A #NativeAmerican girl was found dead and dismembered by an Arizona highway. Will her killer ever be found?

“Criminals and bad actors believe that they can get away with (crimes) on the Indian reservations.”
—attorney and activist Margo Hill-Ferguson

By Rob Picheta
Feb 13, 2026

"Carolyn Bender remembers her niece’s smile: broad and vibrant and heartbreakingly innocent, as though the whole world was in on her joke.
She remembers Emily drawing in the back seat of the car, and teasing her younger brother, and the sound of her soft-spoken voice. She recalls with a smile her love of being active in the outdoors: Emily was 'always on a swing, always in a pool.'

"That’s how #EmilyPike’s family remembers her. But for many in her tribe and across Arizona, she is known for something else: Being the victim of a savage crime.

"Last year Emily – a 14-year-old member of the #SanCarlosApache tribe – went missing from her group home in #MesaAZ, an eastern suburb of #PhoenixAZ. Her dismembered body was discovered by hikers nearly three weeks later and around 70 miles away, stuffed into trash bags left by the side of a rural highway.

"A multi-pronged investigation by federal and tribal authorities, with the support of the #FBI, has seemingly stalled. And a year later Emily’s family is still left waiting, desperately, for justice.
But her grisly killing underscores a broader problem: an epidemic of violence against #NativeAmericanWomen and girls who go missing or are killed at a staggeringly high rate.

"Native people were reported missing more than 10,200 times in 2024, according to the latest available FBI data: a rate of 28 missing person cases a day, or more than one an hour. Over 7,000 of those cases involved children, and more than 4,000 involved girls.

"This is a crisis hidden in plain sight, campaigners and tribal leaders say. In 2023, homicide was the fourth-leading cause of death for Native American men under the age of 45, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the sixth-leading cause for women of the same age. And in a landmark study conducted a decade ago, more than four in five Native American women said they had experienced violence in their lifetime. "

Read more [paywall?]:
https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/13/us/emily-pike-killing-arizona

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/XhhqA

#MMIW #MMIWG #StolenSisters #MurderedSisters #MMIWGT2S #MMIWG2S #NoMoreStolenSisters #InidgenousRights #PoliceDontKeepUsSafe #WhoKeepsUsSafe #MurderedAndMissingIndigenosuWomen

A Native American girl was found dead and dismembered by an Arizona highway. Will her killer ever be found?

Emily Pike slipped out a window of her Arizona group home a year ago; days later, the 14-year-old’s remains were found in a pair of trash bags by a rural highway. The ongoing mystery surrounding her death underscores the epidemic of violence against Indigenous women and girls in the US.

CNN

Video shows dramatic pursuit of carjacking suspect in Mesa

Thierry Muhire, 20, was taken into custody after he allegedly carjacked a vehicle and led Mesa officers on a pursuit last Friday. #mesaaz #policechase #grappler #policepursuit #highspeedchase For more Local News from KPHO: For more YouTube Content:

https://fllics.com/en/video/video-shows-dramatic-pursuit-of-carjacking-suspect-in-mesa/

Video shows dramatic pursuit of carjacking suspect in Mesa

Thierry Muhire, 20, was taken into custody after he allegedly carjacked a vehicle and led Mesa officers on a pursuit last Friday. #mesaaz #policechase #grappler #policepursuit #highspeedchase For more Local News from KPHO: https://www.azfamily.com/ For more YouTube Content: https://www.youtube

Fllics

🚨 The #GhostFlights: #Deportation Flights #Disappearing Thousands Arrested by #ICE

By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, Feb. 6, 2026

"We've been tracking the Ghost Flights, disappearing migrants, moms, asylum seekers, and others arrested in Minneapolis, who are quickly grabbed and taken away at a private terminal at Minneapolis international airport.

"The charter airlines are making it harder to track them, but here's what we found: #GlobalX, #Eastern and #Omni based in #TulsaOK, have operated most of these, with Sun Country also operating some of the flights.

"These secretive flights take those arrested to deportation hubs in isolated areas, where they are sent to prison, deported to other countries, or constantly shifted on flights. These secretive hubs are in #DadeCollier in the Florida Everglades; Alexandria in central Louisiana; and Harlingen on the Texas border.

"Those arrested are boarded shackled in chains from their wrists to their feet, and often denied water and food, and abused. While these secretive flights disappear people, their families desperately search for them.

"The flights out of #MesaAZ in the #Phoenix area are deporting hundreds on each flight to #Venezuela. A recent flight out of Mesa deported those arrested to #Russia and #Iran. The past flights show the men were immediately given #Draft notices for military service when they arrived in Russia. Protesters and political #AsylumSeekers face worse.

"As for the chartered airlines, the main contract is held by #CSI in #AlbuquerqueNM, who contracts out the other airlines.

"Yesterday, a Ghost Flight landed in #Guantanamo and then #Haiti. These are #moms, #workers, asylum seekers, #LegalResidents, and most are whisked away and denied due process. More than 2,000 have been deported from #Minneapolis.

"Other major hubs for deportation flights are #ElPaso, #Miami, #SanAntonio, and #TacomaWA. The deportation flights are arriving in every region of the world, the Americas, Asia, and Africa." 😱

Read more (includes flight maps):
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/02/the-ghost-flights-deportation-flights.html

#ReaderSupportedNews #DefundICE #StopTheDeportations #DefundDHS #BorderPatrol #MurderPatrol #ICESucks #KristiNoemSucks #USPol #SilencingDissent #Disappeared #Orwellian

The Ghost Flights: Deportation Flights Disappearing Thousands Arrested by ICE

Censored News is a service to grassroots Indigenous Peoples engaged in resistance and upholding human rights.

Measles exposure reported at athletic grounds in Mesa

Visitors at the Arizona Athletic Grounds may have been exposed to measles, health officials said. DETAILS: #arizona #azfamily #mesa #mesaaz #measles #healthalert For more Local News from KPHO: For more YouTube Content:

https://fllics.com/en/video/measles-exposure-reported-at-athletic-grounds-in-mesa/

Measles exposure reported at athletic grounds in Mesa

Visitors at the Arizona Athletic Grounds may have been exposed to measles, health officials said. DETAILS: https://www.azfamily.com/2026/01/28/new-phoenix-area-measles-exposure-site-identified/ #arizona #azfamily #mesa #mesaaz #measles #healthalert For more Local News from KPHO: https://www.azf

Fllics

Firefighters battle massive fire at apartment complex in Mesa

Six people, including four children, were rushed to the hospital after a massive fire engulfed a Mesa apartment complex early Saturday morning. DETAILS: #arizona #azfamily #mesa #mesaaz #news #apartmentfire For more Local News from KPHO: For more YouTube Content:

https://fllics.com/en/video/firefighters-battle-massive-fire-at-apartment-complex-in-mesa/

Firefighters battle massive fire at apartment complex in Mesa

Six people, including four children, were rushed to the hospital after a massive fire engulfed a Mesa apartment complex early Saturday morning. DETAILS: https://www.azfamily.com/2026/01/24/2-adults-4-kids-hospitalized-fire-rips-through-mesa-apartment-complex/ #arizona #azfamily #mesa #mesaaz #news

Fllics

Do you live in #MesaAZ? If you do, you can attend the next Mesa City Council Meeting on November 3, 2025 (5:45 pm to 7 pm) to let the council know what you think of requiring the Mesa Police to assist ICE in their extralegal attacks on immigrants and US citizens.

https://www.mobilize.us/indivisiblemesa/event/835000/?rname=karen&share_context=event_details&share_medium=copy_link

Mesa City Council Meeting: ICE and Mesa PD: End 287(g) Agreement · Indivisible Mesa

Join us at the Mesa City Council meeting(s) to advocate for the nullification of ICE and Mesa PD's 287(g) agreement. https://www.mobilize.us/indivisiblemesa/event/835000/ **We want the City of Mesa to withdraw from its 287(g) agreement with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) and cease any and all cooperation between ICE and the Mesa PD. Learn more about the agreement here:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfCriBTDrHw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9euNT9FjwY (Spanish) If you'd like to volunteer to speak at City Council meeting(s), please email us at indivisiblemesa@gmail.com Organizers from Indivisible Mesa are available to assist you in developing a statement to present to the City Council. If you are interested in attending the City Council Meeting(s) to support this effort, RSVP using Mobilize. There were approx. 135 287(g) agreements when Biden left office. There are now almost 900 active agreements in the US and growing under the Trump administration. - Mesa PD and ICE have had a 287(g) agreement since 2009 - Mesa PD has the jail enforcement model of the agreement - Reports prove that these agreements lead to racial profiling and civil rights abuses **When you arrive, fill out a blue comment card and add your information and comment in the subject line. Write something like "Cancel 287(g) agreement between ICE and the Mesa PD.** You'll have the option to speak to the council, or you can choose not to speak. The comment cards for people who aren't speaking will be read aloud and recorded in the meeting minutes. https://www.mesaaz.gov/Government/City-Council-Meetings *City council meetings only allow for three speakers at the end of the meeting, unless it's an agenda item. If you're interested in speaking, reach out to Indivisible Mesa. **Even if you can't stay for the meeting**, please still come to submit a comment card opposing the 287(g) agreement. Your name and comment will be read off at the end of the meeting and recorded in the minutes. **Additionally** SEND an email to the Mayor, City Manager, and City Council members using the links below: https://www.indivisiblemesa.org/action-items So far we've only received two replies on where these people stand on this agreement (Adams & Heredia) Let us know if you hear back from anyone. https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1y2d21GTnemC1RNT9G6-54zINYoQQnw0J **Resources:** REVIEW THIS WHOLE FILE for additional info and if you have more questions: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ETQbasjoh8mCZBOFZ5CFOmBhXSHs8ij1?usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HcIHUui8r9yE2YAU5FDrZBhDPgVhqQki3HiwS9loQMM/edit?tab=t.0

Mobilize

I haven't got any pictures but there were THOUSANDS of people representing at the #MesaAZ #NoKings rally, lining multiple blocks between Inverness and Baseline on Val Vista Drive, and down Baseline in both directions from Val Vista. Quite the turnout! Lots of great signs!

Seeing my fellow human beings turn out like this never fails to bring tears of joy to my eyes.

#USPolitics