Across Montana’s reservations, the crisis of Missing & Murdered Indigenous People continues to leave deep and lasting impacts on families and entire communities still searching for answers.
For many Indigenous people, MMIP is not an abstract issue - it’s personal. Community members say it’s rare to find someone who hasn’t been touched by loss.
Brianna Juneau reports - watch the video here:
“I bet there’s not one of us that don’t know somebody that went missing,” said Diana Burd with Holding Hope Search & Rescue on the Blackfeet Reservation. “We all know Ashley. We know Arden. We all know Leo and Gabriel from Browning… and we just don’t forget about them.”
On many reservations - including the Blackfeet reservation - the disappearance of a loved one often ripples far beyond immediate family, affecting entire communities that are closely connected.
Advocates say that sense of shared loss is compounded by limited resources and short search timelines.
“The search and rescue teams that come onto the reservation here in the state of Montana, they only stay for ten days,” said Tawna Bradford with Holding Hope. “Once they leave, they’re gone.”
Holding Hope Search & Rescue formed in 2021 in response to those gaps and Arden Pepion’s disappearance, working to continue searches and support families when official efforts end. The group uses tools like GPS mapping, drones, canines, and horses to search large and often rugged areas of reservation land.
“The technology is getting even better for searching,” said Thomas Corona with Holding Hope. “We recently started working with horses and these guys, they can go miles and miles and miles, and especially if they get on the scent, they're ready to find something. They know their job.”
But community members say the emotional toll of MMIP extends far beyond the search itself. For families, not knowing what happened to a loved one can be one of the hardest burdens to carry.
“If they’re found, at least we can put them to rest,” Bradford said. “But just not knowing where they are is hard.”
Despite years without answers in many cases, hope remains a powerful force for families and searchers alike.
Burd says that hope is often what keeps communities moving forward.
“Every time we go somewhere, we think of Arden,” Burd said. “It is her legacy that we carry on. And someday, I know somebody will find her. I believe that.”
Advocates say addressing the MMIP crisis will require long-term resources, sustained attention, and continued community-led efforts so that Indigenous people who go missing are never forgotten and families are not left searching alone.
