We Are Resilient: An MMIP True Crime Podcast

Send us Fan Mail In August 2012, after checking out of rehab, 28-year-old Heather Cameron received a ride from an ex-boyfriend and was never heard from again. A member of the Grand Ronde Tribe, she had moved to Northern California years before starting a new with extended family. Heather has brown hair and brown eyes. She may use her maiden name, Haller; some agencies call her Heather Cameron-Hall...

Send us Fan Mail In January 2006, the body of 18-year-old Tamara Susan Seay was discovered in the woods of the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina. An enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, she was known by her friends as “Tammie.” To this day, her brutal murder weighs heavy in the hearts of those who knew her.  Sources: http://www.thesylvaherald.com/news/article_92161c87-adb...

Send us Fan Mail In the 1980s and 1990s, at least 14 Indigenous women were murdered in cases that remain unsolved or died under mysterious circumstances on the Yakima reservation in Washington. Daisy Mae Heath was 29 years old when she went missing in August 1987. Her remains would be identified more than 30 years later, this discovery leaving her family with more questions than answers. Sources:...

Send us Fan Mail In 1979, Keara Lee Coshow’s death has remained one of Iowa’s most tragic cold cases. She has endured more abuse, trauma, and neglect in her three short years on earth than most people would in a lifetime. If you have any information about 3-year-old Keara Lee Coshow’s unsolved murder, please contact Special Agent in Charge Michael Motsinger, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation...

Send us Fan Mail Cheyenne Toineeta, a 30-year-old member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, died under mysterious circumstances in December 2015. Her case remains unsolved. The Cherokee Indian Police Department is offering a $20,000 reward to anyone with information leading to an arrest. Anyone with information, please contact Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463 and can remain anonymous. Sources:...

Send us Fan Mail Tanya Begay, a 36-year-old Navajo woman, vanished in March of 2017 in Tohatchi, New Mexico, when she was last seen with her then-boyfriend Jason Alan Thornburg, also known as the Tarrant County Serial killer. To this day, no one has been charged in her disappearance. Tanya is 5’5, 135 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes; she has a scar above her left eyebrow and a small scar un...

Send us Fan Mail In September 2009, 17-year-old Stacy Hill vanished on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in Minnesota, only for her remains to be discovered a month later with no clues as to what happened. Now, 13 years later, very little information has been released about her death, and her family is still searching for answers. If you have information about what happened to Stacy Hill, contact th...

Send us Fan Mail In 1978, the body of 20-year-old Iris Whistling Elk was discovered in a ditch just outside the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana. Her death ruled an accident, and her family believes she was murdered. Forty-four years later, her case remains unsolved, and her family is still seeking answers.  If you have any information regarding the death of Iris Whistling Elk, you are enc...

Send us Fan Mail Janice Hannigan was only 16 when she mysteriously vanished on Christmas Eve in 1971. Born on the Yakama Indian Reservation in Washington, Janice's case is the state's oldest reported MMIW cold case. For links to information found for this episode: Janice Hannigan | International Missing Persons Wiki | Fandom Yakama Indian Reservation - Wikipedia Yakama Reservation's...

Send us Fan Mail Maggie talks with us, in the last mini this week, about the inequity of media coverage when it comes to MMIW and questions what makes the media decide whose story is worth sharing. Nancy Grace Analoak Freda Knowshisgun Ashley Loring Heavyrunner Kacy Michelle Ross Elsie Little Light Their stories matter too. Sources: https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2018/10/30/she-went-fro...

Send us Fan Mail Mildred Alexis Old Crow was just six years old when she was reported missing in November 2020 on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana. Her body would be discovered a few months later, and yet the question remains unanswered…what happened to Milly? Sources: https://people.com/crime/girl-8-went-missing-in-2019-and-her-body-was-just-found-months-after-arrests-of-2-women/ https://fl...

Send us Fan Mail Today's mini takes us to Canada and covers the ongoing case of an alleged serial killer in Winnipeg who spent the earlier part of 2022 targeting Indigenous women. As we still await more details regarding this case, we wanted to make sure that anyone listening is aware, and the police have refused to search for two of the bodies even though they know where they are.  Sources:...

Send us Fan Mail Join us for a special episode as we discuss the tragic life story of Matoaka, a young woman known to the world as Pocahontas. Sources: https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2007/07/pocahontas-saves-john-smith.html https://www.americanindianmagazine.org/story/pocahontas-first-marriage-powhatan-side-story https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werowocomoco https://www.history.com/.amp/topics/na...

Send us Fan Mail In August 2003, 19-year-old Sonya Ivanoff left home with her best friend in Nome, Alaska, for a night out of fun. Two days later, her lifeless body would be discovered, and the following investigation would uncover the shocking details that led to her murder. Sources: https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/watch-dateline-episode-walk-rain-now-n1299940 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podca...

Send us Fan Mail Rita Papakee is one of the first instances of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) experienced by the Meskwaki Nation, also known as the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa. She was 41 years old when she vanished in January 2015 after leaving the Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel in Tama, Iowa, and she has not been seen or heard from since. Rita Papakee is 5-foot-3, wei...

Send us Fan Mail Thank you again to Western Carolina University and the Bardo Arts Center for inviting us to record on location at their beautiful MMIW exhibit, and thank you to everyone who came to see us!  It was truly a great way to celebrate the one year anniversary of our podcast! However, we always say this podcast isn’t about us. It’s about our stolen sisters, it’s about these beautiful Ind...

Send us Fan Mail In August 2022, a weekend altercation at a bar in Montana escalated into the death of 28-year-old Whisper Sellars. While this case is still ongoing, with multiple conflicting witness testimonies and a self-defense plea, Whisper’s family is worried that she may not get the justice she deserves. For links to information found for this episode: https://apnews.com/article/shootings-ho...

Send us Fan Mail Vanessa Yvette Niko, 35, was a member of the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake Tribe in Upper Lake, California. She had a tumultuous on-off relationship with the father of three of her children, Willy Tujays Timmons, 37. On June 30th, 2017, her life was tragically taken away by someone who was supposed to love her. Domestic violence can happen to anyone. Free, confidential support se...

Send us Fan Mail In June 2022, the body of Mavis Nelson, 56, was found less than a mile from where she lived in Seattle, Washington. Mavis' last contact with her was in April 2022 and for three months, her sister was unaware she was missing. In October 2022, an arrest was made, and a trial is set to begin in December.  Sources: https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/this-shouldnt-even-have-happened...

Send us Fan Mail In September 2018, Ashley Johnson Barr decided to go to the park near her home in Kotzebue, Alaska. She never returned home that day, and her body would be discovered eight days later. She was only ten years old. Sources: https://www.chillingcrimes.com/blogs/cases-to-follow/ashley-johnson-barr https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/crime-courts/2018/09/24/wilson-charged-with-kidnapping-s...

Send us Fan Mail According to a PBS News Hours article, a 2015 report from the Treatment Advocacy Center showed people with untreated mental illnesses are 16 times more likely to be shot and killed by police. Renee Davis was a 23-year-old Native American woman living on the Muckleshoot Indian Reservation in Washington State when, in October 2016, police responded to her home to check on her welfar...

Send us Fan Mail Wilma Colhoff has experienced unimaginable loss. In 11 years, she has lost three children, Shelly Poor Bear, Daniel Bad Milk, and Annie Colhoff, to violence on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Her story is hard to listen to, but Wilma uses it to continue to fight for justice. In South Dakota, there are 46 missing women, according to the state clearinghouse . Thirty-two...

Send us Fan Mail Kimberly Iron was only 21 when she left her home on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana. It was October 2020 when her father received a final phone call from her, and she has not been seen or heard from again. Kimberly is 5’2” tall, weighs approximately 126 pounds, and has brown eyes and light brown hair. She also has a small scar between her eyes. Anyone with information about...

Send us Fan Mail In June 2022, the body of Mavis Nelson, 56, was found less than a mile from where she lived in Seattle, Washington. Her death was ruled a homicide, and her family is desperately seeking answers. Mavis' last contact with her was in April 2022; for three months, her sister was unaware that she was missing until a phone call changed her world completely. Sources: Sister of Indig...

Send us Fan Mail On April 22, 2021, three-year-old Arden Pepion from Browning, Montana, disappeared on the Blackfeet Reservation while in the care of her uncle and his girlfriend. A formal search for Arden lasted ten days, finding only footprints leading to a nearby river and a boot believed to be hers. Since then, the search has been scaled back, and only a handful of people continue to search fo...