Arizona Lawmakers Unite to Launch Turquoise Alert System for Missing Indigenous Individuals

The Turquoise Alert System has officially cleared its final legislative hurdle, passing unanimously through the Arizona House of Representatives on Wednesday.

This system, designed to alert the public about missing Indigenous or endangered persons, will function analogously to existing Amber and Silver Alert frameworks. The alerts will be coordinated through the federally authorized Emergency Alert System.

The legislative victory follows recent amendments to House Bill 2281, which now includes provisions for minors. This change was motivated by the tragic case of Emily Pike, an Indigenous teen whose disappearance led to calls for enhanced protective measures.

Rep. Teresa Martinez, who introduced the bill before Pike’s case gained public attention, expressed deep concern over the lack of immediate action in such situations. “It breaks my heart that we, the State of Arizona, didn’t even go looking for this little girl,” she stated. “We cannot let children go missing without somebody being alerted.”

Democratic Rep. Brian Garcia, a member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, emphasized the system’s potential lifesaving impact, asserting, “One day, what happened to Emily won’t happen to another child.”

According to FBI statistics, over 10,600 Indigenous individuals were reported missing in the U.S. in 2023, with approximately 3,300 of them being 18 or older.

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System lists more than 23,700 missing persons cases, of which 255 involve Indigenous individuals. Arizona ranked third in the nation for unresolved missing Indigenous cases, with 91 active cases recorded in the NamUs database.

A study from the Urban Indian Health Institute further revealed that Arizona has the third-highest number of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls nationwide, detailing 506 known cases across 71 urban areas. Of these, 54 were reported within Arizona, including 31 in Tucson.

Currently, there exists no centralized database for tracking missing and murdered Indigenous peoples, complicating efforts to address the crisis more effectively.

The Turquoise Alert system has long been a priority for advocates in the Indigenous community, with requests dating back to 2019 following Arizona’s first Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women study committee deliberations. Activist Elayne Gregg, whose daughter was abducted and murdered in 2009, highlighted this urgent need, noting, “Indigenous people go missing at a higher rate than any other ethnicity.”

The bill has garnered significant bipartisan support as it progressed through the legislative process, suggesting a strong likelihood that Gov. Katie Hobbs will sign it into law. She has already instructed the Arizona Department of Public Safety to devise a plan to implement the new alert by summer.