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Montana Missing Indigenous Person task force holds first meeting

Posted at 10:22 AM, Jun 12, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-12 12:22:30-04

HELENA – Members of the Missing Indigenous Person’s Task Force met in Helena Tuesday for the first time on Tuesday.

The task force was created by the passage of Senate Bill 312, also known as the Looping in Native Communities (LINC) Act.

The Task Force will administer grant money from LINC Act with the goal of improving interagency collaboration across jurisdictions in missing person cases, particularly in Native American communities.

There are 11 people appointed to the task force. They include representatives from Montana’s tribal nations and reservations, the Attorney General’s office, the Montana Highway Patrol and the Montana Department of Justice.

Attorney General, Tim Fox, spoke to MTN News about group’s significance and importance.

“I think one of the most important things we have to understand is that this just isn’t someone else’s problem…this isn’t someone else’s kid that went missing,” Fox said.

“This is a problem that could affect all of us. one of our loved ones may go missing, heaven forbid. And we want to make sure, that no one goes missing, for sure. but also, that we have everything in place to react to that in the most appropriate way and the most efficient way, as I said, to bring people home,” he continued.

The Montana DOJ and the U.S. Attorney’s office is holding a free training June 12, in Helena for Law Enforcement and the Public.

Topics will include how to report a missing person, connecting the dots between missing persons and human trafficking and understanding missing person alerts and advisories.

-Christine Sullivan reporting for MTN News