Photos of more than a dozen Southeast residents killed or missing going back to 1993 were displayed on a table after the May 5 march in Juneau to recognize the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples, or MMIP.
The nonprofit Data for Indigenous Justice, which has established a database to provide updated case numbers, reported adding 170 new names in Alaska in 2025. It counted the total number of documented MMIP cases in Alaska at more than 1,250 people.
According to FBI data released May 5, rates of Alaska Natives or American Indians reported missing declined slightly to 9,687 people nationwide in 2025. The majority were minors. Roughly 55% of the total were women and 45% were men.
In Alaska, the Department of Public Safety releases quarterly reports of missing people. Numbers fluctuate as cases are resolved and people are found, officials said, but approximately one third of cases in 2025 involved missing Alaska Natives, while Alaska Natives represent roughly 16% of the state’s population.
Alaska ranks fourth in the nation with the highest number of cases, and Anchorage has the third highest of all cities in the nation, according to a 2018 report.
Paulette Moreno, vice president of the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska which helped organize the Juneau event, said each data point represents a life and someone’s family and community affected.
“These are relatives, our sisters, our daughters, our aunties and our family members. This issue is not abstract. It’s not something that’s happening elsewhere, it’s something that’s happening in Alaska, in our communities,” she said.
Alaska Native and American Indian women and girls experience disproportionately higher rates of violence and are murdered at rates 10 times the national average, according to federal data.
Federal and state officials say addressing MMIP is a top priority
“We can’t lose momentum,” Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said at an Anchorage event on May 5. She applauded the announcement of a new national Task Force to Combat Violent Crime in Indian Country.
Alaska Department of Public Safety Commissioner James Cockrell said the biggest barrier for state law enforcement response is timing, particularly in rural Alaska. “Getting to a place in time to either save the person or be able to do a good investigation, to hold the person accountable for their actions,” he said.
“We need to continue to focus on prevention and really timing investigation, and we need people to help us,” he added. “We need people to step up and say, ‘this is what happened.’”
Cockrell emphasized that investigations for missing people are most successful when launched quickly. “If you know somebody’s missing, tell somebody right away. Don’t wait 24 hours. Don’t wait 48 hours. We have to have information as quickly as possible. The more information we get, the better chances are we’ll find this person.”
Austin McDaniel, communications director with the department, said in an interview on May 6 that the department responds to missing persons investigations as homicides until they are proven otherwise. “So that’s certainly our priority, is aggressively and quickly investigating new homicides that come in regardless of the area of the state or the race or gender of the person involved,” he said.
McDaniel said the state has five investigators, including four focused on MMIP cases. He said those investigations include new uses of forensic science, like DNA testing, and also rely on new information or witnesses coming forward.
Following legislative action in 2025, Alaska established a new nine-member MMIP Review Commission to review unsolved cases and submit a report to the Legislature every three years with its recommendations and findings. McDaniel said the commission began meeting last year and is continuing to prioritize cases to review.
But the state does not respond to cases in local law enforcement jurisdictions, unless called upon to assist, McDaniel said.
Advocates, families and supporters have raised concerns and criticisms at local police departments they say have failed to respond in a timely manner, lack communication with families and lack transparency in the process of investigations.
Moreno, of Tlingit and Haida, said the tribal nonprofit is working with community partners and other tribal governments and organizations to raise awareness and support for resources and community support services for people experiencing violence, or for situations that may make them vulnerable to going missing, as well as for grieving families.
“And some of the reason for that may be that there hasn’t been an establishment of trust or awareness that these services exist,” she said.
Moreno said that more public awareness, law enforcement and media attention is important. “A lot of times they either go undetected, unreported or unresolved, and the treatment of that has caused, I think, a higher number of cases,” she said.
Yereth Rosen contributed reporting to this story from Anchorage. The Alaska Beacon is an independent, donor-funded news organization. Alaskabeacon.com.
