PHOENIX — The FBI is trying something new for the first time to help solve violent crimes in the Navajo Nation. As Team 12’s Matt Yurus shows us, it involves using the tribe’s native language.
You’ve seen them before. Posters showing the faces of the missing and murdered in Navajo Nation. All of them calling for help...in English. Now, for the first time in history, the FBI is using the tribe’s native language.
“The first poster in Navajo was published in March," said Frank Fisher, a public affairs officer with the FBI. "And since then, we have published a total of 13 posters.”
He explained that the posters' purpose are two fold. First, help solve these horrific crimes. “Secondly, we want these posters to represent the respect that the FBI has for the Navajo Nation as well as other Native American communities," Fisher said.
Charging and convicting those guilty of violent crimes against indigenous women and girls has been challenging in the past. Fisher says that’s, in part, because of the sheer vastness of Navajo Nation.
“It spans three states, New Mexico, Arizona as well as some in Utah," he said.
The FBI hopes the new posters will make a large jurisdiction feel smaller to those on the run. That way families of victims like Anthonette Cayedito, who has been missing for more than three decades, can find some closure.
“One thing we want to make clear: This is just the start. This is not us putting up a bunch of posters, declaring victory and going home," Fisher said.
Anyone with information about any of these cases is asked to call the FBI office responsible for the part of the Navajo Nation where the incident occurred, either Arizona, (623) 466-1999, or New Mexico, (505) 889-1300.