HELENA – Montana law enforcement agencies reported 650 missing indigenous persons cases last year and as of May 30 just one percent of those cases are still active, new data from the Montana Department of Justice show. The majority of individuals – 396 – reported missing were located within two days and 32 were not found within 2021. Of those, 25 have been accounted for during 2022.

Indigenous persons cases made up 30.7 percent of the total 2,114 missing person cases Montana law enforcement agencies entered into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database of missing persons last year. Over 80 percent – 523 – of the missing indigenous person cases in 2021 were under the age of 18. Women made up 67 percent of the missing indigenous persons cases, while men made up 33 percent of cases.

There are currently 47 missing indigenous persons in Montana – 26 have been missing less than a year and 21 have been missing more than a year.

Last year, Attorney General Knudsen launched a new online missing persons database to help law enforcement agencies and public find all missing persons and bring them home. The enhanced database is easier to use and provides accurate and timely information from agencies across the state as they submit updates to the FBI’s NCIC database.

For a complete list of missing persons in Montana, visit https://dojmt.gov/missing-persons/.