2nd annual report: ‘Two notable success stories’ at MN Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office [Video]

In its second annual report to the Minnesota Legislature, the state’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) Office highlights “two notable success stories.”

Legislation to establish the MMIR office was signed into law in 2021 to address a massive disparity in the number of Indigenous people who are missing and subjected to violence.

MMIR named its first director in 2022, and in 2023, the office hired staff members and was “able to begin work in earnest,” according to the 2023 Legislative Report.

The latest Legislative Report filed last month showed that work picked up steam in 2024. By the end of the year, Ana Negrete was named interim director when former director Juliet Rudie became the Tribal Relations director for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

In an interview on Monday, Negrete discussed what the report highlighted as “two notable success stories,” beginning with a phone call from the Fergus Falls Police Department last fall that ultimately helped bring a suspected human …