collins was safe and did not want to be found.
The 2025 Netflix documentary titled ‘Amy Bradley is Missing’ about the 1998 case of a young woman vanishing without a trace while on a cruise may have increased interest in cases of missing persons on cruises.
What To Know
Evans is a 55-year-old American citizen.
According to a missing person’s alert issued by the Police force of Sint Maarten, Evans departed Holland America Line’s Rotterdam cruise ship while it was docked at around 10 a.m.
Evans then went on to join an organized bus tour of the island. She left the bus in Marigot, in the French side of Saint Martin, known as the Collectivity of Saint Martin.
However, she did not return to the bus or the cruise ship.
Law enforcement said in the missing persons alert that “Efforts to locate Ms. Evans are ongoing,” and that “law enforcement authorities on both the Dutch and French sides of the island have been alerted.
The island of Sint Marteen, or Saint Martin, is located in the Caribbean, some 190 miles east of Puerto Rico. Since the 1600s, the island has been divided between the French and the Dutch. The French portion of the island is larger, but the Dutch portion is more populated. Evans went missing on the French side of the island.
What People Are Saying
The Police Force of Sint Marteen, in a missing persons alert: “KPSM and the French Gendarmerie are urging anyone with information about Ms. Evans’ whereabouts to come forward. If Ms. Evans herself sees this message, she is kindly requested to contact her family, the Police Force of Sint Maarten, or the French Gendarmerie as soon as possible to confirm her safety.”
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday that it intends to retry Pedro Hernandez,the man found guilty of kidnapping and murdering a 6-year-old boy decades ago.
Etan Patz went missing in 1979 after he walked to his bus stop alone for the first time in New York City. He was one of the first missing children to appear on milk cartons.
Hernandez confessed to the crime nearly three decades later, and was sentenced to 25 years to life after being convicted of murder in 2017. His first trial ended in a hung jury in 2015.
“The District Attorney has determined that the available, admissible evidence supports prosecuting defendant on the charges of Murder in the Second Degree and Kidnapping in the First Degree in this matter, and the People are prepared to proceed,” Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Sarah Marquez wrote in a statement.
Pedro Hernandez appears in Manhattan criminal court with his attorney, Harvey Fishbein, Nov. 15, 2012, in New York. (AP Photo/Louis Lanzano, Pool, File)
Hernandez’s defense attorneys, Harvey Fishbein and Alice Fontier, told the Associated Press they “remain convinced that Mr. Hernandez is an innocent man.”
“But we will be prepared for trial and will present an even stronger defense,” the pair of attorneys added.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned Hernandez’s conviction in July, finding that the jury in 2017 had not received a thorough enough explanation of its options, including that it could ignore Hernandez’s confessions.
Split of Pedro Hernandez in court and a missing poster for Etan Patz.(Reuters/Louis Lanzano/Pool; Reuters/Defense attorney Alice Fontier/Handout )
Years before his conviction, Hernandez admitted to police that he lured Patz into the basement of the convenience store where he worked. Prosecutors claimed Hernandez choked Patz, stuffed his body into a plastic garbage bag hidden inside a box and took it out with the trash.
The appeals court found that the trial judge had issued “clearly wrong” and “manifestly prejudicial” instructions to the jury in response to a question about the suspect’s confessions to police.
In October, Judge Colleen McMahon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that Hernandez must receive a third trial by June 1, or he would ultimately be released.
Stanley Patz, father of 1979 murder victim 6-year-old Etan Patz, (C) departs after speaking to the media at Manhattan State Supreme Court following the sentencing of Pedro Hernandez, in New York City, U.S., April 18, 2017.(Reuters/Lucas Jackson)
A court hearing is scheduled for Dec. 1.
Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimsoncontributed to this report.
KENT, Wash. – A Des Moines man is now in custody in connection to the 2021 murder of a missing person in Kent.
The suspect was arrested for second-degree murder in connection to the disappearance of 36-year-old Austin Leming, who hasn’t been seen since December 2021.
Leming’s last known location was reported to be in Puyallup, where there were indications that he might be missing under suspicious circumstances. He was then traced to an apartment in Kent.
During the intense, four-year investigation, Kent detectives uncovered that Leming was last known to be with the 46-year-old suspect, and a search of his apartment led to the discovery of blood and evidence that Leming was in the apartment prior to his disappearance.
Kent police and Valley SWAT arrested the suspect on Monday, Nov. 17, after surrounding his home. He has a long criminal history stretching back to the early 2000s, including 14 felonies for assault, eluding, vehicle theft, possession of stolen property, and possession of a controlled substance.
The arrest marks a significant step in the lengthy investigation into Leming’s disappearance, where police pursued all types of leads, served multiple search warrants, and conducted many interviews in attempts to find him.
“This case is a perfect example of the dedication and commitment our detectives have to bring closure to the family of the victim, and justice to those who committed this heinous crime. We continue to work to locate Austin’s remains as we support his family through this difficult time” noted Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla.
However, Leming’s remains have still not been located. Anyone with information about the case or Austin’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Kent Police Tip Line at 253-856-5808, KPDTipLine@kentwa.gov or Crime Stoppers Tip Line at 1-800-222-8477. If your tip is urgent, call 911.
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The Source: Information in this story came from the Kent Police Department and previous FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
AUBURN, Wash. – In Washington state, Indigenous people make up about 3% of the population, but account for more than 7% of the missing persons lists maintained by Washington State Patrol (WSP).
Local, state, federal, and tribal leaders said the rate of Indigenous people reported as missing or murdered is at a crisis level nationally.
“Native Americans are Washingtonians, and their lives are at risk. And we as Washingtonians should be stepping forward to protect every one of us,” said State Rep. Debra Lekanoff of the 40th legislative district.
The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe is hosting the second National Missing & Murdered Indigenous People Coordinator Gathering, November 5–7. 60 leaders from 13 states will hold meetings in Auburn at Muckleshoot’s community center and resort. Those in attendance include members of government, law enforcement agencies, advocacy groups, tribal nations, and the courts.
“Ultimately, we are responsible to our communities. And, the better we’re networked together, the better we have relationships at all different levels of government and cross-government,” said Samuel White, chief of police with the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe.
The groups are collaborating on how to improve communication networks, response strategies, and family services when their tribal member is reported missing or murdered. They’re also reviewing current trends, challenges, and investigative practices in hopes of developing greater coordination in intervention, prevention, education, and advocacy to save more lives.
What they’re saying:
“We all come together collectively to create a response that we’re all doing. This way, we decrease and minimize these opportunities for these challenges and barriers of missing, murdered, any form of violence and victimization,” said Valaura Imus-Nahsonhoya, the MMIP Program Coordinator for the Arizona Governor’s Office on Tribal Relations.
Imus-Nahsonhoya helped launch the inaugural National Missing & Murdered Indigenous People Coordinator Gathering in 2024, hosted in Arizona. She said the goal is to continue these discussions regularly throughout the country in hopes of sharing and expanding life-saving resources.
Imus-Nahsonhoya said she has dedicated at least 20 years to this work.
“Our families and survivors telling me what went wrong in their cases, who didn’t respond, who responded, what services were provided to them, and what services they did not know about. So, it’s their voice that guides me,” said Imus-Nahsonhoya.
For her, she has a deeper personal connection to this effort.
“I do this work, honestly, because of my brother, who was also murdered. I do this work because of my niece, my nephews, his children, who are continuing to grieve with no answer,” Imus-Nahsonhoya.
In Washington state, the crisis continues gaining the attention and resources it deserves.
Big picture view:
“Washington state knew there was a crisis with missing and murdered Indigenous people. I think we just needed the right people at the table beginning to develop policies, regulations, and investing in Washington state to bring this crisis forward,” said Lekanoff, who helped launch the state’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People (MMIWP) Task Force.
In 2018, the state passed legislation creating two tribal liaison positions in the Washington State Patrol. In 2019, WSP began keeping a list of Missing Indigenous Persons. Troopers explained the list is updated every two weeks and distributed to statewide law enforcement.
White said he has noticed improvements in the partnerships with local, state, and federal law enforcement. He said he’d like to see continued education opportunities within the community and law enforcement.
“The end result is we’re having better cases, earlier reported cases, families are getting the services they need, and able to help out in a way that they can, help and understand where the case is at, and have that trust that law enforcement is doing the job that it’s there to do,” said White.
Washington also led the nation with the launch of the Missing Indigenous Person Alert (MIPA) system in 2022. Since its inception, WSP said 194 alerts have gone out to the public, with several of those alerts leading directly to information that assisted in recovery or resolution of the case.
The other side:
For White, he said the systems and services worked for his family.
“It’s my cousin. My second cousin. Her daughter went missing,” said White. “It was great satisfaction to be able to bring her home. It was because we were able to put the family in touch with people that could help and with social media, with the media on TV, with the FBI going out and checking surveillance cameras when we had sightings. Knowing who to call when that happened, to be able to reach out to other state agencies and have them check certain houses. It was all the relationships that allowed that to happen. It worked. We had enough pressure out there that it worked, and I really felt like we’re getting something done here.”
In 2023, the Washington Legislature created and funded the MMIWP Cold Case Investigations Unit (MMIWP CCU) within the Attorney General’s Office. The state patrol said the CCU team was created to review and attempt to solve missing person and cold homicide cases involving persons of Indigenous ancestry.
WSP said, currently, the unit has 25 active investigations related to unsolved murders and suspicious missing person cases. WSP said the CCU has assisted in locating more than 20 missing Indigenous persons.
“We have saved lives, we have brought families together, we have saved a community from suffering the loss of generations of women. I have had the pleasure of welcoming home members who we thought we have lost,” said Lekanoff.
Though the collaborative efforts have proven successful, leaders and representatives said they want to see continued expansion of services to better protect their people.
“Trying to bridge those gaps between community and the trust in law enforcement, trying to bridge that so that we have successful outcomes in cases and can bring answers to families in a way that they trust law enforcement in the long term,” said White.
“Every Washingtonian deserves to feel like they are living in a safe place where their life matters,” said Lekanoff.
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The Source: Information in this story comes from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle reporter Franque Thompson.
SEATTLE – A set of human remains found in a remote area of north Snohomish County earlier this year belonged to a missing Tulalip woman, according to the FBI.
The DNA of the remains matched that of Mary Johnson (Davis), who disappeared from the Tulalip Reservation back on November 25, 2020.
Johnson was last seen walking on Firetrail Road, traveling to a friend’s house, but never arrived.
What they’re saying:
“With deep respect for the family and Tulalip community, the Tulalip Police Department is heartbroken to confirm that human remains have been positively identified as Mary Johnson-Davis, a member of the Tulalip Tribes of Washington,” said Shawn V. Ledford, Chief of the Tulalip Police Department. “Identification was confirmed through DNA analysis conducted by a forensic laboratory, and next of kin have been notified. This case remains an active and ongoing investigation, and the Tulalip Police Department will continue to work in partnership with the family and the FBI. Mary’s family would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to the community for their assistance and compassion throughout the past five years of searching for Mary, which ultimately led to her being found. We extend our prayers, strength, and healing to Mary’s family, loved ones, and the entire Tulalip community during this difficult time.”
The Tulalip Tribes and FBI are offering a reward of up to $60,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of person(s) responsible for Mary Johnson’s disappearance. Anyone with information is asked to contact the FBI’s Seattle Field Office at 206-622-0460, 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324), or tips.fbi.gov.
“When the FBI is called to investigate a missing indigenous person, we understand the importance of the case for the victim’s loved ones and communities,” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “Every victim leaves a space in that community which cannot be filled. We recognize the process can be lengthy and frustrating, but we assure everyone the FBI and our partners are doing everything we can. FBI Seattle is committed to our relationships with all of Washington’s communities, including our state’s 29 federally recognized tribes, and we will never stop pursuing justice for victims, no matter how long it takes.”
The investigation is ongoing.
“We recognize that the past five years have been incredibly difficult and painful for Mary’s family as well as our neighbors and partners at the Tulalip Police Department, the entire community, and the staff who have worked tirelessly to find her,” said Snohomish County Sheriff Susanna Johnson. “We hope the recovery brings us one step closer to finding the truth about what happened to Mary. I want to extend my personal condolences to Mary’s entire family and to the Tulalip Tribes, and express our deep appreciation to community members whose initial reporting led to the discovery and identification of her remains.”
“The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office plays an important role in helping identify unknown remains and hopefully provide some small measure of closure for grieving families and communities,” said SCMEO Operations Manager Nicole Krueger. “It has taken five challenging years to reach this point in the investigation. More than four months ago, when unknown human skeletal remains were recovered, our office provided a sample to the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center to obtain a DNA profile. We were recently notified of a positive CODIS match to the Tulalip Tribes Missing Person Mary Ellen Johnson (Davis) of Tulalip, WA. The cause and manner of death are undetermined pending further investigation.”
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The Source: Information in this story came from the FBI, Tulalip Police Department, Snohomish County Sheriff, Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office and previous FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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An undated photo of Terri Ann Ackerman, who was reported missing on Aug. 24, 2018, from her home in Lochbuie.
Lochbuie police this week confirmed the remains of 56-year-old Terri Ann Ackerman were found at her northern Colorado home, more than seven years after she was reported missing in the Weld County town of Lochbuie.
The Weld County Coroner’s Office announced Wednesday that Ackerman’s remains were found at a home in the 100 block of Poplar Street on Sept. 10 — the same area where she was reported missing from her home in August 2018, according to the Greeley Tribune.
Lochbuie police officials this week confirmed Ackerman’s remains were discovered at her home, but did not say where they were found or why they were not discovered for more than seven years.
The cause and manner of her death are also under investigation.
Officials with the police department and Weld County Sheriff’s Office could not immediately be reached for comment.
Ackerman’s family, who are raising funds to cover funeral costs, described her as “a loving, caring, and social person who meant the world to her family and friends.”
“She was always there for those she loved, filling every room with warmth and conversation,” her family wrote on GoFundMe page. “Terri Ann’s dedication to her family was unmatched, and her absence has been deeply felt by everyone who knew her.”
A transgender Middlebury College student reported missing on October 19 died by suicide, authorities in Vermont said.
An autopsy conducted by the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington identified the body discovered Thursday during a search for Lia Smith as the 21-year-old transgender former student-athlete, Vermont State Police announced late Friday. The medical examiner on Friday determined that the student died by suicide.
“No additional details are available about this case,” the state police said in a statement.
Smith, who previously lived in Woodside, California, was reported missing on Sunday—two days after she was last seen on campus. Authorities found a body Thursday in a field west of Middlebury in Cornwall near The Knoll, the college’s organic farm, state police said.
Officials at the college of roughly 2,800 undergraduates initially notified students on Sunday about Smith, whose disappearance was reported to Middlebury police earlier that afternoon.
“This is incredibly saddening news, and we are working to support our community in every way we can at this difficult time,” Middlebury College President Ian Baucom said in a statement Thursday after authorities found the unidentified body near the western edge of campus.
“I know that this is extraordinarily difficult news to receive as we continue to hold Lia and all her family and friends tight in our hearts,” Baucom’s statement continued. “As ever, please care for yourselves and one another.”
Counseling services had been available to Middlebury students beginning on Monday, Baucom said.
“We will do everything we can to find Lia,” university officials said in a statement earlier this week. “She is a beloved member of our Middlebury family and there is nothing more important than the health, safety, and wellbeing of our students and of our entire community.”
Smith’s father contacted police after not being able to reach her and connecting with friends, according to The Middlebury Campus, the school’s student newspaper.
Smith, who double majored in statistics and computer science, previously competed on the women’s swimming and diving team. She also participated in chess and women in computer science clubs at Middlebury, the newspaper reported.
In February, Smith spoke at a panel at the college hosted by student group Queers & Allies to discuss the politicization of transgender health care, The Middlebury Campus reported.
Smith cited a strong support network for transgender students on campus during her appearance.
“Know that there are people in your community that are here for you and care about you,” she said.
Searches conducted this week near the campus by Middlebury police, Vermont State Police and other law enforcement agencies included K-9 teams and drones. Staff at the liberal arts college scoured all campus facilities as well, Baucom said.
More than 600 Middlebury students had also joined an online group to share updates of the extensive effort to find Smith, WPTZ reported.
“We’re a really small community,” senior Lucy Schembre told the station. “Even if you don’t know someone personally, you definitely know somebody who knows them, and you’ve definitely seen them around. It’s very jarring for somebody who’s supposed to be here to not be here.”
Middlebury police declined to comment on inquiries by Newsweek on whether Smith’s gender identity played a role in her disappearance.
A study conducted in 2023 revealed that 42 percent of transgender adults in the United States have attempted suicide and 81 percent have thought about ending their own lives.
John Stanford, the deputy commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department told reporters at a press conference, shared by NBC Philadelphia, that investigators had found remains that were around a week old in a shallow grave in a wooded area behind the abandoned Ada H. Lewis Middle School near the Awbury Arboretum following an anonymous tip.
They have not yet been identified but a spokesperson for the department told ABC News that they believed they belonged to Scott.
Newsweek reached out to the Philadelphia Police Department for comment on this story.
Homicide detectives are now assisting in the search for Kada Scott, the Mount Airy woman who went missing earlier this month, Philadelphia police said Tuesday.
Scott, 23, was last seen leaving her home near Rodney Street and East Mount Airy Avenue around 9:45 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4. She was on her way to work her overnight shift at The Terrace, an assisted living facility in Chestnut Hill. Though her car was found in the parking lot, Scott did not show up for work.
Investigators initially had been treating Scott’s disappearance as a missing person’s case. Police were expected to provide an update on the case Tuesday afternoon, but canceled the press conference. They did not give a reason for the cancellation.
Police said Scott was typically a frequent social media user, but her cell phone and social media accounts have not shown any activity since she went missing. Her phone is no longer in operation. Last week, a co-worker reportedly revealed that someone had been harassing Scott in the time leading up to her disappearance, but police said they were unsure who the harasser was.
On Friday, police searched a section of Awbury Arboretum in Germantown, north of Washington Lane, after “some evidence” led them to the area. Police deployed K-9 units and cadets from the Police Academy to aid the search, but they only found a few clothing items. Investigators were unsure if the clothes were related to the case.
Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said Friday that detectives saw some signs that Scott might not have been missing voluntarily, including her lack of phone activity.
“It’s concerning, many young people today, they can’t live without having a phone in their hand,” Vanore said in a press update. “So that’s a concern. She left her car behind, it’s certainly something that’s not usual of someone who’s missing voluntarily.”
She says they are preparing to file a lawsuit against DCYF — but she has declined to participate, saying she wants the focus to remain on honoring Oakley’s life and on hold Bowers and Carlson accountable.
Neither has cooperated with detectives in the search for their missing daughter.
What they’re saying:
Hiles did not know until recently that the petition had been signed on July 11.
On Monday, she shared her reaction on the Where is Oakley Carlson Facebook page, saying:
“Imagine being a parent and finding out from someone else that your child has been declared dead. The pain and shock of that moment are indescribable. No parent should ever have to experience that kind of disregard. This effort has been described as a way to hold dcyf accountable, but from where I stand it looks more like a pursuit of financial gain than a pursuit of justice.”
Meanwhile, Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s detectives say that declaring Oakley dead does not change their investigation.
What’s next:
They are working with the prosecutor’s office and considering charging Bowers and Carlson in a no-body homicide case.
No decisions have been made, but they are discussing it.
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BREMERTON, Wash. – The Washington State Patrol has activated a SILVER Alert for a missing Bremerton woman, and also identified a suspect.
Troopers are looking for 79-year-old Linda Evans, who was last seen leaving her home on Russell Road in Bremerton at around 10:30 a.m. Thursday.
WSP also identified 48-year-old Donovan Foshay as a suspect in Evans’ disappearance.
Linda Evans and Donovan Foshay (via WSP)
Evans is 5’0″, 127 pounds with white hair and green eyes. She was last seen wearing a red jacket, red pants, red hat and black sandals.
Foshay is described as 5’8″, 160 pounds, brown hair, blue eyes and is wearing unknown clothing. Details regarding Foshay’s involvement were not provided.
It’s unknown which direction of travel Evans was headed. WSP says she is unable to return home without assistance.
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The Source: Information in this story came from the Washington State Patrol.
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Two missing young brothers who left their foster parents’ Westlake District apartment and were believed to have been abducted by their biological mother were located Sunday.
The Los Angeles Police Department announced at about 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 24, that the 2-year-old and 10-year-old were no longer missing.
“The children have been located and will soon be reunited with their foster parents,” police said. “(The) children are in good health.”
NBC4, citing police, reported that they were located in Las Vegas.
The brothers were the subject of an Amber Alert issued by the California Highway Patrol mid-morning Thursday, after they were reported missing at 1:30 a.m. They were previously last seen in the area of West 52nd Street and Halldale Avenue in South Los Angeles, according to Officer Rosario Cervantes of the LAPD.
“It is believed their biological mother … took them from Virgil Avenue to the area of the 1500 block of East 52nd Street,” the LAPD said last week.
