If you’re just out there on the land somewhere, dead, and nobody’s looking for you,
that’s like, the worst thing in the world.
They're just all over Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana, Minnesota…
I can't be everywhere.
I think everybody deserves to be found.
My name is Lissa Yellowbird-Chase.
As a private citizen, I've been investigating missing persons cases in North Dakota and
Minnesota for six years.
When I started doing this, just missing persons were a problem all together
Then I started noticing that the indigenous peoples had a bigger problem.
Officials continue to investigate the disappearance of 23 year old Jermaine Charlo.
31 year old Rose Downwind was last seen by family on Monday, October 19.
Gone since the end of October...
last seen on the Blackfeet reservation...
Darlene Billie...
Olivia Lone Bear…
RoyLynn Rides Horse….
Amy Dow…
Hanna Harris…
Ashlynne Mike...
We’ll put like a picture of the missing person, their poster, will go on the outside,
and then all the information we collect on them will go into one folder.
Start with any kind of jails, detox, medical facilities…
and this one book, book one of those records to make a timeline.
If you ask me what my heritage is, I would have to say I'm Mandan, Arikara, Hidatsa,
and Dakota from Standing Rock.
I was a welder.
I used to work in corrections and law enforcement.
I've had five children.
I got married to a very abusive person.
Then I fled.
By that time I was already kind of both feet in my addiction and my alcoholism.
And it was pretty convenient when somebody introduces you to meth.
I started selling it to support my own habit.
I’m sober now.
It's a common thing, especially with Native Americans.
The first thing, highest risk, of our people who are going missing and murdered,
right off the top, just being indigenous.
Then you go alcohol, drug, sex work, trafficking, or homelessness, unemployment
All these check marks for every person makes your risk level higher.
Melissa Eagleshield has been missing since October 5th.
Eagleshield, who's also known as "Mitz", was last seen outside of her home in Island Lake
in Becker county.
Melissa Eagleshield went missing in 2014.
She's an indigenous woman.
She's from Minnesota and she has children.
I'm going to see Melissa Eagleshield's family, her mother and her aunt.
I'm going to be driving to Detroit Lakes to the last place that she was seen alive.
Hi
Hello
Welcome.
Thank you.
I’d like to get some of the history, and just kind of reconnect, since it’s been
about a year since I met you guys.
Come on in.
Mitz was 43 when she went missing.
She’s been missing for three-and-a-half years.
On October 5th 2014, they believe sometime between 3:30 and 5:00 in the morning.
She had just got kicked out of her room in Detroit Lakes.
She went out to Dan Jager’s.
Then he got up at 5:00 and she was gone.
When Mitz first went missing there was a lot of action, we were out there when they had
the bloodhounds,
then the cadaver dogs and they did pick up her scent at a pond, where she went missing,
it’s way out in the woods
it’s rough terrain.
She left without shoes, without a coat, without her purse
There was no blood or they didn't find any blood, there wasn't any DNA.
The only thing that they found was that bloodhound picked up her scent at that pond.
That was it.
We’re on our way out to the Jager residence where Melissa went missing.
We want to see the pond because that is where the search dogs had led law enforcement
which is about a half mile from the actual house.
Ok, guys, I have anxiety.
Yeah, stuff has really fallen down here.
There he is.
Oh yeah, there’s Dan.
Hey Dan.
How have you been?
Busy.
Do you mind if we kind of like look around?
I kind of wanted to see if I could locate that pond.
Uh oh…
This is supposedly supposed to be where the dogs lost her track.
So from the sounds of it, this is a spring fed, and it’s flowing that way.
So that could have been up there, picked up her scent and brought it and because of the
dam it stayed here.
I don’t see -- knowing just how difficult it is to walk through here,
there’s no way that Mitzy would have been able to walk through here barefooted.
this is difficult walking.
I’m not a land expert, but I know people who are.
So I’m going to be making some phone calls.
I don’t think Mitzy was down here.
It gives a sense of where to go from here.
Right.
Now that that’s checked off.
Before I pray, one of the things -- I don’t know if you’re into prayer or not,
but we’re going to make you into prayer today.
In the Lakota language, we’ll say (prayer).
that means that we’re thankful.
Because It means a lot to the family, this is the last thing that they know of Mitzy,
was being here.
After that, there’s nothing but question marks over everyone’s heads.
Thank you, I really appreciate that.
This is my youngest son, Micah.
Searching for missing people.
I believe she’ll do it until she can’t walk anymore, really.
He's the only one I can say who's been through it.
Don't say nothing.
I get emotional.
They sacrificed a lot.
I had gotten a text from him at some time yesterday.
He was like, "Where are you?
It's Mother's Day,"
it's been six and a half years since I've really spent any holidays with my own family.
I've been out searching.
Mother's Day I'm always out.
Just another family.
That's one of the things that we've sacrificed.
All my kids and myself because I think it's important.
We're doing good.
My daughter just said we're all thinking about the day when
you will spend your holidays with us or a birthday or a Mother's Day or something.
Maybe next year.
The reason why I do what I do, I could have been missing and murdered.
I put myself in a lot of positions with my addiction, my criminal history,
you know what I mean,
I gave everyone who surrounded me a million and one reasons that if I were to go missing,
that they shouldn't look for me either.
I think that every human deserves to be found.
Everyone at least needs to be searched for.
Somebody has to care.