through the nonprofit, black and missing foundation. but his personal journey is over. you just kept on a comin' and a comin' and a comin' for years. yeah, scared as hell sometimes that they were going to come and lock me up. how do you think about yourself, derrick? are you a hero? no, just somebody that cares about his family. i have no doubt in my mind that had this happened to me, that pam would have did the same for me. [soft music] [theme music] i'm craig melvin, and this is "dateline." my father always told me to

look out for, to make sure she was okay. i was going to find her. >> you just knew as her mom that something was very wrong? >> yes, i did. >> there was a report she had been in a silver car, i knew she was in trouble. >> you get a call from a blocked number? >> yes. >> yes. >> she would turn it on and try to get some truth out of him. >> i will keep digging and digging. >> there are so many unsolved cases out there. indigenous women and girls across the nation, it is heart wrenching to really think about how we are invisible. >> i don't want any family to ever feel like how we felt. fel hello and welcome to "dateline."

carla yellowberg grew up surrounded by love on her north dakota indian reservation. when she vanished, her family was frantic to find her, and the authorities were not doing enough. it is a common feeling in native american circles, but the family had a secret weapon, carla's own and happened to be a no-nonsense investigator, happen determined to find the truth. here is andrea cannon with "the secrets of spirit like." there has been a lot of sacrifice that has went with this, on a personal level, but you're never done. what make her name is alyssa yellowberg. her job defies description. investigator, interrogator, searcher of last resort. the one people turn to in their very worst moments. >> this is backbreaking. this is 24/7. this is you living and breathing this.

>> constantly. >> here is where alyssa works. sacred lands, teeming with beauty. but woven into the landscape art crimes that have gone on for years, even centuries. native american women and girls missing and murdered. more than 300 reservations make up what is still known as indian country in america. and in this country, the statistics are staggering. according to the department of justice findings, number four out of 5 native american women have experienced violence in their lifetimes and a 2021 cdc study found homicide rates for native american women were more than three times of those of non-hispanic white women. >> this is 2021. we are demanding our rights. >> alyssa symone sanders-

townsend and many others believe that too often that cases are neglected by law enforcement and say, action is long overdue. the numbers, the victims, have sparked a movement called mmiw. >> it is called missing and murdered indigenous women, and it is a cry for help. help. >> grable wants the world to hear that cry. she's an activist and writer on the reservation in native wyoming. >> the statistics that hang over my head is that i am the most stocked, raped, sexually assaulted, and murdered out of every ethnicity in this country. >> it is really tragic and eye- opening. >> it is heart wrenching to really think about the measure of how we are invisible to america. >> she says, native american women are trying to make themselves a bit visible with events like the national day of

action. >> if a white woman goes missing in a fancy neighborhood somewhere, versus an indigenous woman, who goes missing of an reservation, are they going to get the same attention? >> absolutely not. even in this day and present time, they will not get the same attention. >> in this ongoing tragedy, alyssa yellowbird found her calling. she decided , she would dedicate herself to searching for missing and murdered native american women. she began in her home state of north dakota. and then, from the great plains to southwest, she uses whatever method, whatever tool will bring a loved one home. >> i just don't want families to feel like they are all alone. >> she knows that feeling firsthand, because after years of helping others, the crisis hits home for alyssa, when her own niece, carla yellowbird went missing . >> me and her father were so

close, he always told me, keep an eye on her, help her out, don't forget her. >> you had made a promise to him . what was that promise? >> to make sure she was okay. that's it. >> it was august 2016. carla suddenly stopped texting and calling. it did not sit right with carla's mother, loretta, and sister, carrie. >> we try to contact as many friends, or people she had hung around, nobody heard from her. that is when it started getting scary. >> i started thinking something bad happened. it was not like her to go off this long without talking to somebody. >> carla had been living in the central north dakota town of manman. april bowman, a detective with the police department, was

assigned to's case. >> do you deal with a lot of missing persons cases? >> we do, quite a few. >> carla's roommates told investigators where she may have gone the day she stopped communicating. >> she said she went to visit michael's in a town around spirit lake. >> spirit lake is a reservation that spans 300 square miles about 300 miles northeast of manman. detectives, like most law enforcement, did not have the jurisdiction to investigate a case involving tribal members on native land. most reservations have their own police forces, but the bureau of indian affairs, the bia, a division of the department of interior is also involved in tribal law enforcement. the roles of the bia, tribal police, and local cops can be confusing, especially to the families of distraught, missing women. back in mandan. detective bowman gave the office on spirit like a call. she says, no one held her back.

>> besties complicate things when you have these traditional issues with reservations, cities, and everybody is trying to walk work together and it does not always go so smoothly? >> absolutely. you are waiting for key pieces of your investigation that have to come from someone else. i can be right away, several days, but you are waiting. >> reporter: carla's mom, loretta, waited too, english anguished with carla's disappearance. >> what is that like waiting every day and she is still not calling?'s >> i cry every night to find answers or hear something-- >> but nothing. you just knew as her mom that something was very wrong? >> yes, i did. >> carla was out there, somewhere. maybe alone. if anyone knew how to find her it was her aunt alyssa. >> turns out, carla and aunt alyssa shared more than family, they shared a past. coming up. >> carla had gone down a dark

path. >> she went down the same path i went down. >> aunt alyssa gets to work. >> i keep digging and digging, it was not a question of if i would find her, i was going to find her. >> investigators uncover the first clues. >> there was a report that she had like been in a silver car. went "dateline" continues. . rsv is a highly contagious virus if you're 60 or older with certain chronic conditions, you're at higher risk of being hospitalized from rsv. and there are no prescription rsv treatments. you know how to protect against covid and flu. so ask your pharmacist or doctor about scheduling pfizer's rsv vaccine, too. because moments like these matter. inez, let me ask you, you're using head & shoulders, right? only when i see flakes. then i switch back to my regular shampoo. you should use it every wash, otherwise the flakes will come back. he's right, you know. is that tiny troy?

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she was this mischievous, but yet, she was wonderful to have. she was very smart. >> was carla the kind of person , when she walked into a room, you knew she had arrived? >> yeah, she was really outgoing, happy, and everybody enjoyed being around her. she always watched over us. she was the best big sister. >> carla's mom loretta and sister, carrie, recalled how loving she was. that went to extended family too. when it came to carla's relationship with her aunt lissa, she had their own kind of fun. >> she had this big, gaudy ring on, and when she put her hand up, i was like, oh my god, i was like , lose the ring that looks horrible. [ laughter ] >> what did she say? >> she was like, why? she asked, do you want it? i was like, heck no. >> carla enrolled in college,

had children come and got married. her once promising life fell apart. >> travis got a hold of her. >> you must feel helpless as a.? >> yes, i did. she tried, you know, she put herself into treatment. >> how proud of her work you that she did go into treatment and that she did try? >> mary. she was happy, she made some friends, but when she got out, it's still like she never went in there. >> it goa hold of her again, the drugs? >> yeah. >> for lissa, carla's story, like so many other native american women, echoed her own. >> carla had went down a bad path. >> she went down the same path i did. >> how close to home was that for you?

>> i could count the number of times i could have ended up in that same predicament. >> lissa's life has been a seesaw of hardship, a proud member of four tribes. she says, as a teenager, her boyfriend trafficked her for sex. still, she made it to college and had good jobs me but she also battled addiction and served just over two years in prison on drug charges >> your history is kind of amazing. you are a mother of six. you have been to prison, but he also studied criminal justice, worked as a prison guard, welder, social worker, and been a legal advocate. how have all these things. you for this? >> i don't know, but they sure come in handy. >> she took on her first case just weeks after her release from prison. a young neighbor disappeared and lissa mobilized family and friends to look for her.

they found the girl alive. from there, people kept asking for help. for the last 12 years, she has not stopped searching. >> i will sit there and i will keep digging, and digging. >> but digging has paid off. over years of searching, lissa has helped locate dozens of people me some came home alive, many others did not, but most families were grateful for answers. that was certainly the case with the young mother named olivia landwehr, who disappeared. she was last spotted in a pickup truck. lissa followed a hunch to a lake on the reservation and took a boat out with volunteers and a sonar gear. >> we went across the bay and this little girl says, do you think this is the truck? and i looked at it and i was like, oh my god. >> submerged in a 21 feet of water, only's body strapped in the passenger seat.

>> lissa brought so much closer. i am still so indebted to her, so grateful to her what she does, you know? >> lissa says, every recovery, every search has taken a toll . >> there is time that i will never get back with my family, with my kids. my kids are all grown now. >> although sacrifices would steal her for the hardest of her life, the search for her own niece, carla. mid september 2016, detective bowman was tracking down tips she'd received about carla's case. >> there was a report she had been in a silver car and had been hanging out with suna guy . >> suna guy, dakota. all three had lengthy records. all three were on the spirit reservation.

he said, yet not seen carla. if bowman wanted to interview suna herself, she couldn't, since she had no jurisdiction to interview tribal members on the reservation without bia, tribal police, or fbi approval, which she had not received for carla's aunt lissa, it was time to step in. >> it was not even a question of if i was going to find her, i was going to find her. >> as the search for carla continues, an unexpected phone call gives aunt lissa her first big break. coming up. >> if there is a way i could help anybody, i tried. i'm not a bad guy. >> someone reaches out to lissa, a new source with a secret. >> i did not get to see her or nothing . i was the one driving the car. >> he says, you get a ride to carla's brother-in-law and

carla and took them up to spirit lake. >> and he kept going? >> and he did not see her again. >> did you believe him? >> no. >> went "dateline" continues. hear all sounds like you need to vaporize that cold. dayquil vapocool? it's dayquil plus a rush of vicks vapors. ♪ vapocooooool ♪ woah. dayquil vapocool. the vaporizing daytime, coughing, aching, stuffy head, power through your day, medicine. can neuriva support your brain health? mary. janet. hey! eddie. no! fraser. frank. frank. fred. how are you? support up to seven brain health indicators, including memory. when you need to remember, remember neuriva.

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lissa yellow bird waited as law enforcement searched for her niece, carla yellow bird. as days went by, lissa grew

impatient. >> when something like that happens, how do you kick into action? >> i put my poker face on and don't like it like i did in the other case. >> like so many times before, she stepped in, this time for her own family. >> she took it all in for herself and got it rolling. >> to start, lissa needed her sources to talk . she could work the phones, knock on doors, walked the prairies, but out here, where self-service is nonexistent in certain areas, the most effective way to communicate could be social media. and lissa had a massive network of followers she could tap into. >> was the first thing you do? big mac i went to social media, really, i put a call out saying, carla is missing. >> lissa knew from previous cases, people who might be reluctant to talk to police were often willing to talk to her. >> talking to you, for some people, i would assume, is so

much easier than talking to a detective or federal agent? >> yeah, yeah i believe that. >> lissa contacted everyone she could on the reservation and was able to pinpoint the owner of that car carla was seen in. it was the father of suna guy, one of the three men detective bowman could not interview because they lived on the reservation. lissa reached out to the detective to compare notes. >> i did spend some time letting her know it was a relative , that i kind of work on this arena anyway. please share as much information with me as you can. >> for detective bowman, lissa was a welcomed hand. >> all help is good health. the more people working, the easier this case gets resolved. >> the case, the detective explained, had become daunting in size and scope. >> she also told me that this is the search area was spending five estates and three reservations. >> detective bowman had worked most of her leave. the only one remaining with those three men. >> her hands were tied because

she was stuck in mandan. >> this was no surprise to you. >> jurisdiction. >> but lissa is not a cop, not constrained by jurisdictions, or what she is allowed to say or do. >> my hands are not tied. i will go find her. >> she used facebook to blast out what she knew. >> once i got information and i had some names, i put that out there. >> now, all her followers knew the names of the men she thought was somehow involved in carla's disappearance. she waited for a response. then, her phone rang. >> why is my name being put out when i don't even know what is going on? >> you get a call from a blocked number, who is it? >> yes. suna. >> suna guy , one of the men with whom carla was last seen and suna seemed ready to talk. lissa hits record on her phone.

lissa's strategy, just listen to suna. she wanted to build trust. >> like i said, i've got nothing to hide. >> lissa thought if she was patient, suna might start telling her a story. >> those guys were down in bismarck, i did not get to see her, other than when she was in the car. >> what is suna's story? >> he said that he gave a ride to carla's brother-in-law and carla, and took them up to spirit lake. >> and kept going? >> yeah, and he did not see her again. >> did you believe him? >> no. >> well, i sure could use your help finding my niece >> like i said, sorry, i'm not trying to be an. >> fbi special agent joey virtually, also worked on carla's case. >> what did you think as you were listening to these calls? >> she did a great job of building trust with him, building rapport. >> what i hear anything, i'll

contact you, you know what i mean? >> after more than 30 minutes, suna ended the conversation. >> i'll get a hold of you guys tomorrow >> lissa had no phone number for suna, no way to reach him . all she had was a questionable promise that he'd call again. >> was that the end of this? >> far from it. >> coming up. >> you need to be honest with me because i am done playing. >> well, i have been honest with you. >> you are like a one woman good cop, bad cop. >> you think i haven't dealt with your kind of people before? i have. i'll come get her personally, myself, if i have to go. >> she would kind of turn it on and try to get some truth out of him. >> will it work? when "dateline" continues. con

hi, i am richard lui with the news update. stocks rising to new heights friday, even during a shortened day of trade.

both the dow and s&p close at record highs and clinched their best months of the year so far. it looks like the movies are officially back. domestic box office is expected to hit a post pandemic, disney's . the annual sequel was to graze as much as $150 million. for now, back to "dateline." welcome back to "dateline," i'm craig melvin. what happened to carla yellow bird? a detective have had given names to carla's aunt lissa . a list of names of those seen with carla. then, lissa blasted those names on social media. and then a guy, suna guy, insisted he had nothing to do with lissa carla's disappearance.

back to andrea canning with "the secrets of spirit like. " carla yellow bird had vanished into the north dakota wind. her loved ones held out one last of hope she was still alive. but lissa's experience searching for missing women told her that time had run out for her niece. for her, this was not a recovery mission. lissa felt in her bones that suna guy, despite his claims to the contrary, knew what really happened to carla. >> something was not sitting right with you? >> it was bs, i knew that. >> she wanted to talk more with suna, so lissa turned to facebook yet again, but this time, she focused on suna. >> what is it that your posting on facebook that your niece was last seen with me? >> it made him angry enough to pick up the phone again. >> you need to be honest with me because i am done playing. >> well, i've been honest with

you. >> in their previous call, lissa tried to build a bond with st. pierre to me now she came at him full throttle . >> you think i haven't out with your kind before? i have. i'll come get her myself, personally if i have to hear it but i want to know. >> lissa's strategy was to show suna how angry she was to intimidate him into giving her more details. >> tell me where my niece's body is at and i will let god reckon with you. because we already know how it has gone down. and i'm telling you right now, you don't know who to trust because your own friends are turning on you. >> i don't even know anybody you are talking about. >> are you trying to rattle him? >> he's questioning his own self about who he really is as a person. >> what you want me to say to you? what do you want me to-- >> the truth. how about let's try the truth? >> you are like a one woman good cop, bad cop. >> a very bad one before.

>> it kind of fits though, right? >> kind of. when you want to get on is you want to get real, you want to save your own ass, call me back, until then, i am done. >> lissa hung up the phone. it was an impulsive move, maybe the wrong move, she just had to wait and see. lissa updated carla's mom, loretta. >> how much as all of this is going on is lissa sharing with you? >> she sharing with me everything. the whole conversation was a lie . he's just lying here lying. >> mandan police were still running a full investigation, but detective bowman says, she was not hearing back from the barrel of affairs. >> you reached out, you're not getting cold? >> i'm not getting the information i need back. >> how frustrating is that? >> really is writing. >> bowman document her calls to the bia. when we contacted the

bia, we were told the bia agent assigned to the case had no knowledge of detective bowman's attempts to reach the office. lissa also says, she called the bia and left messages . >> why are you not searching for her? what are you guys doing? who is doing what? >> you did not feel like they were doing enough? >> they were not doing anything to begin with. that is just kind of how they operate. >> the bia told us in carla's case, bia agent assisted the fbi with search efforts on foot , with helicopters, drones, and atvs, but lissa was not counting on the bia to find carla. suna was still her biggest lead to me but she had hung up on him. >> did you ever think, i'm never going to hear from him again? >> no. >> turned out, she was right. >> he called you back? >> he did.

>> the power dynamic had shifted, suna was taking her out, seemed to want to tell her something. >> you know, i'm just trying to help you. >> lissa kept the pressure on. she needed suna to feel guilty . >> you're not trying to help me! >> so are you betting on his conscience that eventually, he would do the right thing? >> i knew he would. >> lissa's demands for answers were away at demands for suna. >> i could have pd on you , but i want my niece's body. >> my parents raised me right. i come from a great family, you know what i mean? >> all this time suna is telling you, he wants to help, that his parents raised him right . >> that is am trying to negotiate with himself, that is the way i thought. >> she just kept turning up the heat. >> and suna would go on, she

would listen to him, she would turn it on and try to get some truth out of him. >> after too many sleepless nights, fatigue caught up with lissa. >> i was just tired and exhausted, and spent. >> the breaking point for lissa came as suna told her that his life was in danger. men from out of state were following him. >> the license plates are texas license plates, i have seen that. >> give me the license plate numbers. >> suna had spun some of the stories, so many lies , this was one too many for lissa. >> i maniacally thought that was funny at some point. >> suddenly, every word he said made her laugh. >>-- to even tell them about this, they ain't even concerned about it, you know what i mean? >> i'm sorry. [ laughter ] i'm sorry, i didn't realize what i just said. [ laughter ] >> you might think suna would be offended, but no. it seemed to not him into some sort of reality. >> that was the turning point

for him. >> he was almost persuaded by your laughing and sense of humor. >> yeah. >> suna was about to give it all up . lissa's phone rings again and suna extends an invitation to meet in person . finally, for carla's family, the moment of truth. coming up. >> you still had that little, tiny glimmer of hope. >> i mean, it is just something you don't ever want to hear in your life. >> a new revelation from suna. but is he now in danger too? >> he is absolutely convinced that he is being monitored. he's just very paranoid at this point. >> when "dateline" continues. just sinex, breathe, ahhhh! what is — wow! sinex. breathe. ahhhhhh!

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too often, in this vast, unforgiving land, all lissa yellow bird can hope for in her searches is to find a body . a suspect, let alone a cooperative one, is all too rare. and then, there was suna guy , he was calling again, and he had cracked. >> good afternoon. you coming to spirit lake tomorrow? >> why? oh yeah? >> after all of those wrenching hours on the phone, suna said, he would take lissa to carla's body. he admitted to what lissa had long believed, carla was dead.

>> i was there. suna insisted , he did not pull the trigger, but he said, in the aftermath, dakota charboneau and daylin st. pierre demanded he helped move her body. >> they both had guns coming out i mean? and they were trying to ask me to touch her and hold her. i ain't going to touch no dead body. i wasn't going to grab it. i'm just like, what the [ bleep ], man? i know where the body is at and i know the individual that did it. >> did he explain to you the motive? >> yeah, the drugs, the money. >> so that had stolen her money and her drugs? mike hill her? by not just steal it and leave her there? >> the intention was to rob her. it did not go as planned, obviously. when it happened the way it did , he claims that it was just as big of a shock to him. >> i did not know it was going

to happen, it should not ever have happened. >> lissa called me, that is when she told me they might not- - might know where she's at. i said, is she alive? she said, no. >> you still have that little, tiny glimmer of hope? >> even though i knew it, still when she told me no, i started crying. i mean, it is just something you don't ever want to hear in your life. >> this was your first born. >> yes. so, i didn't think-- i mean, i did not want it to ever be true. >> in mandan, detective bowman had also spoken on the phone with suna that day. he told her, he feared the man involved in carla's murder were now after him. >> is absolutely convinced he is being monitored too. he's just very paranoid at this point. >> moment thought suna could soon be in danger. >> this is a monumental moment in this case and you need help. >> i know that the fbi can

cover everything. they can go everywhere. i need the fbi. >> the fbi is responsible for investigate major crimes on reservations. special agent virgil or had been in contact with detective bowman about karl's disappearance. on the day bowman found out suna had turned , marchman's team was on the reservation with a helicopter looking for carla. marchman thought they needed to bring suna in that night, but it turned out, it would not be easy. >> he was hiding . he would shut off his phone and his phone cannot be located. he went completely off the grid. >> are you starting to get worried as he's not responding now? he stopped communicating? >> absolutely worried he's going to lead us on a wild goose chase. >> nevertheless, the next day, lissa and detective bowman headed up to spirit lake to connect with bridgeman's team, all of them, relying on suna to

help them find carla's body. >> i was just feeling in full anticipation. i wanted them to hurry up and get this over with, and make sure it was her. >> but suna was not there. fbi agents eventually found him at a relative's house. suna got into an fbi vehicle and drove a few miles down the road. >> this is where suna let you to? an isolated field on the reservation. >> is isolated. at this moment we got three, four, five law enforcement vehicles coming out here. suna gets out of the car, we are all walking . anticipation has kind of built up to this moment. we are probably right around this area and we probably stopped and suna just point and says , it is going to be over there, where the bushes are, and then, as we walk a little bit further, once we get to a

certain point in time, we can see some of carla's close. >> you can see the body? >> we probably walked up a little bit further and we could see some of those bright colored clothing. >> you knew, you knew you had found her? >> we knew we had found her at that point in time. this is the point where suna gets a little choked up and becomes emotional and that is when he says , this wasn't supposed to happen. >> lissa waited at a house nearby. later , the agents brought photos and she i.d.'d the body. >> the first thing i noticed was that ring. >> the big, gaudy ring. wow, she still had it on. >> the ring, it was right there. just to see the condition she was in, definitely not my first time seeing anybody in that condition, but-- >> it was your niece. >> definitely my first time seeing somebody i loved. you know. i guess i never felt like i had such an open wound

like in the middle of nowhere seeing somebody you care about just discarded like that. they discarded her. they just left her. >> then, lissa made the awful call to loretta to tell her they found carla's body. the news came as a sad relief. >> did it help you, knowing that she was coming home, that you would not have to wonder anymore where she was or what happened? >> yes, that made me feel better to me that at least i knew where she was and yes, i got to bring her home. >> for so many other native american mothers, bringing their missing children home is something they can only hope to. but something, there's a reason for hope. >> there has been a sad history. so, we are trying to change it. coming up. >> you actually spoke on behalf of suna, why would you do that? >> in court, the surprise that would divide carla yellow

bird's family. >> do you think you would ever be able to repair things with lissa? ! and, so many forgotten families, is change coming at last? >> we are seeing some action on it now. >> when "dateline" continues. . frank. fred. how are you? support up to seven brain health indicators, including memory. when you need to remember, remember neuriva. hey sweaty! sweetie. you good? someone stole my old spice antiperspirant. now i'm smelling like perspirant! i did, for its 24/7 sweat protection. you did this to my pits. ♪♪

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♪ ♪ ♪ it's time to try defying gravity ♪ we would love for you to be our elphaba. we want you to be our glinda the good. ♪ ♪ welcome back. carla yellow bird was finally

home. her remains were returned to her family after suna guy, one of the men involved in carla's murder , let her aunt lissa and the fbi to her body. sadly, many native americans like carla, are still using. and that spurred a growing mission for change, with the conclusion of "speak secrets of spirit lake," here is andrea canning. the story of carla yellow bird was in many ways, tragically routine. a native american woman goes missing and later turns up dead . what was unusual in carla's case, is her killers were brought to justice. daylin st. pierre says, he hit carla on the head with a gun and it accidentally discharged. he pleaded guilty on murder charges and was sentenced to 27 1/2 years. dakota charboneau was sentenced to 15 years in prison

for carla's murder and other charges. as a part of a plea deal, suna guide was sentenced to 15 years for second-degree murder and other charges. >> you came face to face with suna guy . what did he say to you? >> he just told me he was sorry. i just was happy that he showed where my daughter was. >> there was a surprise witness at st. pierre two's sentencing. >> you actually spoke on behalf of suna. why would you do that when suna was a part of something that was horrific? >> first of all, suna did not plot to kill carla. he did not pull the trigger. without suna, we would have never gotten carla back. >> lissa was risking any relationship with loretta to support suna. she wanted to tell others to

help the way that he had. >> it would send a message to indian society country that it is okay to provide information to give other people closure. >> when we sat down with her, loretta told us she is grateful to lissa for helping to find carla, but she can't forgive her for advocating for suna. she has spoken out about her feelings on social media. >> do you think you will ever be able to repair things with lissa? >> maybe in time. >> i pray whoever is out there. >> change has come slowly for the missing and murdered women's movement. that has not stopped those who fight for the cause just the opposite. >> it is up to us to keep law enforcement and authorities on their toes when it comes to getting justice. >> for families that have lost a loved one i want you to know that you are not alone. we are here with you. >> lynette grable says, they want people everywhere, not just in indian country to mobilize for missing and murdered women.

>> we know it is a time to speak up, a time to fight, and we know it is a time to bring light to our issues. >> as we reported this, many people like lynette grable shared their concerns against law enforcement's handling of crimes against native americans. >> you see this all too often, where there daughter's case is not being taken seriously enough, or their sister, or their mother. >> exactly. or their sons. i have heard law enforcement tell the family, even myself, this person is an alcoholic, or this person is known to party. i always cringe when i hear that, because it does not matter. they are still a human being. >> the issue with witnessing a murder is so systemic that there are no easy answers. >> you bring such a unique perspective >> one thing does bring hope to native american communities, the appointment of deb holland as secretary of interior. in that role, she oversees the bia, the first native american to do so. >> when i see indigenous women missing, i see one of my own

sisters, or my cousins, or one of my aunties, or even my own child. >> i take this obligation freely. >> was a single mother on food stamps, holland put herself through law school and was elected to congress before being elected to cabinet. >> with indigenous women look at you, what you hope they see? >> i've lived that life and i want their voices to be represented here. >> tackling the missing women's and murdered crisis is a thing for holland. this has been happening in our country since colonization and it is very, very deep. i am grateful that we are seeing some action on it right now. >> in 2019, the trump administration set up a special task force to address the problem. congress then passed savanna's act and the not a visible act

to improve law enforcement cooperation, and increase the focus on missing and murdered women. and in 2021, secretary holland and the biden administration established a first of its kind missing and murdered unit within the bureau of indian affairs. >> is this kind of a boots on the ground operation, where you are going to literally go through case files, and go case by case? >> absolutely, yes. boots on the ground is a good way to say that, yes. >> in a written statement, the bia told us, it welcomes additional resources. bia office of justice takes seriously each and every case they are working to solve because agents were often members of the same tribal community they serve, know that cases aren't just a case file they represent a family missing a loved one that deserves closure. secretary holland says, changes to policy and law enforcement are critical, but so is raising awareness. not just in indian country, in the

whole country. >> in some cases, these missing persons cases, the murders don't get reported. if they are not reported, nobody knows to investigate them. and that is something i am very passionate about, because families deserve some answers. >> the missing and murdered indigenous women's movement fights for thousands of people, and they are not anonymous. every one has a name. like olivia long bear, ashley lauren heavy runner, cecelia barbara venona, joseph senior me faith hedge path, monica nursery with very, and carla yellow bird. each one, beloved by someone like lissa and loretta, who laid her daughter to rest on the standing rock reservation where her daughter was raised. >> i always go to the cemetery

a lot. i always take the kids out there too, we are going to see their mom. >> as for lissa, she went with us to the field where her niece spent her final moments . >> i miss carla, everybody does. i guess i try to do the best i can to make sure this does not happen to anybody else. >> carla represents so many other women. >> she does. >> are you going to keep fighting, keep searching? >> for sure. most definitely. i don't want another family to ever feel like how we felt. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. watching.