Body of missing teen from Crow Tribe found in Montana

Monday, January 20, 2020  

The body of Selena Faye Not Afraid, a 16-year-old from the Crow Tribe, was found on Monday, nearly three weeks after she went missing in Montana.

Not Afraid was last seen at a rest stop on January 1, according to family and friends. Her body was found less than a mile away, Big Horn County Sheriff Lawrence Big Hair said.

"It is with great sadness that we have to report the body of Selena Faye Not Afraid has been found by searchers," Big Hair, who is Crow, said in a press release, according to local reports. Foul play is not suspected at this time, the sheriff said.

Native American teenager Selena Not Afraid was last seen on New Year’s Day at a rest area near Billings, Montana. Her disappearance is just one of many tragedies her family has gone through. Do you have info about Selena’s case? #HopeForSal #Dateline https://t.co/8WSfSrDOK3 pic.twitter.com/w7faM7csu2

— Dateline NBC (@DatelineNBC) January 14, 2020

The tragic discovery came after Not Afraid's disappearance, as well as the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, landed on the front page of The New York Times. The story, by correspondent Jack Healy, highlighted efforts of family, friends and law enforcement to search the area around the rest stop.

Healy spoke with Not Afraid's aunt following the new development. Cheryl Horn said her family wonders how the body could have been overlooked over the last couple of weeks.

“We always knew this was a possibility,” Horn told Healy. “I don’t know what to do now.”

Body of Selena Not Afraid found within mile of rest stop where she was last see (The Billings Gazette January 20, 2020)
BODY OF SELENA FAYE NOT AFRAID FOUND; FOUL PLAY NOT SUSPECTED (KBUL January 20, 2020)
Rural Montana Had Already Lost Too Many Native Women. Then Selena Disappeared. (The New York Times January 20, 2020)