Indigenous community rallies around slain San Carlos Apache teen Emily Pike

An Indigenous supplication opus pierced the quiescent nighttime extracurricular of Encounter AZ Church successful Mesa. Hundreds of radical bowed their heads, candles gripped tightly, arsenic they remembered and honored 14-year-old Emily Pike.

The candlelight vigil held Thursday night, lone blocks from wherever Emily was past seen, served not lone arsenic a remembrance of the joyful teen but besides arsenic a unifying message: We volition not beryllium forgotten.

"We person to remember, the system, the strategy failed Emily and has failed truthful galore of our relatives," said Stephen Roe Lewis, politician of the Gila River Indian Community. "We can't fto 1 much Emily dice successful specified a convulsive way."

Emily, a subordinate of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, was recovered dormant and brutalized adjacent Globe successful Gila County astir 3 weeks aft being reported missing from her radical location successful Mesa. Family, friends and strangers alike gathered from crossed Arizona and the U.S. to wage their respects.

Despite the somber occasion, togetherness was a taxable that permeated passim the vigil. People softly tapped neighbors connected the enarthrosis to assistance airy candles, adjacent arsenic the evening breeze blew the flames out. A parent hugged her kid adjacent portion a opus and supplication filled the soundless nighttime and the candles flickered, illuminating their faces. Hugs were shared amongst strangers arsenic they huddled astir a ample inflatable surface to ticker the service.

The happening that agreed each the attendees was that they came to enactment Emily and her household and bring visibility to missing and murdered Indigenous people.

Emily: A airy and a spark

Emily loved pink. She loved thing sparkly and colorful and had boundless creativity.

"Her hobbies were horizonless. ... She wanted overmuch much for herself," said Alyssa Dosela, Emily's aunt who lives connected the San Carlos Apache Reservation. Some household members drove implicit 2 hours to be the vigil.

Family and friends described Emily arsenic a saccharine and soft-spoken miss who did good successful schoolhouse and was looking guardant to college. She was benignant and quiet, astute and jubilant. Many said she would airy up a country conscionable by smiling, her grin infectious. She was a spark, they said. One comparative likened her to Tinker Bell, sparkling and afloat of light.

"I've been crying each day," said Agatha Key, Emily's grandmother, her dependable breaking. "She's my lone granddaughter."

Emily's disappearance and decease struck location for those successful attendance, galore sharing that they could person been her.

Shannon Bollinger, an attendee, said she was portion of the foster attraction strategy successful metro Phoenix, similar Emily, and had tally distant astatine slightest once. Nobody came looking, she said.

Bollinger wasn't alone. Speakers noted that Indigenous children successful the foster attraction strategy were reported missing astatine a higher complaint than their counterparts and that Indigenous children were murdered astatine a higher complaint than their counterparts.

"This is an epidemic ... and we're yet getting recognition," said April Victor, Emily's aunt.

'Let everyone cognize her name'

Chants of "Emily, Emily, Emily!" rang done the inactive night, a vow that her sanction would beryllium remembered.

Hundreds of assemblage members rallied astir Emily's decease and household astatine Thursday's vigil, the assemblage extracurricular the religion spilling implicit the curb onto the thoroughfare arsenic the nighttime continued. Inside, the religion was packed afloat of relatives and those adjacent to Emily.

Emily's household and friends wore shirts with 3 photos of the teen with the words "In Loving Memory" and the dates May 16, 2010, and February 2025. The day of Emily's decease has not been released arsenic the probe continues.

Emily's lawsuit ignited a renewed vigor and absorption connected missing and murdered Indigenous women and people. Some speakers shared however their nieces, nephews, sons and daughters were recovered killed oregon had ne'er been found. Others were motivated by spreading consciousness astir missing and murdered Indigenous people. Still, others felt it was their parental work to be successful enactment of missing children.

"Everyone is taking this connected a idiosyncratic level," said Gail Pechuli, a subordinate of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, holding a drawn representation of Emily.

Many attendees wore reddish arsenic a tribute to the movement, portion immoderate painted a reddish handprint implicit their mouths. The handprint is simply a awesome of the voiceless and the soundlessness of the media and instrumentality enforcement erstwhile it comes to missing Indigenous people, according to Native Hope, a Native American advocacy group.

According to information analyzed by the Urban Indian Health Institute successful 2018, Arizona ranked 3rd successful states with the highest fig of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. In a survey of cities that provided data, Tucson ranked successful the apical 10.

Hashtags connected societal media, similar #JusticeforEmilyPike, #NoMoreMMIW and #SayHerName, served arsenic a reminder of Emily's tragic decease and brought visibility to missing and murdered Indigenous people.

Emily's lawsuit has taken the nationalist signifier with the leaked details of her decease catching similar wildfire and breaking people's hearts. Cities crossed the U.S., including Denver, planned to clasp their ain vigils for the teenager.

"That passion, that hurt, that anger, that sadness, it's pouring retired onto streets to fto everybody cognize her name," said Dosela, Emily's aunt.

As the vigil came to a adjacent and the upwind blowing retired the candles retired stilled, Victor, Emily's aunt, raised her voice, singing, "Remember me, down the road, manus successful hand, you and me." Soft voices picked up the song, carrying the connection that Emily would not beryllium forgotten.

What happened to Emily Pike?

Emily was past seen successful precocious January walking connected ft astatine McKellips Road and Mesa Drive adjacent her radical location successful Mesa, according to Mesa police. Her remains were recovered astir 3 weeks aboriginal connected Valentine's Day successful a woody country disconnected U.S. 60, northeast of Globe successful Gila County.

An interior memo from the Gila County Sheriff's Office leaked accusation astir the information of Emily's assemblage erstwhile it was found, sparking outcry connected societal media. A spokesperson for the Sheriff's Office said that the accusation was not officially released and declined to comment.

Two national agencies, the FBI and Bureau of Indian Affairs, officially joined the investigation, the Gila County Sheriff's Office said Wednesday night. Spokespeople for the FBI and Sheriff's Office declined to remark connected the engagement of the national bureaus. The Gila County Sheriff's Office remained the pb agency.

The Sheriff's Office said nary suspects were identified arsenic of Wednesday night.

This nonfiction primitively appeared connected Arizona Republic: Community mourns Indigenous teen Emily Pike, recovered dormant successful Arizona