Other LanguagesIn 2023, in part in response to recommendations from the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People (MMIWP) Task Force, the Washington Legislature created and funded an MMIWP Cold Case Unit within the AGO. The purpose of the team is to assist federal, municipal, county, and tribal law enforcement agencies in solving missing person and cold homicide cases involving persons of Indigenous ancestry who go missing and are murdered at a higher rate than other demographics. It is the first unit of its kind in the nation.
Contact Us
If you would like to contact the MMIWP Cold Case Unit, you may reach out to us at: crjmmiwp@atg.wa.gov or 844-770-7900 (toll-free).
Calls to this number may be made 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. Though this number may not be staffed, the voicemail messages are regularly monitored.
We recognize that members of our community may be reluctant to report information. We would appreciate if callers left their name for additional follow up, but tips to this unit can be made anonymously.
Mission
To use a culturally attuned, trauma-informed, and family and victim-centered approach to support victims, survivors, and families of missing and murdered Indigenous women and people; to assist local law enforcement agencies in solving cold cases involving missing and murdered Indigenous women and people; and to expand resources available to law enforcement, tribes, medical examiners, and other agencies.
Background
American Indian and Alaskan Native women and people experience violence at much higher rates than other populations. The National Centers for Disease Control & Prevention reports that homicide is the sixth-leading cause of death for Indigenous women and girls and the third-leading cause of death for Indigenous men (CDC, 2019). A recent federal study reported that Native American women are murdered at rates 10 times the national average in some jurisdictions (NIJ, 2008).
According to data from the Homicide Investigation Tracking System in the Attorney General’s Office, Indigenous victims are 5% of the unresolved cases throughout the state, while making up less than 2% of the population. Due to reporting practices, racial misclassification, data collection, and jurisdictional issues, the actual disparity is likely even more significant.
In 2021, the Attorney General’s Office convened the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People Task Force. In 2022, the Task Force unanimously recommended the creation of a cold case unit in the Attorney General’s Office focused on cases involving Indigenous people. In 2023, Attorney General Bob Ferguson partnered with Rep. Debra Lekanoff, D-Anacortes, and Senator Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, to propose legislation creating a Cold Case Investigations Unit focused on solving cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and people. The bill passed unanimously and was signed into law by Governor Inslee.