Not Forgotten
Joint Operation Shines New Light on Indian Country Cases
In a hidden field on a remote patch of Navajo Nation land in northwest New Mexico, an FBI special agent from Los Angeles recently unearthed new leads in a four-year-old homicide case. Around the same time, a special agent from Atlanta collected fresh crime scene evidence on a windswept prairie on indigenous territory in North Dakota. Their work—on remote Tribal lands far from their home field offices—was part of a four-month surge of resources by the FBI, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and Tribal law enforcement to generate new leads and bolster cases in some of the most violent crimes against Native American women and children.
Over the course of Operation Not Forgotten, which ended September 30, the FBI deployed 51 special agents, analysts, and other personnel to nearly a dozen FBI field offices whose responsibilities include vast swaths of Tribal lands—what the federal government calls Indian country. Under federal law, the FBI has primary jurisdiction to investigate major crimes on nearly 200 reservations, like murders, kidnappings, physical and sexual abuse of children, and violent assaults. During the joint operation, the FBI and its partners opened or worked on more than 300 cases, made more than 40 arrests, assisted over 440 victims and their families, and identified or recovered nine child victims. The most prevalent cases involved homicides, physical assaults, child sex abuse, and domestic violence.
A billboard on US 550 in New Mexico highlights the pervasive issue of violence against Tribal women and children that Operation Not Forgotten aimed to address.
“The work this agency does in Indian country territory is among our organization’s highest priorities,” said Michael Rivers, who leads the FBI’s Indian Country and International Violent Crime Unit. “We are proud of and committed to the support and resources we devote to these investigations and the victims. Our hope is that this surge of resources and prioritized action will let people and communities know they are not forgotten.”
Working closely with BIA agents and Tribal police—as well as other federal agencies with responsibilities to serve Tribal communities—is nothing new for the Bureau. The FBI has had jurisdiction over major crimes in Indian country since its earliest days, and it has always relied on partner agencies on reservations, particularly since they know the terrain and the people there better than anyone.
“It’s a big asset to have Tribal police and BIA working with us,” said Special Agent Sam Davenport, who supervises an FBI office in Pinetop-Lakeside, Arizona that borders the Fort Apache Indian Reservation. In the summer of 2023, his office received multiple rotations of agents during the first Operation Not Forgotten. He said they worked closely with the BIA, Tribal police, and local prosecutors to generate leads on cold cases.
Across the country, the FBI has 26 Safe Trails Task Forces made up of federal, state, local and Tribal law enforcement partners. Davenport said having local trusted connections is essential, given the remoteness of most Tribal lands and the established rapport Native American authorities have within their communities.
“They are the eyes and ears,” he said. “They live there. They grew up there. I will never know as much about the reservation as Tribal [police].”
"Our hope is that this surge of resources and prioritized action will let people and communities know they are not forgotten."
Michael Rivers, unit chief, FBI Indian Country and International Violent Crime Unit
Operation Not Forgotten is part of the FBI’s strategy to address unresolved violent crime cases to include those associated to missing or murdered Indigenous persons (MMIP). The annual effort stems from the 2022 Reauthorization of Violence Against Women Act and aligns with Savanna’s Act, the Not Invisible Act, and Executive Order 14053 to enhance coordination strategies with Tribal law enforcement and BIA.
Richard Melville, director of BIA's Office of Justice Services, said working together on operations yields dividends. “Joint investigative efforts between the FBI and BIA increase investigative resources and strengthen our ability to bring closure and justice for families and victims of violent crimes committed in Indian country," he said.
Last year’s nationwide operation spanned 10 field offices and generated investigative activities in more than 200 pending cases related to violence against Indigenous women and children. The operation lasted three months and included 38 agents and intelligence personnel.
"When you work something like this you feel like you get to know the individual. It really makes you want to find ... resolution for a victim who clearly did not deserve what happened to him.”
Hailey Evans, FBI Los Angeles special agent who deployed to New Mexico for 30 days to support Operation Not Forgotten
For FBI special agents who volunteer for the 30-day deployments, the work can be a stark adjustment from their home offices. They quickly discover it’s not uncommon for agents to drive two or more hours to interview subjects or visit crime scenes. And sometimes the locations are only navigable by visual landmarks provided by Tribal police, BIA agents, or even locals who know the territory.
“They have to do a lot with very little,” said Atlanta Division Special Agent Amanda Risner, who was in Minot, North Dakota in late August finishing up her 30-day assignment helping agents there. “Back home, we’re in the city and we’re in the counties that we’re working in. Here, you get a call-out and you might be driving two-plus hours.”
“I think what’s different here,” she added, “is you’re pretty much working with very limited resources to do very big things. It’s just whatever you’ve got in your trunk and whoever’s next to you. And hopefully [you’re] getting what you need to get so … you can get a conviction or get justice at the end of the day.”
"I think what’s different here is you’re pretty much working with very limited resources to do very big things."
Amanda Risner, FBI Atlanta special agent who deployed to North Dakota for Operation Not Forgotten
More than 200 FBI agents across 32 field offices work primarily Indian country cases—a large majority of those agents are assigned to 10 offices with large geographic territories encompassing about 200 Native American reservations across the United States. In Arizona, for example, there are 22 federally recognized Tribal communities that comprise over a quarter of the state’s land. The largest Tribe, the Navajo Nation, alone occupies over 15,800 square miles.
To help navigate all that terrain—topographical and cultural—the FBI relies on partners like the BIA, who may have closer ties to the communities they serve, and bring valuable perspective to cases. Sometimes the FBI, BIA, and Tribal police investigate the same cases concurrently, so sharing insights is helpful. To that end, the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division invited BIA program analyst Rikki Himel to Headquarters in Washington, D.C. during Operation Not Forgotten to help link the agencies’ parallel or disparate investigations.
“I think what a lot of these cold cases need are fresh eyes, another mind to think of different things,” said Himel, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe who lives in Farmington, New Mexico. “I feel like once you’ve worked it so long you kind of get stuck. And having another person come in and have a look, I think that’s what’s needed.”
Tribal police and criminal investigators welcomed the surge in resources and the spotlight on the unresolved cases. A few temporary agents can seem like a drop in the bucket when Tribal criminal investigators are swamped with open cases, but getting closure for even one family, they say, is immeasurable.
“It’s a really big help on our caseload simply because I’m carrying probably 80-100 cases with just me,” said Wilson Charley, a criminal investigator for the Shiprock District of Navajo Nation in New Mexico. In early August, Los Angeles FBI Special Agent Hailey Evans called Charley about one of his cases, a violent murder four years ago that hadn't been solved. Evans, who was assigned in Operation Not Forgotten to the FBI’s Farmington Resident Agency—a satellite of the Albuquerque Field Office—was going through the victim’s file in early August and saw some things that warranted a closer look.
"We’re opening up a brand-new set of eyes from the outside, which will definitely help."
Wilson Charley, criminal investigator, Navajo Nation Police Department, Shiprock District
"I just hope that myself being out here, and the other [personnel], that we do bring that sense of fresh eyes to a case."
Hailey Evans, special agent, FBI Los Angeles
“We’re opening up a brand-new set of eyes from the outside, which will definitely help because we also have to deal with other cases,” said Charley, who like all of the Navajo Nation Police Department’s criminal investigators is also a medical examiner. The double-duty is time consuming, so any help with his investigations was appreciated.
“With them coming in and having a fresh set of eyes,” he said, “maybe I did miss something simply because I’m too focused on the amount of cases I’m carrying.”
Davenport, the supervisory agent in Arizona, said when it comes to working cases, “it doesn't matter what your badge looks like.” Investigators in Indian country—whether FBI, BIA, Tribal police, or other agencies—don't have the luxury of being competitive, because they all rely so heavily on each other in often austere environments.
“We all have the same goal and it’s to make things better,” said Davenport. “And we’re going to work together to accomplish that goal.”
For most of Davenport’s 17 years working Indian country cases, the closest thing to a partner has been Auggie Belvado, a BIA agent in the agency’s Fort Apache Indian Reservation. Belvado, a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, described how the agencies complement each other in the field.
Wilson Charley, criminal investigator, Navajo Nation Police Department, Shiprock District
Auggie Belvado is a special agent of Bureau of Indian Affairs Fort Apache Agency in Arizona.
"It benefits the victims. And that’s what our primary mission is."
Auggie Belvado, special agent, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Fort Apache Agency, Arizona
“We’re kind of like old-school detectives,” Belvado said. “Whereas the FBI, they have more modern techniques and more assets. We blend that together. And when we do that, it benefits the victims. And that’s what our primary mission is.”
For Special Agent Evans, who normally works cyber investigations, the 30-day rotation in Farmington was like returning to the police work she did before joining the Bureau five years ago. In the case she worked with Charley and her lead agent, she ran down leads, interviewed family members, developed a timeline, and—with just days to go before heading back to Los Angeles—combed through the crime scene with a metal detector and shovel to uncover anything that might help bolster their revived case.
“When you work something like this,” she said, “you feel like you get to know the individual. It really makes you want to find justice for them, find that resolution for a victim who clearly did not deserve what happened to him.”
FBI field offices that received dedicated personnel for Operation Not Forgotten:
