New Mexico’s “turquoise alert” would allow law enforcement to quickly share information about missing Indigenous people through cell phone alerts, social media and digital highway signs. The system, which would also distribute information to the news media, would be similar to Amber Alerts for missing children.
In New Mexico, there are about 200 missing Indigenous people, according to the state’s department of justice.
Sen. Angel Charley, a Democrat who is Laguna and Diné, co-sponsored the bill, which is awaiting the governor’s signature. She said the alert won’t solve the crisis, but it will ensure there’s a rapid response to a missing Indigenous person.
“The root causes of murdered and missing Indigenous people are jurisdictional complexities, historic lack of funding, and systemic racism,” Sen. Charley said. “Families who have lost their loved one have shared their story over and over and over in the hope that something would change. And this is one of the ways that they've affected change.”
Colorado, Washington and California have similar systems for missing Indigenous people. Colorado’s alert, which went into effect in late 2022, helped locate at least 15 people in its first five months, according to an NPR report.
Arizona lawmakers recently advanced a bill to create their own alert. It comes as the murder of 14-year-old Emily Pike, of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, shakes tribal communities in Arizona and beyond.
According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, there are open missing Indigenous people cases in several Mountain West states, including Arizona, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
