For decades, cases of missing Indigenous people in Sacramento County have gone unsolved. It’s an unspeakable pain for the families who’ve spoken of their daughters who disappeared during daily walks and young men who haven’t come home, said Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho.
Families, too, experience silence from “institutions, silence from justice and silence that until now have remained unbroken,” Ho said. On Thursday morning, Sacramento County promised to change that. Sacramento County is creating a criminal regional task force dedicated to investigate Missing and Murdered Indigenous People cases as announced in a news conference on Wilton Rancheria tribal lands. In collaboration, Wilton Rancheria, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office will assign a deputy district attorney, criminal investigator and victim advocate to revisit cold cases and review current reports. California currently has the fifth most unsolved cases in the country, with more than 150 Missing and Murdered Indigenous People cases.
This group will be responsible for refining investigative strategies on Missing and Murdered Indigenous People cases in Sacramento County, including improving how data is shared from criminal investigatory agencies and tribes. The task force will also specialize in rolling out “culturally informed investigative practices,” according to a news release. “The task force is a game changer,” Sheriff Jim Cooper said. “(It’s) changing the status quo by shining a brighter light on cases affecting Indigenous people, reviewing unsolved murders, disappearances and violent crimes involving Indigenous victims, using all the resources of the sheriff’s office.”
The task force was first conceptualized by Wilton Rancheria Chairman Jesus Tarango. In February, Tarango told The Bee this task force will also provide resources to victims’ families. “We will not let up and to our community, especially those who have lost loved ones, who have waited years for answers. We will be unrelenting in our pursuit of justice, because our people deserve answers,” Tarango said. “Our families deserve closure, and our future generations deserve better.”
MMIP cases in California Nationwide, Native American people are 2.5 times more likely to be a victim of a violent crime, as stated by the Association of American Indian Affairs. Native women in particular are at a higher risk of violence. More than 4 in 5 Native women have experienced violence in their lifetime, with 1 in 5 being survivors of sexual violence, according to the Indian Law Resource Center. Cases in Sacramento include the death of Angel Baby Espinoza, a former citizen of Wilton Rancheria, whose family believe she was killed by an ex-partner in 2001. “We want justice. I want to be able to tell her kids who did this to their mom,” her sister, Toni Espinoza, told The Bee last year. “We have a right to know, everybody has the right to justice.”
MMIP cases in California Nationwide, Native American people are 2.5 times more likely to be a victim of a violent crime, as stated by the Association of American Indian Affairs. Native women in particular are at a higher risk of violence. More than 4 in 5 Native women have experienced violence in their lifetime, with 1 in 5 being survivors of sexual violence, according to the Indian Law Resource Center. Cases in Sacramento include the death of Angel Baby Espinoza, a former citizen of Wilton Rancheria, whose family believe she was killed by an ex-partner in 2001. “We want justice. I want to be able to tell her kids who did this to their mom,” her sister, Toni Espinoza, told The Bee last year. “We have a right to know, everybody has the right to justice.”
“We want to find her, wherever she may be, and we want to take care of her,” Britton’s grandfather Ronnie Hostler told The Bee last year. “That’s what we want right now, and we’re not getting it.” Additionally, Cooper said deputies are being trained to understand Public Law 280, a state law that allows California to have criminal jurisdiction over tribal citizens and territory. Since its passing in 1953, this law has caused miscommunication and significant delays in investigations of these cases. Assemblymember James Ramos, D-San Bernardino, who publicly supported the task force, said the initiative will bridge a gap between tribal communities and law enforcement. Ramos, who is Serrano/Cahuilla, said tribal communities “know exactly what cases there are,” but haven’t had the platform or resources to have them solved. “This curtain has been brought down so that there’s willingness to discuss and build that mutual respect and understanding to identify those that are out there, the cold cases that are there.” Ramos said. Ho vowed that this task force will provide answers to “families have waited too long.” He added the creation of the task force is “long overdue” and he promised that cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people will no longer “go ignored.”
Tarango said the partnership is a reminder to the government and local agencies to listen to tribes. He said he hopes the task force will serve as an example for other regions in California to have a relationship with tribal nations. “The plan is to have every DA, every sheriff, every federally recognized tribe, choose to work off this template,” Tarango said. “Any cases that we have, that we’re going to work together with, and again, we’re trying to start it off here in our region.”
Written By
Emma Hall
Sacramento Bee