{"id":422923,"date":"2026-02-18T12:34:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T18:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=422923"},"modified":"2026-02-18T12:37:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T18:37:05","slug":"cronkite-news-death-of-apache-teenager-still-unsolved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2026\/02\/18\/cronkite-news-death-of-apache-teenager-still-unsolved\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Death of Apache teenager still unsolved"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Emily<\/a>
A billboard offering a reward for information on the killing of Emily Pike stands along the side of Highway 60 towards Globe, Arizona, on November 3, 2025. The reward has increased to $200,000. Photo by Sydney Lovan \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n
One year later, Emily Pike\u2019s legacy fuels reform and demands justice<\/div>\r\n
Wednesday, February 18, 2026<\/div>\r\n
By Emily Fox-Million, Cronkite News <\/div>\r\n
Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n
cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

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PHOENIX — Turquoise light wraps around the painted portrait of a dead girl. It is part of a makeshift memorial that sits off a highway road beneath Mount Triplet in Peridot. After a year it has begun to moulder, the teddy bears hanging from a chain-link fence, their fur stiff from sun and dust. The flowers that were once bright have become faded and brittle at the edges.<\/p>\r\n

Emily Pike\u2019s mural faces the desert and has started to fade. The elements thin the fabric, drain the color and fray the edges. Here, a year since the girl\u2019s remains were found on Valentines Day, 2025 off U.S. 60 near Globe, time shows itself in what has begun to fade — and in what hasn\u2019t.<\/p>\r\n

Emily Pike\u2019s name hasn\u2019t faded. She is a law. She is a movement. She is a reminder. Her name is spoken in classrooms, at vigils, in group homes, and at the Arizona Capitol.<\/p>\r\n

Pike was just 14 years old when she went missing from a group home in Mesa. Valentine\u2019s Day marked one year since her remains were found in trash bags. There have been no arrests in the case.<\/p>\r\n \"Emily<\/a>

Flowers and various items hang outside of the water tank mural honoring Emily Pike on November 3, 2025, in Peridot, Arizona. Photo by Sydney Lovan \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/P>\r\n

Her uncle, Allred Pike Jr., remembers her as a teenager who wanted to go to college. Who loved art. Who cared for her siblings and her parents.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cShe endured a lot in her young life, but yet she looked towards the future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\r\n

He hopes people remember her as her family does.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cSmart, intelligent,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd even though she\u2019s gone, she made a positive, positive impact on this world.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

He said that impact is tangible.<\/p>\r\n

Since her disappearance, lawmakers passed Emily\u2019s Law, establishing the Turquoise Alert system to expand public notification when Indigenous people and other vulnerable individuals go missing. Before her case, there were no statewide alerts exclusively for missing Indigenous people in Arizona.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThe first major one is the Turquoise Alert,\u201d Pike Jr. said. \u201cNot perfect, but it\u2019s a step in the right direction. Saving lives. Law enforcement paying more attention. Bringing awareness.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

For Mary Kim Titla, executive director of United National Indian Tribal Youth, legislation alone does not define Emily\u2019s legacy. Titla said she sees her death as a catalyst.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWe didn’t have this before the Emily Pike case, and now we have it,\u201d Titla said. \u201cSo that’s a plus.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

She says the law may be in place, but real change will depend on continued oversight, accountability, and a commitment from communities and lawmakers to ensure no other child falls through the cracks.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWhat happened to Emily Pike is never far from our minds,\u201d Titla said. \u201cIt reminds us that we must promote a message of not only safety, but also of justice.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Emily\u2019s story has also intensified conversations around Missing and Murdered Indigenous People, a crisis that families have raised concerns about for decades, but that often struggles for public attention.<\/p>\r\n

Emily\u2019s name traveled across tribal communities and beyond state lines.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just about Emily,\u201d Pike Jr. said.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

There are other people on other reservations who are still missing, and Pike\u2019s story has forced broader recognition that Indigenous families are still waiting for answers, he said.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cMaking sure that her murderers are caught because we need to let all Indian Country know that their lives matter,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re not forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Her legacy lives in conversations about what happens before girls go missing.<\/p>\r\n \"Emily<\/a>

A memorial cross for Emily Pike stands next to a mural honoring her in Peridot, Arizona, on November 3, 2025. Photo by Sydney Lovan \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

Pike lived in a group home when she went missing. Her case prompted scrutiny of group home oversight, placement practices and cultural disconnection for Native youths in care.<\/p>\r\n

Pike\u2019s family filed a lawsuit <\/a>against Sacred Journey Inc., operator of the group home in Mesa. In it the family alleges that Sacred Journey Inc. failed to provide adequate care and was negligent in its hiring. Sacred Journey Inc. responded in a legal filing<\/a> saying that the parents were neglectful; and that Pike left the group home \u201cof her own free will.”<\/p>\r\n

Elisia Manuel, founder of Three Precious Miracles, works weekly inside group homes across Arizona, leading cultural workshops for residents and staff. She describes culture as not just ceremonial \u2013 it gives young people a sense of identity, routine and belonging that can help ground them in otherwise uncertain living situations.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThese kids are craving their culture, and it’s not being provided,\u201d Manuel said.<\/p>\r\n

In talking circles, she has watched teenagers bead jewelry and begin to cry because it reminded them of their grandmother. She has heard youth say the smell of sage feels like home.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cIf you imagine stripping your kids away from not only everything that they’ve known \u2026 but also their culture, their people, their food \u2014 that is hard,\u201d she said.<\/p>\r\n

Pike\u2019s case, Manuel said, pushed the system to acknowledge that safety includes making sure Native children are placed in homes where their culture, language and identity are supported.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

She advocates for more Native foster parents, stronger kinship placements and more intensive cultural competency training for those working inside group homes.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWhen a child goes into foster care, we always say it takes a village,\u201d she said. \u201cBut we have to actually build that village.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Titla agrees and said that her work with Native youths focuses on leadership and wellness, but added that safety education and accountability must remain central.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cAnyone who works with a young person must be trained,\u201d she said. \u201cThey have to know how to build rapport. They have to know how to prevent violent things from happening to young people.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Pike\u2019s name, Titla said, should continue to challenge institutions long after headlines fade. She worries there is a danger in turning a child into a symbol so large that the person disappears.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n \"Emily<\/a>

Items decorate the mile 277 marker off of Highway 60 past Globe, Arizona, commemorating where the remains of Emily Pike were found on November 3, 2025. Photo by Sydney Lovan \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/P>\r\n

Her uncle wants people to remember who she was \u2014 a young girl who deserved stability, education and the chance to grow up.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cIf Emily were still here today,\u201d he said, she would have deserved \u201ca stable home, environment, education \u2026 just giving her the opportunity to be a kid, enjoy life, no worries.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Her uncle hasn\u2019t returned to the stretch of roadside where her body was found in months.<\/p>\r\n

The desert is already erasing what\u2019s left. The candles have burned out. The toys sit untouched. Sun and dust keep wearing down the memorial. But one thing has not changed.<\/p>\r\n

Pike is dead, her case remains unsolved, and her uncle \u2013 and the rest of her family \u2013 still wait for justice.<\/p>\r\n

\r\nFor more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A>.<\/STRONG>\r\n

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This article<\/a> first appeared on Cronkite News<\/a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<\/p>

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