{"id":120306,"date":"2025-02-20T23:48:10","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T06:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=120306"},"modified":"2025-03-01T08:24:46","modified_gmt":"2025-03-01T14:24:46","slug":"bureau-of-indian-affairs-turns-to-new-technology-to-help-solve-missing-and-murdered-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2025\/02\/20\/bureau-of-indian-affairs-turns-to-new-technology-to-help-solve-missing-and-murdered-cases\/","title":{"rendered":"Bureau of Indian Affairs turns to new technology to help solve missing and murdered cases"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\n\t\t\tBureau of Indian Affairs announces \u2018Operation Spirit Return\u2019 #MMIW #MMIP\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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The Bureau of Indian Affairs says it is working to solve missing and unidentified person cases through the use of new technology.According to the BIA, Operat…<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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Indianz.Com Video: Bureau of Indian Affairs announces \u2018Operation Spirit Return\u2019 #MMIW #MMIP<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n
Bureau of Indian Affairs turns to new technology to help solve missing and murdered cases<\/div>\r\n
Thursday, February 20, 2025<\/div>\r\n
By Acee Agoyo<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nAmid widespread terminations of its employees, the Bureau of Indian Affairs<\/a> (BIA) is trying to put the focus back on a critical issue facing tribes and their communities.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nIn a news release<\/a> on Thursday, the BIA announced the launch of “Operation Spirit Return.” The project seeks to identify the remains of loved ones and reunite them with family members and their tribal nations.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cThe crisis of American Indians and Alaska Natives gone missing or who have been murdered, but whose cases remained unsolved, has been decades in the making, and we are committed to ending it,\u201d BIA Director Bryan Mercier said in the release<\/a>.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cThanks to the BIA Missing and Murdered Unit and its partners, our Operation Spirit Return initiative will help return missing relatives to their families, so that they can be comforted knowing their loved ones have come home,\u201d said Mercier.\r\n

<\/P> \r\nThe BIA is tying the initiative to Operation Lady Justice<\/a>, which began in 2019, during President Donald Trump’s first term in office. The administration of then-president Joe Biden expanded on the work by creating the Missing and Murdered Unit<\/a> (MMU) in 2021 to investigate cases of missing and murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cEach member of the Missing and Murdered Unit is dedicated to combatting the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons crisis,\u201d BIA Deputy Bureau Director for Justice Services Richard \u201cGlen\u201d Melville said of the MMU’s work.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cWith our partners in federal law enforcement and the genetic research community, we are striving to make a meaningful impact for the tribal families and communities who have been left for years with unanswered questions about those who went missing,\u201d added Melville, who leads the BIA Office of Justice Service<\/a>. \u201cOperation Spirit Return\u2019s focus is on identifying these victims and sending them home, and we are actively engaged in achieving that result.\u201d \r\n

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The Bureau of Indian Affairs sent out its first press release of the Donald Trump administration, announcing "Operation Spirit Return" to help solve missing and unidentified person cases in Indian Country. @USIndianAffairs<\/a> @BureauIndAffrs<\/a> #MMIW<\/a> #MMIP<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/EB5rvYqhUJ<\/a><\/p>— indianz.com (@indianz) February 20, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote>