Bill proposes alert system to help locate missing Indigenous people

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington could be the first state in the country to create an alert system that would help locate missing Indigenous people, particularly women.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced the alert system is in a bill that will be introduced in the next legislative session, which begins next week.

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The system would be similar to a Silver Alert for missing vulnerable adults, broadcasting information about missing Indigenous people on message signs, highway advisories and in news releases.

State officials say the alerts would draw attention to cases like that of Mary Ellen Johnson-Davis, a Tulalip woman who was reported missing more than a year ago.

In Washington, more than four times as many Indigenous women are reported missing than white women, according to the Urban Indian Health Institute in Seattle.

If the bill is passed, the system would be the first of its kind in the United States.

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