WHITE SWAN – Federal authorities plan to take another look at cold criminal cases in Indian country to see whether new investigative tools or forensic evidence might solve them, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced Wednesday in a visit to the Yakama Indian Reservation.
The first cases to get new federal scrutiny will be at the Yakama reservation in central Washington, where more than a dozen women were slain or disappeared in the 1980s and early 1990s in what some people speculated could have been the work of a serial killer. The cases remain unsolved.
Law enforcement officials do not have new evidence in the cases, Gonzales said.
But under the new initiative, the U.S. attorney’s office in Eastern Washington and the FBI will review the unsolved killings to determine whether new investigative methods or advances in forensic science could close them. The FBI also will make services available to the tribe from its violent crime apprehension and analysis programs.
“These were cases that had not been resolved, and I thought it was important that we try to bring closure to as many of these cases as possible,” Gonzales said after a private meeting with tribal officials. “There’s now new technology that we bring to bear on these kinds of cases, and hopefully we can be successful in bringing closure to some of these families.”
Between 1980 and 1993, authorities found the remains of 13 women on the reservation. Eleven of the 13 victims were Indian, and most were in their 20s. Most were stabbed, beaten or shot to death.
Some officials at the time complained about a lack of coordinated effort between law enforcement agencies. The FBI has jurisdiction over major crimes on Indian lands.
Asked how federal authorities will avoid turf battles this time around, Gonzales said, “I don’t know that we will be able to. We’ll obviously take a look at the cases one at a time.”
However, he added, “We might be able to be useful in applying FBI expertise, in applying new technologies and sharing that with a prosecutor who may be able to bring a prosecution.”
Gonzales also announced that the federal government will offer 10 training sessions across the country next year for tribal law enforcement officers focusing on safe and thorough methamphetamine investigations. Use and production of the drug has become an increasing problem on reservations.
In his first visit to Indian country, Gonzales also met with about 500 middle school and high school students from the reservation’s Mount Adams School District. He smiled as Indian dancers twirled to an honor song performed by the Toppenish Creek Singers.
Gonzales urged the students to avoid drugs, alcohol and gangs and then took questions.
Most of the students focused on his message about drugs and gangs. But Ernesto Equihua, a high school senior, asked the attorney general’s opinion on the immigration debate before Congress. About 70 percent of the district’s students are American Indian. About 20 percent are Hispanic.
Americans live in a different world since the 2001 terrorist attacks, Gonzales said, and the country needs to know who has crossed its borders. Immigration laws already in place must be enforced, he said.
At the same time, he said, the United States must offer some kind of legal status to those workers who are already here, or risk serious consequences to the economy.
“America is great because of its immigrants. It is what represents a great part of what is America. That needs to be protected,” Gonzales said.
His answer evoked applause.
Equihua said he and his family moved to the United States from Mexico when he was nine months old. His family is in the country legally, but Equihua said immigration concerns can be felt throughout the Yakima Valley, an agricultural hub where migrant workers pick apples, cherries and other crops.
“He answered, I think, thoughtfully,” Equihua said afterward. “It was what I was really looking for – a straight answer.”
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