Speedy cross-border work by Minnesota’s MMIR Office credited with quick return of First Nations woman to Canada
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Last fall the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office found an unidentified woman with a head injury near railroad tracks in a rural area.
After being transported to Lake Region Healthcare in Fergus Falls for treatment Fergus Falls Police Department Lt. Connor West began trying to identify her.
“She was unable to communicate with us. She would provide, at times, very brief statements,” he said. “But no identifying information, such as driver’s license, identification cards, none of that was located on her.”
West didn’t give up. He said the little she shared pointed to her being Indigenous. Investigators also speculated she might have hopped a train in Canada. So, he began cross-referencing names the woman provided with Canadian officials. That was also unsuccessful.
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“At that time, I began attempting to locate her identity through fingerprints,” West said. “Reaching out to points of contact with other agencies, with no success.”
Then someone had a spark of inspiration which blew open the whole investigation.
“A suggestion was made to reach out to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives unit for the state of Minnesota,” he recalled.
Formed three years ago the unit works to address the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous relatives.
“Subsequently, I was able to work closely with representation from that unit,” West said.
Initially that person was MMIR Office interim director Ana Negrete.
“We got the phone call just saying, ‘Hey, we have this unusual situation. We have what we believe to be an Indigenous woman here in the area, and we’re having trouble identifying her,’” Negrete said. “It was great to hear that she was alive but still needed some extra support."
In turn Negrete reached out to MMIR intelligence specialist Taylor Wencel.
“We are the first in the nation ever to have an office like this,” Wencel said. “What’s really unique about my role is I get to not impede on an investigation, but be in assistance to an investigation, to law enforcement agencies and medical examiner offices providing technical assistance.”
Wencel contacted West.
“And he kind of explained the situation, and it sounded like it was very unique,’ Wencel said. “I also, within my role, collect data that's really nonexistent in the Indigenous community or hasn’t been there before.”
She said some of that data includes hot spots within an area and risk factors including mental health, substance use, possible trafficking, domestic violence and sexual abuse.
Later West sent Wencel a photo of the woman and detailed efforts to identify her. Wencel also connected West with the Winnipeg Police Department Missing Persons Unit but nothing came back.
Then Negrete had an idea. Months earlier while working in Winnipeg she and Wencel had met an Indigenous man named Victor Mondaca. He’s the co-founder of an MMIR outreach called the Red Response Team. And he operates one of the only Indigenous shelters in Canada.
“Victor has great energy that you can see just by how he smiles, how he shows up,” Negrete said. “It was really clear he had genuine compassion for the relatives that he was working with.”
On a whim Negrete sent him a picture of the woman.
“As soon as we got the photo, we instantly recognized who this person was,” Mondaca said. “We were able to locate her birthday. We were able to pick up where her reserve was, all things like that.”
While there was a breakthrough, it still needed to be officially confirmed.
Wencel connected West with the FBI. The now identified woman was also taken to a health care facility in Fargo, N.D.
Two days later the woman was still reluctant to talk. Negrete asked if anyone who was Indigenous or wasn't wearing a uniform had tried talking to her.
“They indicated that no, there had not been,” she said.
Negrete, who is Indigenous, knew what she had to do. She jumped into her vehicle and drove four hours to Fargo to meet the woman.
“I was intentional in how I came, jeans, a hoodie. And just thought, ‘OK, well, we’re going to try this approach,” she said. “I wanted her to feel at home, that she was sitting down and talking with somebody that maybe looked familiar or at least looked like her.”
Negrete said seeing the woman for the first time moved her.
“She could be my sister, my niece, my somebody and so responding to her needs, it becomes personal, because she's one of ours,” she said. “We don’t just see the vulnerabilities. We see them as our relatives and respond in that way, in a good way.”
And it paid off. A cultural bond formed when the woman offered Negrete some Chex Mix which she accepted. After sharing laughs and talking about food Negrete said it became more clear.
“Yeah,” she said. “This is one of our Canadian relatives and our First Nations people."
The next day Winnipeg police were able to officially identify the woman with Mondaca’s help. She is not being identified publicly. The MMIR Office, Red Response Team and Otter Tail County authorities began working on a return plan.
Less than two weeks after she was found in rural Otter Tail County, Mondaca picked the woman up in Fargo to take her home to Canada.
“On the way back while she was being transported, one of the things she said to us was she didn't know that there were so many people that actually cared about her,” he said.
Mondaca said he sees her almost every day and that she’s doing well.
“We are currently working on getting her identification and different things like that in place so that she can start accessing other services,” he said. “Unfortunately, that is a huge barrier, especially with people that are unsheltered.”
And what did West take away from this experience?
“I can’t speak enough about Taylor and Ana. They’re a great asset to that unit,” he said. “It’s evident in this situation there was a lot of people that cared and that took the time to work with her and reunite her with her family, relatives or friends up in Canada, and hopefully, at some point she will realize that, if she doesn’t already.”
Since the case ended, Wencel has kept in touch with West. And they’re working together on some training opportunities for local law enforcement.
“We don't get a lot of success stories,” Wencel said. “So, when we get them, we take them, and we put them close to our heart and realize that this is why we do the work.”