MT MT - Ashley Loring-HeavyRunner, 20, Browning, 5 June 2017

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July 8 2021 Lengthy article. rbbm.
Montana Free Press: Task force focuses on missing and murdered relatives
''By Mara Silvers
Montana Free Press
montanafreepress.org
HELENA — Montana’s task force on missing Indigenous people met in Helena during the week of June 25, digging into strategies to tackle the state’s intractable crisis. The Montana Missing Indigenous Persons Task Force, originally created in 2019, was reauthorized by the state Legislature this year and received $10,000 to operate through the biennium. Representatives from tribal nations have been working with state and federal law enforcement advisers to pinpoint gaps in the system when someone is reported missing. “Particularly in Indian Country, and we heard over and over again, and we know as individuals, that the longer you wait, the evidence and trying to find an individual gets harder,” said Rep. Sharon Stewart Peregoy, D-Crow Agency, who sponsored the bill to reauthorize the task force this session. The long-time legislator is also a member of the State Tribal Relations Interim Committee, which began to study the missing persons crisis in 2017. In Montana, Native Americans make up roughly 26% of missing persons cases but account for less than 7% of the state’s population — making them four times as likely to go missing as other residents. Roughly 80% of Native Americans reported missing between 2017 and 2019 were minors, some of whom went missing more than once.''

ashleyloringheavyrunner.png

''For many of the meeting’s attendees hailing from reservations, the recurring tragedies hit close to home. Ashley Loring Heavyrunner disappeared from the Blackfeet reservation in 2017 and has yet to be found. Jermain Charlo, a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, was last seen in Missoula in 2018, and her current whereabouts are unknown. Kaysera Stops Pretty Places, age 18, was found dead in August 2019 just off the Crow Reservation. In 2020, family and friends grieved the loss of Selena Not Afraid, whose body was found near a rest stop between Billings and Hardin. At the meeting, task force members tried to drill down on the underlying factors that may push a person to leave home or make them vulnerable to bad actors, including unstable or dangerous living conditions, substance use, family disputes and poverty.
Ashley Loring, who also goes by the name Ashley HeavyRunner, was last seen on the Blackfeet Nation in Montana on June 5, 2017. Photos: Find Ashley Loring/HeavyRunner''
 
There is so much I could add here...as for Browning, MT, 90% of the crime that happens can be linked to one specific place on the rez. And of course, if any FBI agent goes there, trying to get information, they are shut out.

The best thing that could happen in Montana, is to outlaw liquor sales and bars on reservations. Make them completely dry. It won't solve all of the problems, but it would be a huge step forward.

But, reservations, as Sovereign Nations, would have to implement this as a step forward. And since many casinos operate on these lands, with alcohol sales, that would be a hard choice.
 
mickey2942 said:
The best thing that could happen in Montana, is to outlaw liquor sales and bars on reservations. Make them completely dry. It won't solve all of the problems, but it would be a huge step forward.
Click to expand...

It would be particularly hard to do in Montana. Alcohol consumption is deeply ingrained into the culture there. I worked in Hill County one summer, and traveled around that area of Montana. Many places that look like "towns" on a map, are just crossroads composed of a gas station, a grain elevator, and a bar.

When it came time for us to leave Havre, and return to South Carolina, we drove a route that would let us travel through Yellowstone and see some of it. At some point, driving through a bleak, remote stretch of rangeland, we passed through a reservation settlement. The houses looked new, modern, and well-constructed, but it seemed that most of the windows were broken! It looked as if someone had thrown bricks or rocks through most of the windows. It was about 9AM, but there was no sign of life anywhere....no activity, no children on bicycles or playing sports, no dogs or cats, just nothing. The place had a dreadful, oppressive feel. I think it is hard for those of us who don't live on a reservation, to imagine the reality of life there.
 
Oakie said:
It would be particularly hard to do in Montana. Alcohol consumption is deeply ingrained into the culture there. I worked in Hill County one summer, and traveled around that area of Montana. Many places that look like "towns" on a map, are just crossroads composed of a gas station, a grain elevator, and a bar.

When it came time for us to leave Havre, and return to South Carolina, we drove a route that would let us travel through Yellowstone and see some of it. At some point, driving through a bleak, remote stretch of rangeland, we passed through a reservation settlement. The houses looked new, modern, and well-constructed, but it seemed that most of the windows were broken! It looked as if someone had thrown bricks or rocks through most of the windows. It was about 9AM, but there was no sign of life anywhere....no activity, no children on bicycles or playing sports, no dogs or cats, just nothing. The place had a dreadful, oppressive feel. I think it is hard for those of us who don't live on a reservation, to imagine the reality of life there.
Click to expand...

I don't see how a lot of folks sitting around in fancy clothes in Helena around a table, are really going to make any lasting impact, "discussing the problems". It isn't lack of police, or lack coordination between agencies, jurisdiction problems. It is a convenient dumping ground to shift blame.

That is NOT why women are missing.
 
Ashley’s disappearance is now the focus of season three of an investigative podcast called “Up and Vanished.”

Reporter Shannon Newth talked with the podcast’s creator and host Payne Lindsey about his investigation and why he choose Ashley’ case to cover.

“I’ve noticed over the years just doing true crime, we get tons of emails, different cases, all over the country, honestly all over the world. One of the most underreported, under covered cases out there are missing indigenous women and it’s a huge epidemic that was brought to my attention. Up and Vanished is a huge platform, there’s millions of listeners and it only felt right to be able to highlight a case that is largely underreported so we can actually bring a spotlight to it and make a difference no matter what,” explained Lindsey.
https://www.kxlf.com/news/montana-news/up-vanished-podcast-focuses-on-ashley-loring-heavyrunner-case
 
A look at the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women featured in Dateline NBC’s Missing in America and Cold Case Spotlight

ashley_loring_heavyrunner.jpg


Ashley Loring Heavyrunner, also known as Ashley Loring, was only 20 years old when she disappeared from the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana on June 5, 2017.

She was enrolled in Blackfeet Community College studying environmental science.

Her family began their own search efforts and two weeks after Ashley was last seen, the family received a tip. Someone had seen a young woman running from a vehicle on U.S. Highway 89 on the reservation the night Ashley disappeared.

Her sister, Kimberly Loring, said they gathered to search the area, which she described as being desolate. During the search, at the northern edge of the reservation, Kimberly and a family friend discovered a tattered sweater and a pair of red-stained boots. The family is certain that the items belong to Ashley, adding that the sweater was identified by an eyewitness who told the family it was the same as the sweater Ashley was wearing the night she disappeared.

Kimberly told Dateline that the sweater and boots were handed over to law enforcement for DNA testing, but added they have still not received any results.

In 2018, Kimberly appeared before the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C. to speak about her experience and what she believes was the mismanagement of evidence she says she witnessed from law enforcement in her sister’s case.

In 2020, the documentary “Blackfeet Boxing: Not Invisible” spotlighted the Blackfeet Nation Boxing Club which opened its doors to girls, teaching them how to protect themselves and fight for their lives.

The documentary refers to a common saying in Native American communities, “When an Indigenous woman goes missing, she goes missing twice — first her body vanishes and then her story.”

A spokesperson for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Robyn Broyles, told Dateline in June 2021 that "the BIA, the Office of Justice Services, Missing and Murdered Unit did receive some recent tips related to the case that officers followed up with, but those did not result in any new information."

Ashley is described as being 5’2” and weighing about 90 lbs. at the time of her disappearance. She has brown hair and brown eyes. She would be 24 years old today.

A walk is held in Browning, Montana every year in honor of Ashley and other missing and murdered Indigenous people.

Anyone with information on Ashley’s case is asked to call the Salt Lake City FBI – which covers Utah, Montana and Idaho - at 801-579-1400 or 800-CALLFBI or tips.fbi.gov.
 
Been listening to Up & Vanished season 3 all day.

Payne (the host) seems entirely dedicated to figuring out what happened to Ashley. He teams up with her sister to take a real deep dive into the case, the rumors surrounding the case, any people who even MAY have been around when Ashley disappeared. There appears to be a suspect and/or a few persons of interest. Up & Vanished is offering $50,000!!! for information that leads to Ashley.

‘Up and Vanished’ season 3 seeks justice for missing Native American woman

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Find Ashley Loring/HeavyRunner Facebook page
rbbm.
https://www.investigationdiscovery....udent-ashley-loring-heavyrunner-still-missing

‘It’s A Nightmare That Never Ends’: Indigenous Student Ashley Loring HeavyRunner Still Missing

Her sister vows “to keep standing for our missing so that one day that we will be seen as the same — as important.”
October 28, 2021
By: Aaron Rasmussen

''In 2017, Ashley Loring HeavyRunner, a member of Montana’s Blackfeet Nation, expressed a desire to help spotlight the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous people across the United States and Canada. She then vanished and hasn’t been seen or heard from since.

“Ashley came up to me, and she said she wanted to help these women. She told me about what's going on with these women, that over in Canada, that a lot of girls are going missing,” Kimberly Loring told Insider of one of the last conversations she had with her sister. “And just a few months later, Ashley became one of those women.”

On June 5, 2017, Ashley wanted to go to a party and had written to friends on Facebook Messenger that she needed a ride from the family’s ranch into Browning, the only incorporated town on the 1.5 million-acre Blackfeet Indian Reservation. NBC News reported that a video from a party that night posted online shows Ashley, an environmental science student at Blackfeet Community College, on a couch talking with other people. It was the last time she was seen.''

''A short time later, the family began searching for Ashley and got a tip that a woman was spotted running from a vehicle on a reservation highway the same night as the party. Kimberly told Dateline she and a family friend found red-stained boots and a ripped sweater in the area of the incident. A witness later confirmed Ashley was wearing the sweater before she went missing, according to Kimberly.''

''Ashley has brown hair and eyes, stands 5’2” tall, and weighs about 90 pounds. She would now be 24.

A $50,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the location of Ashley Loring HeavyRunner. Tips can be submitted anonymously at 406-215-1543 or with the Salt Lake City FBI at 801-579-1400, 800-CALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov.''
 
dotr said:
1634822434514.png

Find Ashley Loring/HeavyRunner Facebook page
rbbm.
https://www.investigationdiscovery....udent-ashley-loring-heavyrunner-still-missing

‘It’s A Nightmare That Never Ends’: Indigenous Student Ashley Loring HeavyRunner Still Missing

Her sister vows “to keep standing for our missing so that one day that we will be seen as the same — as important.”
October 28, 2021
By: Aaron Rasmussen

''In 2017, Ashley Loring HeavyRunner, a member of Montana’s Blackfeet Nation, expressed a desire to help spotlight the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous people across the United States and Canada. She then vanished and hasn’t been seen or heard from since.

“Ashley came up to me, and she said she wanted to help these women. She told me about what's going on with these women, that over in Canada, that a lot of girls are going missing,” Kimberly Loring told Insider of one of the last conversations she had with her sister. “And just a few months later, Ashley became one of those women.”

On June 5, 2017, Ashley wanted to go to a party and had written to friends on Facebook Messenger that she needed a ride from the family’s ranch into Browning, the only incorporated town on the 1.5 million-acre Blackfeet Indian Reservation. NBC News reported that a video from a party that night posted online shows Ashley, an environmental science student at Blackfeet Community College, on a couch talking with other people. It was the last time she was seen.''

''A short time later, the family began searching for Ashley and got a tip that a woman was spotted running from a vehicle on a reservation highway the same night as the party. Kimberly told Dateline she and a family friend found red-stained boots and a ripped sweater in the area of the incident. A witness later confirmed Ashley was wearing the sweater before she went missing, according to Kimberly.''

''Ashley has brown hair and eyes, stands 5’2” tall, and weighs about 90 pounds. She would now be 24.

A $50,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the location of Ashley Loring HeavyRunner. Tips can be submitted anonymously at 406-215-1543 or with the Salt Lake City FBI at 801-579-1400, 800-CALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov.''
Click to expand...

Was it ever mentioned if the red stain on the boots were blood or paint?
 
cnmccarthy said:
Was it ever mentioned if the red stain on the boots were blood or paint?
Click to expand...
Wondering if and when the results will be in..
Lengthy and interesting article.
No answers 2 years after 20-year-old student vanishes -- a single case in an epidemic in American Native communities
2019
''Loring Family Photo(NEW YORK) — In a remote corner of the Blackfeet Nation, tucked beside a dark stretch of cottonwood and paper birch, there was a desolate trailer that had been vacant for months. Its tin paneling, singed black in places from fire, had begun to peel off in the High Plains wind. The small dank rooms were mostly empty save for piles of discarded clothing and abandoned furniture.

Only the cautious footsteps and hushed voices of the Loring Heavy Runner family betrayed any sense of life that day in June 2018. Their flashlights cast about in the solemn darkness.

“What do you got?” Kimberly Loring Heavy Runner asked her aunt and uncle as they bent down behind an old box television set.

“Right there, do you see how discolored it is, and the rest is clean?” Jenna Loring said, pointing her cellphone at a small discoloration in the shag carpet. “Does it look like it could be dried blood?”

“Possibly,” Justin Loring, her husband, answered as he revealed a box cutter from his pocket and began to cut a square from the carpet. The family huddled over him in anticipation.

“Oh my gosh, it’s all red,” Jenna Loring said as she stared down at a maroon-colored stain in disbelief.

Justin Loring, already wearing blue plastic gloves, tucked the removed piece of carpet into a plastic grocery bag and tied it tight. “Don’t know how well I’m preserving it, but we’re getting something,” he said.

Overwhelmed, Kimberly Loring stepped outside into the fading light for some air, the rosy silhouette of the Rocky Mountains looming before her.

Kimberly Loring, 25, never imagined she and her family would be investigating the agonizing mystery of what happened to her little sister Ashley Loring, who was 20 years old when she disappeared from Montana’s Blackfeet Nation in June 2017. Scenes like this one have become all too common for her.

“It’s a nightmare that never stops,” she told “Nightline.”

For more than two years, the Loring family has scoured their immense reservation, largely on their own, hoping to retrace their loved one’s last known steps. The carpet square is not the only piece of potential evidence Kimberly Loring says her family has turned over to law enforcement.

Just weeks after Ashley Loring went missing, Kimberly Loring and a family friend discovered a pair of red-stained boots and a tattered sweater that the family believes belonged to Ashley Loring on the northern edge of the reservation. More than two years since turning those items into law enforcement for DNA testing, the family says they have not received any results''.
 
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