FBI sets $25,000 minimum reward for dozens of unsolved Indian Country cases - By Sarah Raza, Associated Press
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has established a minimum reward of $25,000 in cases where people went missing or were killed in Indian Country, part of a broader effort to address high rates of violence affecting Native American communities.
The new minimum applies to more than 50 unsolved homicides and missing-person cases in tribal communities. Most of the cases are less than 10 years old, though a dozen have been unsolved for more than two decades, an AP analysis found.
Victims' families and experts are unsure the higher amounts will be enough to get tipsters to come forward, citing people's fears and distrust of the federal government.
"Everybody's scared in Oglala," said Lisa Carlow, whose father Patrick Carlow Sr. was found dead in his Pine Ridge Reservation home in 2023. "So to me it's like, okay, what do you guys know that you're not saying?"
The FBI investigates federal crimes on nearly 200 Native American reservations, along with the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. At the end of 2025, the FBI's National Crime Information Center recorded just under 1,500 active cases involving missing Native Americans, though not all become federal cases.
The FBI cited several cases in its recent announcement, including that of 8-year-old Maleeka Boone, who it said was likely struck by a vehicle on the Navajo Nation, and San Carlos Apache teenager Emily Pike, whose body was found after she disappeared from an Arizona group home.
Higher rewards could stir new interest
Mary Kathryn Nagle, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and an attorney who advocates for families of missing Native Americans, said federal investigators often "parachute in" to investigate crimes in tight-knit communities where witnesses may stay silent because of distrust and fear of retribution.
Still, she said, larger rewards could provide an incentive for people to talk, and show families their loved ones' cases are being taken seriously.
"We have people in Indian Country who know what happened to our relatives," she said.
Luana Ross, who is Bitterroot Salish and a co-director of the Native Voices program at the University of Washington, said cash rewards could boost interest but often aren't paid out.
"It is my opinion that in reservation communities, people would be extremely reluctant to turn a friend or relative into a criminal justice system that hasn't served them well," she said.
Lisa Foster's longtime friend Mona Renee Vallo was found dead after a suspected hit-and-run along historic Route 66 in Laguna Pueblo, New Mexico, in 2022. Foster hopes the higher reward money will renew interest in the investigation.
Foster described Vallo as a positive, bubbly friend who could have fun no matter what. She was a member of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation.
"Someone knows something there," Foster said. "They have to. I mean, it's weird that she went to work and then all of a sudden this happened to her."
Frustration mounts as families seek answers
The reward in Carlow's case was increased to $25,000 in July, up from $10,000.
Carlow's family says the 73-year-old rancher was respected in the Oglala community. He mowed the grass for others and spent time with his grandchildren. The family said more calls started coming in after the reward was increased, but the wait for answers continues.
Meanwhile, the FBI declined to provide The Associated Press an update on the case.
"It's so hard to get your hopes up like that and think, 'This is it, we finally got dad's killer.' And then nothing comes of it," Lisa Carlow said.
She said fear keeps community members who may have information from contacting authorities.
"I think that's like deep-rooted within our people," said her sister, JoDee Carlow. "It's not just on Pine Ridge. It's on every reservation."
Relatives don't want cases to be forgotten
The FBI initially offered $5,000 for information in the deaths of two brothers from Ohio, Matthew and Philip Reagan. The reward was later doubled and now will hit $25,000. Though not Native Americans, they were killed on the Navajo Nation and are featured on the FBI's Indian Country cases website.
The brothers planned to visit Canyon de Chelly National Monument during a trip to California. Authorities believe their SUV got stuck in mud after GPS sent them off course near Sawmill. They were shot multiple times while walking to seek help, authorities said.
Matthew Reagan's wife, Faye Wurstner-Reagan, said she doubts a $25,000 reward will persuade anyone in the small community to come forward.
"You would have to promise someone, like, actual protection." she said. "I mean, they brutally murdered two men."
She suggested the FBI instead put resources toward law enforcement to keep the cases from going cold and for liaisons to keep families informed.
FBI spokesperson Brooke Brennan in Phoenix said investigating crimes in Indian Country often is complex because of the remoteness, limited resources and extensive workload.
Wurstner-Reagan hopes that families united in pain and grief over missing loved ones and unsolved killings might one day see justice.
"We're just getting forgotten, like no one is remembering any of us, and we're just told it's an active investigation," she said.
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Associated Press writers Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Arizona, and Savannah Peters in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this report.
US Rep. Stansbury calls on New Mexico agencies to provide Project Jupiter water information - Joshua Bowling, Source New Mexico
U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) sent a letter to several New Mexico state agencies Monday afternoon asking them to provide a “clear public accounting” of the various water sources that will support the Project Jupiter data center under construction in southern New Mexico.
In addition to the amount of water the project needs, Stansbury said she is asking for details about the water rights and permits behind each source of water Project Jupiter plans to use.
Stansbury sent the letter to New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, state Environment Secretary James Kenney, State Engineer Elizabeth Anderson and the chair and director of the Interstate Stream Commission. Stansbury requested their responses in writing by the close of business Friday. Source has pending requests with all agencies and will update this story as needed.
Stansbury’s letter comes on the heels of two Sunday night orders from the New Mexico Supreme Court, which ordered the temporary end to some water use for Project Jupiter’s construction and paused the development’s pending air quality permit hearing.
Both Supreme Court orders were unanimous.
One came after the Center for Biological Diversity alleged that the Office of the State Engineer violated state law by approving the emergency drilling of a well for Project Jupiter without first providing public notice or holding a hearing.
The other came after the Santa Fe-based clean energy group New Energy Economy alleged that the air quality permit hearing, which was scheduled to begin in September, appeared to be premature, considering that the pipeline needed to feed Project Jupiter’s power system is still stuck in the federal regulatory process.
Since Project Jupiter’s plans became public last year, Stansbury said she has noticed that many southern New Mexico residents feel as if their county government approved the development without adequately informing the public about it.
“For over a year, New Mexicans have been asking basic questions about this project — about its viability because of water, about land use, about the use of public taxpayer dollars,” Stansbury said on a call with reporters Monday afternoon. “The huge outrage that New Mexicans have issued in this case as it has moved forward…is not only warranted, we believe that our state agencies need to be providing more answers to the public.”
Stansbury said she is concerned that developments like Project Jupiter will deplete the Rio Grande and make it difficult for the state to comply with the terms of the recent settlement agreement in the long-running Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado case.
“In New Mexico, water is life, water is culture, water is place and water is essential to everything that our people do,” Stansbury said. “We cannot allow an industrial water user that might threaten our state’s ability to meet the needs of our own farmers and ranchers, our own communities, our own acequias, our own tribal communities…to threaten our ability to meet our own needs without a transparent process that is open to the public.”
Regarding the state Supreme Court’s orders, an Oracle spokesperson in a Monday afternoon statement said company leaders were “deeply saddened” that the order to temporarily stop using water, which the company has long said comes from a local sod farm, would impact a local business.
“The immediate impact of this order falls on the region’s only commercial sod farm and the 14 Santa Teresa residents whose jobs depend on its operations,” the statement said. “We will of course comply with the order and remain focused on long-term water stewardship. This includes a responsible, carefully developed plan that protects water as a valuable resource through closed-loop cooling, minimal ongoing use of non-potable water, and a recently announced partnership with Arable to conserve more water in the Rio Grande-Bravo watershed than Project Jupiter uses.”
As for the court’s other order, which temporarily halted the development’s air quality permit hearing, the spokesperson wrote that Oracle and its partners “remain committed to developing Project Jupiter responsibly.”
“The New Mexico Environment Department’s air-permitting process includes a thorough technical review, with many opportunities for public input at every stage in the process. Project Jupiter is meeting applicable permitting requirements, stands ready to proceed with the department’s public hearing process, and is engaging with the community as that review moves forward,” the statement said. “The effort to bypass the department’s established procedural deadlines is unwarranted, but we will continue to share facts about the project transparently and are confident the regulatory process will prevail.”
Forest Service: Crew member on Frijoles Fire dies after 'medical incident' – John Miller, Albuquerque Journal
The Forest Service has announced that a crew member supporting operations on the Frijoles Fire northeast of Santa Fe died in a “medical incident” on Sunday, leading fire managers to cancel a public meeting that had been set for Truchas Monday evening.
“Emergency personnel responded immediately, the patient was transported to a local hospital and despite the efforts of emergency medical responders, the patient did not survive the medical event,” the announcement reads.
The Forest Service said the person who died was an “incident support crew member” but didn’t provide their name or other details surrounding their death. The Journal has sent inquiries for additional information after the crew member’s family has been notified of the incident.
“Our hearts are with the family, friends, coworkers and all those affected by this tragic loss,” Incident Commander Mike Page said in a statement. “Every person supporting the Frijoles Fire is an important part of our team. We are grieving alongside our fire family and will do everything we can to support those impacted.”
Fire managers under the command of California Interagency Incident Management Team 8 were planning to update the public on firefighting operations Monday evening at the Truchas Community Center, near the northwestern edge of the lighting-caused wildfire.
In a regular video update posted to social media Monday morning, Forest Service Operations Trainee Forrest Gale said 913 personnel are now dedicated to the fire, which has hovered around 15,200 acres since Friday and is now 46% contained.
On Monday, heavy equipment operators were working to establish lines near Gorham Boy Scout Ranch the village of Cundiyo. Meanwhile, a hotshot crew is still building hand line and providing fire suppression on the southern end of the fire, north of Rio Nambe.
Gale said patrols and mop-up efforts continue on the western flank of the fire, where several small villages have been exposed.
“We are looking really good on that side of the fire,” he said.
Aircraft and ground personnel continued to work on line and suppression efforts on the north side of the fire Monday. Crews are also continuing to build indirect confinement lines — control barriers built well behind the fire’s edge — on the northeastern perimeter of the fire, near the Truchas Land Grant and Carson National Forest.
Hot and dry conditions were expected to continue on Monday, with temperatures in the upper 80s and a slight chance of thunderstorms.
A new wildfire start was reported in the Pecos-Las Vegas Ranger District of Santa Fe National Forest on Sunday. While the fire’s cause remains undetermined, lightning was visible in the area around the time the new blaze was reported.
Lightning strikes remain a major cause of wildfire in New Mexico this summer and continue to keep wildland agencies on high alert as the Southwest's monsoon season falls short of precipitation averages.
Canadian uranium firm says lack of outreach in northern New Mexico a ‘mistake,’ vows future candor - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
Leaders of the Canadian company seeking to conduct uranium exploration in the Carson National Forest said recently that it was a mistake to seek federal approval for the project without first consulting affected communities.
In recent days, visitors to thewebsite homepage for Gamma Resources, Ltd., which is based in Vancouver, have been greeted with a pop-up window titled “A Message to the Communities of Northern New Mexico.” The message then acknowledges that the company’s proposal, which it has dubbed the Mesa Arc Project, has elicited widespread opposition since Source NM first reported on the company’s federal permit requestin March.
“We know the Mesa Arc Project has raised real questions — and we should have introduced ourselves before our permits became public. That was our mistake, and we’re working to correct it,” the statement from Gamma Resources President Connor Messler reads.
The pending permit request to Carson National Forest officials sought permission to dig up to 12 boreholes up to 500 feet deep near Canjilon. The company also told potential investors that it believed, based on historical estimates the exploration aimed to verify, that nearly 3 million pounds of triuranium octoxide, commonly known as “yellowcake” uranium, existed in the area it seeks to drill.
The company’s statement further acknowledges New Mexico residents’ history with uranium mining, which has caused widespread environmental and public health impacts, particularly among Indigenous communities in northwest New Mexico.
“We recognize that many families and communities continue to carry the legacy of past uranium development, in their health, their land, and their memory,” it says, also noting the importance of the Chama watershed.
Earlier this month, members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation introduced a bill that, if enacted, would prohibit all forms of uranium mining through much of Rio Arriba County, including in the Santa Fe and Carson national forests.
The company’s statement moreover describes its permit request as an “early-stage exploration project” aimed at collecting data, not a mining operation, and said any “forward-looking statements” the company makes to prospective investors about the existence of minerals is inherently speculation.
“No mining operation has been proposed, planned, or approved. We are at the earliest possible stage of geological study,” the company said.
Messler told Source NM in an emailed statement Monday afternoon that the company decided to issue the statement after seeing the way news of its permit application was received through northern New Mexico.
“We recognize that our initial approach, while consistent with industry standards, generated concern within a community that we hope to become a part of,” he said.
Norman Vigil, chair of the Upper Chama Soil and Water Conservation District, said he saw the company’s statement for the first time Monday. He told Source NM that he felt “relieved” to see the company make an overture to communities in areas near the proposed mine site, but also noted that the company is still pursuing the project that has prompted protests and pushback from local governments.
“I think it bought us time. It doesn’t remove the concern about what the proposals are,” Vigil said of the statement. “It didn’t say they wouldn’t mine. They’re just not planning on mining now. It’s an exploration.”
Vigil said he remains concerned that uranium mining in Canjilon will forever contaminate the Chama watershed, which feeds into the Rio Chama and ultimately the Rio Grande.
The district Vigil oversees passed a resolution condemning the proposal, as did the Rio Arriba County Commission.
The company’s permit request before the Carson National Forest remains pending. The company must also receive a permit from the Mining and Minerals Division at the New Mexico Earth, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. As of Monday, the company had not yet submitted an application, according to a state database.
The company’s statement says additional information about next steps will be made public within the next 30 days and committed to establishing dedicated communication channels for the public.
“We know that trust is earned through actions, not words. We are committed to engaging respectfully, providing accurate information, listening carefully, and participating transparently throughout every phase of this process,” the statement reads.
NM House Rep. Joseph Hernandez acknowledges, apologizes for police incident at Chicago hotel - John Miller, Albuquerque Journal
New Mexico House Rep. Joseph Hernandez, D-Shiprock, apologized late Sunday after the Journal reported he was allegedly found naked and banging on doors at a Chicago hotel last month before being removed from the premises.
“I want to sincerely apologize to my family and my community for my behavior during a recent stay in Chicago,” Hernandez wrote in a Facebook post. “My conduct was not reflective of my role as a state representative or my duty to you — my constituents, and I accept full responsibility for my actions.”
Before details of the episode emerged, Hernandez had issued a two-sentence statement through New Mexico House Democrats.
He vaguely referred to a “negative experience” he had with security and police that caused him to leave the Holiday Inn at Wolf Point on July 29. A National Conference of State Legislatures summit was being held in Chicago at the time, though organizers have not released a list of attendees.
Hernandez’s initial response left much open to interpretation, suggesting that the representative might not have been culpable in the incident and that he possibly left the hotel of his own accord.
A Chicago Police Department report recently released to the Journal and two eyewitnesses allege that the representative was naked, running around the 17th floor of the hotel and “banging and knocking on other guests’ doors.” Police were called and escorted the representative from the premises.
One of the witnesses also claimed the representative pushed him near an elevator before officers responded, but the representative does not appear to have been charged in connection with the incident.
Both eyewitnesses, who spoke to the Journal on the condition of anonymity to protect their employment, stated that Hernandez had “passed out” on a couch in the lobby of the hotel on a previous night of his stay, leading to his first encounter with security.
In his statement, Hernandez said he was “seeking professional help to address my challenges with alcohol,” describing the incident as a “regretful lapse in judgement.”
“I am truly sorry for disappointing all those who put their faith in me, and I am committed to making meaningful changes to recover my health, regain your trust, and uphold the high standards you deserve from your elected representative,” he wrote.
The representative could not be reached for further comment on Monday.
Details of the incident prompted backlash across social media, with some constituents and even fellow House officials calling for Hernandez’s resignation — which neither Hernandez nor House Democrats have addressed directly.
“We’re very disappointed in what transpired in Chicago,” Democratic House Speaker Javier Martínez said in a statement Monday. “We also want to make sure that Representative Hernandez gets the help he needs to show up as the best version of himself for his family and community.”
Speaking to the Journal last month, Martínez said he had planned to speak with Hernandez about the incident directly. The speaker added that he could not speak to whether a complaint about the representative’s behavior had been filed with the New Mexico Interim Legislative Ethics Committee.
Sen. Jim Townsend, R-Artesia, called the incident “an embarrassment” on social media and said he was concerned that the Democrat-led Legislature would not take disciplinary action against one of its own.
“He is a Democrat, so chances are it will be immediately forgotten,” Townsend wrote in a Facebook post.
Hernandez took office in 2025. After winning the Democratic primary in June, the one-term representative is now up against Republican challenger Heather Ellison in the November general to retain his District 4 seat.
Last month, Ellison joined calls for the representative “to tell the truth and take accountability for what happened.”
Contested New Mexico hearing officer for Project Jupiter air quality permit hearing recuses himself —Joshua Bowling, Source New Mexico
The hearing officer presiding over the New Mexico Environment Department’s air quality permit hearing for the Project Jupiter data center has recused himself from the case, according to newly filed documents.
An NMED paralegal emailed several interested parties in the ongoing permitting process minutes before 12:30 p.m. Monday with an attached document that showed Hearing Officer Max Shepherd had recused himself.
Attorneys with the New Mexico Environmental Law Center and the Center for Biological Diversity in a filing last week sought to disqualify Shepherd, arguing that he “has failed in his duty to ‘conduct a fair and impartial proceeding.’”
Their complaint came after Shepherd rankled project opponents in late July by rescheduling the hearing for Project Jupiter’s pending air quality permit application. The data center’s developers are seeking a permit from the New Mexico Environment Department to operate a gas pipeline-fed fuel cell system as an on-site power source.
Shepherd initially scheduled the hearing for mid-October. When attorneys representing Project Jupiter developer Yucca Growth Infrastructure argued that it would leave NMED officials inadequate time to make their final decision on the permit by their Nov. 23 deadline, Shepherd responded that the case was highly technical and complex and said he would rather look into extending the November deadline.
Days later, however, he filed a scheduling order showing that he was moving the hearing up, consistent with the developer’s request.
The New Mexico Supreme Court on Sunday night issued an order that temporarily delays the hearing, after the Santa Fe-based clean energy organization New Energy Economy questioned whether the proceeding was premature, given that the pipeline needed to power the fuel cell system has yet to clear its own regulatory hurdles.
Opponents argued that Shepherd deprived involved parties of due process and left them with too little time to adequately prepare for the hearing.
Shepherd did not respond to Source NM’s request for comment. Typically, the New Mexico Environment Department secretary or leaders on the Environmental Improvement Board or Water Quality Control Commission appoint hearing officers to preside over public hearings. An environment department spokesperson did not respond to Source NM request for information on next steps.
New Mexico Environmental Law Center Senior Attorney Maslyn Locke, who signed the August filing seeking Shepherd’s ouster, on Monday told Source NM that she was encouraged by Shepherd’s departure.
“It’s pretty remarkable to see him disqualify himself, finally. It’s been such a fight to get any sort of due process in this hearing,” she said. “With the broader Project Jupiter fight, it’s been so hard to get transparency and community involvement in a way that is meaningful and actually impacts the decision-making.”
