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piqer for: Climate and Environment Globalization and politics Deep Dives
Annie Hylton is an international investigative journalist from Canada. She writes about gender, immigration, human rights, and conflict, and has worked in East Africa, the Middle East, Central America, and elsewhere. She teaches journalism at Sciences Po in Paris and was a former international lawyer focusing on situations of conflict. Hylton is a graduate of Columbia University’s Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism and also holds a J.D. and Master of Laws in international humanitarian law.
The Murder And Disappearance Of A Navajo Girl Illuminates Jurisdictional Issues On Tribal Lands
When 11-year-old Ashlynne Mike was kidnapped in the town of Shiprock in May 2016, on the Navajo reservation, hours went by before Navajo Nation law enforcement requested an Amber Alert, and nearby police departments could not act because of jurisdictional issues. Rachel Monroe, the author of this remarkable story, writes about the complex set of bureaucratic and cultural issues that hindered an efficient response.
Police officers are trained to respond swiftly to reported abductions—to coordinate with other local law enforcement to launch search parties, and to share information. But from what Ashlynne’s relatives could see, that didn’t seem to be happening in Shiprock.
Ashlynne’s family and friends created an ad hoc search party, driving the roads where they believed Ashlynne had been abducted. But they had no luck finding her. By the time the Amber Alert was sent out, it was eight hours after Ashlynne was reported missing. Quick and effective responses, with coordination between different law enforcement groups, can be the difference between life and death.
But quick and effective responses are challenging on tribal lands, where a panoply of issues—jurisdictional, remoteness, economic disparity, long-standing mistrust of law-enforcement—come into play.
Ashlynne’s body was found the next morning, and Tom Begaye, who lived in the community, was arrested for rape and murder. Begaye told authorities that Ashlynne was still moving when he drove away the previous afternoon, leaving the community to ask whether, if it had been issued sooner, the Amber Alert could have saved her life.
A bill, signed into law by President Trump in April, and named after Ashlynne, may correct some of these issues.
Begaye was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. When Ashlynn’s family walked out of the courthouse, they released dozens of balloons. “We all stood and watched as they took a long time to disappear into the wide New Mexico sky,” Rachel Monroe wrote.
