Montana DOJ Launches PSA to Help Bring Missing Indigenous People Home

The Montana Department of Justice launched a new statewide public service announcement to raise awareness of missing Indigenous persons and encourage the public to help bring them home.

The 30-second spot highlights the toll these disappearances take on families and tribal communities and spotlights four Indigenous persons who remain missing in Montana: Ashley Mariah Loring Heavyrunner, a 21-year-old Blackfeet citizen who went missing from Browning in 2017; James Douglas Limberhand, a 32-year-old Northern Cheyenne citizen who went missing from Crow Agency in 2014; Shacaiah Blue Harding, a 19-year-old Northern Cheyenne citizen who went missing from Billings in 2018; and Leo Wagner, a 26-year-old Blackfeet citizen who went missing from St. Mary in 2021.

“Behind every missing person is a family at home waiting for answers. This tragedy has had a devastating impact on our tribal communities, and the Montana Department of Justice is committed to being part of the solution,” Attorney General Austin Knudsen said. “I encourage every Montanan to visit our missing persons database to familiarize yourself with the faces of those who are missing. One tip to law enforcement could help bring someone’s loved one home.”

The disparity in missing persons cases involving Indigenous Montanans is stark. American Indian and Alaska Native people make up 6.4% of Montana’s population but accounted for 31% of all missing persons in the state last year. In 2025, 618 Indigenous persons were reported missing in Montana. As of late July, 35 Indigenous persons remain missing — 8 for less than a year and 27 for more than a year.

The PSA is part of a broader set of efforts by the Department of Justice to address the crisis. The department launched an improved missing persons database to make information from local law enforcement more accessible to the public. During the 2025 Legislative Session, House Bill 545, sponsored by Rep. Tyson Running Wolf and supported by Knudsen, created a special revenue account for the Montana Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Advisory Council to fund projects aimed at finding the missing. The council subsequently sponsored a specialty license plate available for purchase to help fund those projects.

Earlier in 2026, Knudsen also relaunched Montana’s human trafficking hotline through a platform called Simply Report, which allows the public to report suspected trafficking online, by phone or through a mobile app, with tips routed to the DOJ’s Human Trafficking Unit in real time.

By: Montana Newsroom wire