TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The day after Governor Katie Hobbs signed 'Emily's law,' which allows a 'turquoise alert' to be sent out when an indigenous person goes missing, state lawmakers discussed Emily Pike's case during a legislative hearing.
“We're holding this hearing today because we are seeking solutions to ensure that what happened to Emily never happens again,” said Arizona Representative Selina Bliss, Co-chair of the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on the Department of Child Safety.
For the first time, Wednesday afternoon, the committee was joined by D.C.S. Director Kathryn Pak, members of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, the Mesa Police Department, and Gila County Sheriff's Office regarding Emily Pike's death. Sacred Journey, Emily's group home, was on the agenda as a speaker but members did not attend.
In January, 14-year-old Emily Pike went missing from Sacred Journey Group Home in Mesa. As discussed during the hearing, Pike was a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe. Her body was found dismembered on Feb. 14 in Gila County.
As reported by the Scripps News Group in Phoenix, state lawmakers tried setting a date with Tribal Leadership for weeks before the hearing was set for May 14. Members of the oversight committee discussed Emily's case in search of systemic flaws and situational errors, hoping to prevent the situation from happening again.
The hearing began with D.C.S. Director Pak explaining their course of action and involvement in Emily's case. Pak described jurisdictional boundaries playing a role in the department taking further action.
"She was enrolled in a tribe and living on tribal land," said Pak, clarifying a question asked by Senator Theresa Hatathlie.
"So the tribe had exclusive jurisdiction there and took custody of her. We have a contract with Sacred Journey to place our children in our custody there. The tribe also had, at the time, at least, and I believe they still do, a contract to place children in their custody there as well. So she was placed there pursuant to that contract."
Tribal leaders joined the discussion to answer questions from the oversight committee following the presentation by D.C.S. They detailed barriers to their social services from taking further action when she left her group home in Mesa.
"There was communication between the group home and our C.P.S. worker almost immediately," explained the San Carlos Apache Attorney General. "But there was that idea that, ah, she's a runaway. And that took three days from that Friday to that Monday. If all children are considered missing right away, it would increase the level of scrutiny by law enforcement and by the agencies and the tribes, and even the feds."
Members of the San Carlos Apache Tribe also made several suggestions of how to improve responses to similar scenarios.
"Principally, the idea of coordination and communication has to overcome what we call jurisdiction and sovereignty."
Leaders also expressed gratitude for the Turquoise Alert system, which is expected to go into effect 90 days after the legislative session ends.
Bill HB2881 was sponsored by Arizona Representative Teresa Martinez. During a phone call with KGUN 9, she explained how the law is expected to report all missing indigenous people, similar to a Silver or AMBER alert. This alert system, according to Rep. Martinez, will send out alerts regardless of whether they're considered runaways.
Rep. Martinez shared that she's considering taking action to fast-track the law going into effect, which she explained was a possibility as the bill passed unanimously through both chambers.
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Reyna Preciado is a reporter for KGUN 9, she joined the KGUN 9 team in July of 2022 after graduating Arizona State University. Share your story ideas with Reyna by emailing reyna.preciado@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, or Twitter.
