Out of Sight: Missing and Murdered

10/10/2024

Authorities are seeking help finding a missing 13-year-old girl from Garryowen, Sawade Birdinground.

05/10/2024

It has now been 8 months since anyone has heard from Kisha.
I honestly don't even have words at this point.
Just heartbroken and devastated every day that passes and she is not found.
It's easy for people who don't know her to say and believe all kinds of things, but everyone who knows Kisha knows that she would never choose to stay away this long. She would never choose to worry her family, especially her mom, for this long.
Kisha also doesn't like being alone so I just think someone has to know something at this point.
Please don't give up on her. Kisha is loved beyond words and still so young. She's not a statistic, she's not a cold case, and she will never be forgotten.
Continue to keep and eye out and call 911 if you see her to get the fastest response possible. With tips, call Lake County Sheriff's Department or, if you'd prefer a non-law enforcement option, call me at 773-344-1033.
I just want to find her and I don't have to give anyone's name to police.
BRING KISHA HOME

24/09/2024

STILL MISSING

“We want to find him; we’re determined to find him,” said Gabriel’s sister, Kellie Fitzgerald.

24/09/2024

In a period of 12 months, with only our small staff of 6, Iglutecha logged 55,499 assistance records!! An assistance record is created anytime we provide a service, including overnight shelter check-ins, day-shelter check-ins, meals, clothing donations, recovery meetings and more. Here's a look at some of what we provided for our community!

We need your help to keep the shelter operating and to continue to grow our impact! Click the link
https://www.facebook.com/donate/939617917877795/

06/09/2024

Last night, we celebrated the final installment of our 3-part series on making pemmican, and it was truly a special evening! It was wonderful to see so many enthusiastic community members—children, adults, and elders—coming together to honor our traditions.

We used dried bison meat that we processed during the first class, combined it with tallow made from bison bones in our second class, and mixed it all with handpicked savis berries. It was amazing to see everyone work together, using every part of the bison and the gifts from our land to create this traditional food that has nourished our people for generations. 🦬

Thank you to everyone who participated in this series! Your passion and involvement made these workshops truly memorable. We are grateful for the opportunity to learn, share, and keep our cultural practices alive. 🙏

Stay tuned for more chances to gather, learn, and celebrate our heritage with FAST Blackfeet!

06/09/2024

Sogorea Te is honored to uplift the work of Alliance for Felix Cove!

Alliance for Felix Cove is an Indigenous, women-led sustainer of ancestral ties to Támal-ko/Coast Miwok existence and land through the rematriation of the Felix family home and cove.

Spanish missions, boarding schools, and ranching empires drove many Coast Miwok people from their ancestral land in Northern California, targeting the erasure of their history and identity. As the Point Reyes National Seashore deliberates the fate of the last standing Coast Miwok structures on Tomales Bay, on a homestead built by Theresa Harlan’s family, she continues her grassroots efforts to involve the wider community in protecting them.

Be sure to follow Alliance for Felix Cove on IG, FB and LinkedIn to stay up to date on upcoming tule mat and canoe workshops this October. You can also join their mailing list by visiting alliance4felixcove.org

[ID: a smiling person paddling a tule boat in the water]

06/09/2024

Every Thursday morning we feature a Weather Rookie during a newscast - letting a young person deliver the forecast.

04/09/2024

When we are raising funds for the Day Shelter we are mostly raising funds for wages! Are staff are great. I’m grateful in their consistency and the care that they show to clients. It’s hard work to juggle casework, laundry, coffee, security and keeping the space clean, but they do it! Kimberly (pictured here) has always impressed me with her kindness and skills with handling difficult clients!
Help us keep the day sheltered open with this link: https://www.facebook.com/donate/939617917877795/

04/09/2024

It has been exactly 7 months since anyone has heard from Kisha.

I am still receiving sightings (call or text 773-344-1033) which have mostly been in Billings in the past week. Unfortunately, I had to return home to Iowa and Billings PD does not have the capacity to follow up on every potential sighting the way that other departments have. And I’m truly not saying that as a point against Billings PD, I understand their limitations. I had a conversation with one of their investigators who I felt was very helpful and gave good advice on next steps.

But, all that to say, Kisha has been seen a lot in the King Avenue East area (near Optimist Park and Gas-N-Go) as well as the Heights. If you do happen to see her, try to get a picture if you can. I feel kind of creepy asking people to take pictures of a stranger in public but it would be really helpful.

$1,000 reward is still on the table for the person providing information leading to Kisha’s whereabouts.

Please continue to share. The more awareness the better to bring Kisha home.

26/08/2024

I wish I had something deep and profound to say but I’m just really sad.

I’m back home now—my semester starts today—but I stayed in Montana as long as I could, hoping for a miracle. Leaving without finding Kisha was painful beyond words, but I’m still holding onto hope that her story will have a happy ending.

The support from the community has been incredible. So many people have shared her picture and are out there looking for her. It’s clear that people in Montana are fed up with young Indigenous girls going missing or being found dead. No matter the circumstances of Kisha’s disappearance, this community won’t let her be forgotten which I am beyond grateful for.

I also want to express my gratitude for the help from law enforcement, which is something I don’t think I’ve ever written when it comes to a missing Native woman. I’ve written about a lot of those stories and, almost always, the police are wildly negligent at best. Thankfully, this was not my experience searching for Kisha. Every department has been outstanding.

Just this past week, someone called in a tip saying they saw Kisha get into a car headed from Pablo toward Polson. I immediately contacted Lake County Sheriff’s dispatch, and I could feel the urgency in the dispatcher’s voice and hear it in the rapid typing as she took down the details. Within 10 minutes, a Sheriff’s deputy had located and pulled over the car to verify if the woman inside was Kisha. Sadly, it wasn’t her, which was disappointing, but I can’t even begin to imagine the uncertainty and heartache we’d be left with if law enforcement hadn’t acted so quickly.

I’ve also been working closely with Officer Torres from the Great Falls PD, whose support and kindness have been incredible. From the first day he pulled his patrol car up beside mine—seeing Kisha’s name written on my car windows with marker—he’s gone above and beyond. I thought he was going to tell me I couldn’t have writing on my windows, but instead, he asked if there was anything he could do to help find Kisha. Since then, he’s become my primary contact at GFPD. I’ve sent him several tips, some that seemed credible and others that I warned might just be rumors. Regardless, Officer Torres has followed up on every single one and always gets back to me within hours.

Even when I stopped by Crow Fair and handed Kisha’s flyer to the BIA law enforcement station, the officer I spoke to asked, “Is she in danger, or is she just running around?” I was about to go into my usual spiel, but before I could say a word, he added, “Not that it matters—we’ll look for her either way.”

I feel confident that Kisha’s case will not go cold and that every angle is being investigated. I just really hope that she is still with us, and I hope that nothing I’ve done to try to find her has made her circumstances worse in any way. I just love her and I want her to be alright and know that she is loved.

The search efforts do not end here. I am continuing to keep my number (773-344-1033) open for tips and I will pass along any necessary information to law enforcement, anonymously or otherwise. The $1,000 reward is still on the table for the person providing information leading to Kisha’s whereabouts, so please do not hesitate to reach out.

If you’re in the state or even just passing through, please keep an eye out for Kisha. No detail is too small—if you think you might have seen something, say something. Your tip could be the one that brings her home. Whether it’s a possible sighting, overheard conversation, or anything that feels off, don’t hesitate to call it in.

And Kisha, if you read this somehow, just know that I’ll drop everything and come swoop anytime, no questions asked. You’re never too far, never too lost, and never forgotten—all you have to do is reach out if you can.

Until then, I’m holding onto hope and leaning on the strength of this community. Let’s keep our eyes open, our hearts hopeful, and continue to do everything we can to bring Kisha home.

19/08/2024

I've been thinking a lot about these women and girls and their families this week.

Diane Medicine Horse, 26, missing since 1981.
Freda KnowsHisGun, 34, missing since 2016.
Ashley Loring Heavyrunner, 20, missing since 2017.
Jermain Charlo, 23, missing since 2018.
Shacaiah Blue Harding, 19, missing since 2018.
Arden Pepion, 3, missing since 2021.

Not to mention the many Indigenous women and girls in this state whose lives have been stolen in ways I can't even let myself put into words right now.

Montana has already had too many Indigenous women and girls go missing and never be found. The heartbreak is too much. For these 6 families to always be left wondering, hoping, worrying, and searching is too much for anyone to bear.

Please don't let Kisha be the 7th.

Kisha is special, and that's not to say any of the other girls aren't. But Kisha's case isn't cold yet. She doesn't have to be another number in the crisis of missing Indigenous women.

We don't have to keep watching this happen.

Some has to know something. Please bring Kisha home.

Anyone with information please contact your local police department, Lake County Sheriff's at 406-883-7301, or reach me directly at 773-344-1033 for a non police tip line, anonymous info welcome. $1,000 reward offered for the person providing information leading to Kisha's whereabouts.

17/08/2024

CBCNEWS
24/7 short term placements mean kids stay 'if not in their family home then at least in their community'
Posted: August 16, 2024
Darla Ponace
Keeping children safe and in their home community is the goal of emergency safe houses recently opened in three First Nations in central Saskatchewan.
The safe houses owned and operated by Kanaweyimik Child and Family Services and are in Mosquito Grizzly Bear's Head Lean Man First Nation, Saulteaux First Nation and Sweetgrass First Nation.
The houses operate 24/7 with a
live-in house parent to take children
in when needed up to five at a time
and the children can stay there until another placement is found.
She said in the past when they struggled to find placements in emergency situations, siblings often had to be separated. Now, the new safe houses allow for them to stay together within their own community.
The houses will also help during overnight emergency situations, because instead of calling and waking up family members in the middle of the night, children can
be taken to the safe houses until morning, when they can be picked up
By a family member.

16/08/2024

It breaks my heart that there are local missing dogs with the same reward as I'm able to offer for Kisha.

So please just know if you think a $1,000 reward is low, believe me, I get it. I wish I could offer more. The first $500 was a very generous donation from a friend of mine and then I hit up like 10 more friends from home to pull together the other $500.

None of the people who helped get this amount together are people of means. It's just me and my friends, a bunch of lovable but financially degenerate hippie folks. It's not always easy to chip in even $50, especially since none of the people who contributed even know Kisha.

And I mean no disrespect to people offering a thousand dollars for the return of their dogs. I totally get it, dogs are family members too.

I just don't want anyone seeing the reward and thinking Kisha is only worth as much to me as a lost dog. It's not that at all. I'm doing the best I can and I wish it could be more.

16/08/2024

I remember once when I was living on Rocky Boy, there was a really harsh cold snap—20 below zero for days. During that time, my truck wouldn’t start, and a local elder asked me for a ride to the tribal office. I couldn’t do it, and it ended up causing a bit of an argument.

Later, I was talking to Kisha about it, and I remember her saying that I should’ve tried harder because this woman was an elder and she needed help.

A few days later, it warmed up—at least by Montana standards. I remember waking up the first day it finally hit the single digits and the first thing I saw on my phone was a message from Kisha.

"Emma its a lot warmer today, you should give that lady a ride."

Kisha wasn’t asking for herself. She had nothing to gain from me helping this elder. But, to me, that's just the kind of person she is, sweet, thoughtful, and considerate. I can’t imagine her choosing not to talk to anyone for this long, knowing so many people are worried and love her.

I really hope someone comes forward soon.

15/08/2024

For everyone saying Kisha is just laying low and doesn’t want to be found—if that’s really the case, prove it. If you know where she’s staying, call or text 773-344-1033. We’re offering $1,000 for info that leads to her. If it’s really as simple as her hiding out, that’s easy money. But if no one comes forward, maybe it’s time to admit something deeper is going on.

14/08/2024

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563865365252&mibextid=ZbWKwL

This page is to help us find Gabriel Calfbossribs and bring awareness to MMIP

14/08/2024

Keep an eye out, Browning area

Anyone with information is asked to call BLES at 406-338-4000, Kelly Fitzgerald at 406-845-3933, or Danny Calfbossribs at 406-845-2857.