From staff reports OKLAHOMA CITY – The U.S. Justice Department announced it will surge FBI assets across the country to address unresolved violent crimes in Indian Country, including crimes relating to missing and murdered indigenous persons.
The FBI will send 60 personnel rotating in 90-day temporary duty assignments over a six-month period. This operation is the longest and most intense national deployment of FBI resources to address Indian Country crime to date. FBI personnel will support field offices in Oklahoma City; Albuquerque; Denver; Detroit; Jackson, Mississippi; Minneapolis; Phoenix; Portland, Oregon; Seattle; and Salt Lake City.
The FBI will work in partnership with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and tribal law enforcement agencies across jurisdictions.
FBI personnel will be assisted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing and Murdered Unit, and they will use the latest forensic evidence processing tools to solve cases and hold perpetrators accountable, the Justice Department said. U.S. Attorney’s Offices will prosecute case referrals “aggressively,” the department stated.
“Crime rates in American Indian and Alaska Native communities are unacceptably high,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said. By surging FBI resources and collaborating closely with U.S. attorneys and tribal law enforcement to prosecute cases, “the Department of Justice will help deliver the accountability that these communities deserve,” she said.
Locally, two Lawtonians pleaded guilty to federal charges arising from the murder of a woman who was beaten to death with a brick and found in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge.
The body of Karon “Dinkers” Connywerdy Smith, 68, a 1972 graduate of Lawton High School, was found a few feet from SH-49 inside the east entrance to theWMWR on May 17, 2023.
The victim’s car was seen being driven south of Dallas four days later. Texas law enforcement officers attempted to effect a traffic stop but the driver “attempted to flee at a high speed.” The vehicle was pursued until it crashed into a lake.
The occupants of the vehicle – Tevin Terrell Semien and his girlfriend, Makayla Nicole Leigh Logsdon – attempted to escape on foot but were caught and taken into custody.
A federal grand jury indicted Semien and Logsdon, and the case was prosecuted in federal court, because Smith and Logsdon are enrolled members of the Comanche Nation, as was Connywerdy Smith, and the slaying occurred within the boundaries of Indian Country.
Semien, 30, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm after a previous felony conviction. He was sentenced Feb. 3 to life in federal prison.
Logsdon, 25, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to murder and admitted helping Semien in his attempt to avoid arrest and prosecution. She was sentenced last July to eight years in federal prison.
Also, both are jointly responsible for paying $28,500 restitution to the victim’s estate.
The recent Justice Department announcement “provides necessary additional resources to seek justice for victims of violent crime and families of missing loved ones in Indian Country,” said Robert J. Troester, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.
Indian Country faces persistent levels of crime and victimization. At the beginning of Fiscal Year 2025, FBI’s Indian Country program had approximately 4,300 open investigations, including more than 900 death investigations, 1,000 child abuse investigations, and more than 500 domestic violence and adult sexual abuse investigations.
Operation Not Forgotten renews efforts begun during President Trump’s first term under Executive Order 13898, Establishing the Task Force on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives. This is the third deployment under Operation Not Forgotten, which has provided investigative support to more than 500 cases in the past two years. Combined, these operations resulted in the recovery of 10 child victims, 52 arrests, and 25 indictments or judicial complaints.
Operation Not Forgotten also expands upon the resources deployed in recent years to address cases of missing and murdered indigenous persons. The effort will be supported by the Department’s MMIP Regional Outreach Program, which places attorneys and coordinators in U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the United States to help prevent and respond to cases of missing or murdered indigenous people.