Native woman launches forensics company to aid MMIP families

The high rates of missing and murdered Indigenous people is a nationwide crisis, and experts say Montana is an epicenter

Haley Omeasoo knew she wanted to pursue forensics when her classmate and relative, Ashley Loring HeavyRunner went missing on the Blackfeet Reservation in 2017.

More than six years later, Loring HeavyRunner has still not been found, and no charges have been filed in her case.

“Her family has been through so much,” Omeasoo said of Loring HeavyRunner. “They hear rumors. No one talks to law enforcement, and the case doesn’t go anywhere. They’re not getting results, and they’ve had to outsource to other forensic services companies that are not nearby. And then they don’t get those results in a timely manner.”

The high rates of missing and murdered Indigenous people is a nationwide crisis, and experts say Montana is an epicenter. While Native Americans make up about 6.7 percent of the state’s population, they account for, on average, 26 percent of Montana’s active missing persons cases.

Feeling let down by law enforcement and tangled in a web of complex legal jurisdictions, it’s not uncommon for grieving family members to conduct searches and investigate their loved one’s disappearance or death. Some families bring suspects to the police themselves; others end up hiring private investigators or private search companies to support their efforts.

Omeasoo, who is a citizen of the Hopi Tribe and a Blackfeet descendant, is earning a Ph.D. in forensic and molecular anthropology at the University of Montana, and wrote her master’s thesis on identifying skeletal trauma markers associated with intimate partner violence.

Omeasoo knew she ultimately wanted to work at an Indigenous-owned lab that addresses the missing and murdered Indigenous people crisis, but as she looked around, she didn’t see that kind of job in Montana.

“As far as I know, there isn’t a tribally owned forensic lab for our tribes here,” she said.

That’s why Omeasoo launched Ohkomi Forensics, an organization that provides forensic services to Indigenous families and communities affected by the crisis.

Through Ohkomi Forensics, Omeasoo offers excavation services and crime scene analyses. As she raises money to build a lab of her own, she is working with other labs in the state to offer DNA testing.

Ohkomi means “to use one’s voice” in the Blackfoot language, and Omeasoo said having a Native-owned lab is critical in building trust with Indigenous families, who too often have been let down by a criminal justice system that continues to fail them.

“When cases fall through the cracks, there is a mistrust between Indigenous people and researchers and forensic services,” she explained. “Having someone people know and trust will help bridge that gap and make families more comfortable.”