Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez on Wednesday joined a group that’s walking across the Reservation in support of Ella Mae Begay, a 62-year-old woman who went missing from the Sweetwater community more than a month ago.
Begay’s family is walking from Arizona to New Mexico to bring awareness to Ella’s case. Family members told reporters along the way that they are frustrated and feel abandoned by law enforcement for answers. Ella Mae Begay was reported missing on June 15th. Search crews have been combing the area by foot, helicopter, drone and K9 assistance. Her disappearance was officially classified as a homicide investigation on June 20th. Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQ+ people are murdered at a rate ten times higher than all other ethnicities, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.