SEEKING JUSTICE —5 YEARS LATER
$10,000 reward offered for information on the 2020 murder of Armando Santino Day II
By Vivian LaMoore, Inaajimowin Editor
In the early morning hours of Tuesday, November 17, 2020, Mille Lacs Tribal Police discovered 18-year-old Armando Santino Day Il stabbed to death at a property on Nay Ah Shing Drive on the Mille Lacs Band Reservation. What began as a frantic call for help quickly became a homicide investigation - one that has challenged investigators and brought heartbreak for the family ever since.
Investigators describe the case as a complex puzzle — one they have been piecing together for five long years. Leads have been followed, interviews conducted, and evidence reviewed countless times. Yet, a tew critical pieces are still missing. Those missing pieces could bring long-awaited justice for Armando and closure for his family, who continue to live with unanswered questions.
"Armando's family deserves answers, and our community deserves justice," said Tribal Police Chief James West. "We will not stop until the person responsible is held accountable for what they did."
Now, the Minnesota Office of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) has stepped forward to help. In partnership with Mille Lacs Tribal Police and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), the MMIR office is offering a $10,000 reward for information of the person or persons responsible for Armando's death.
Minnesota lawmakers established the state's Gaagige-Mikwendaagoziwag Reward Fund during the 2023 legislative session with a one-time allocation of $250,000. The following year, state Sen. Mary Kunesh and Rep. Kozlowski introduced a specialty license plate to support ongoing investment in the reward fund. The public can support the ongoing efforts of the Reward Fund by purchasing an MMIR license plate through DPS' Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS) division.
"In Ojibwe, Gaagige-Mikwendaagoziwag means 'They will be remembered forever,'" Sen. Kunesh said. "That name not only honors the ones we have lost, but the families who still carry their memories. Those families stood strong. They demanded answers and justice."
The Gaagige-Mikwendaagoziwag Reward Fund tip program offers monetary rewards of up to $10,000 for tips in eligible missing persons, suspicious death, and homicide investigations. The goal is to help solve cases and bring justice and closure to families impacted by the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives.
"This is the first time the MMIR office has offered a $10,000 reward," said Ana Negrete, Community Planner with the Minnesota MMIR Office. Negrete has also worked on other MMIR cases involving Mille Lacs Band members, including Dylan Sam, who went missing in November 2022 and was recovered deceased in 2023, and a cold case from 1998 involving Band member April Geyer.
April, then 21, and her friend Roseanna Forcum, 15, were last seen in mid-August 1998 after reportedly leaving a party in St. Cloud or St. Paul. Geyer's family in Mille Lacs reported her missing on August 14, 1998. The family has not stopped searching.
In 2024, the MMIR Office launched a digital billboard campaign featuring Geyers image to help generate new leads. The billboards were provided under a zero-dollar contract with Clear Channel. Recently, Negrete and other MMIR staff, along with BCA law enforcement, conducted a search in Wadena County with cadaver dogs based on tips suggesting the possible location of the bodies. The search, however, was unsuccessful.
"We will keep looking," Negrete said. "I just keep thinking, what if that was my daughter? I wouldn't stop looking."
The fund is now sustainable, with $25 from each Minnesota State MMIR license plate purchase going directly to the fund — generating over $150,000 so far.
"These cases are difficult. But if it makes a difference for one family, it is worth it," Negrete said.
Since the reward in Armandos case was announced through social media and other platforms on October 20, Chief West said his office has received several tips at the TPD office. At the time of this writing, however, the case remains open. Negrete and her colleagues at MMIR, along with Chief West, TPD investigators, and BCA investigators, will not stop until they have all the pieces to the puzzle.
Anyone with information about Armando Santino Day Il's death is urged to come forward. The Mille Lacs Tribal Police can be reached at 320-532-3430, and tips can also be submitted through the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension at 877-996-622 by phone, or email at bcatips@state.mn.us. The $10,000 reward for information could help bring long-awaited justice to Armando's family and closure to a grieving community. Even the smallest detail could be the missing piece that solves this case - your tip could make all the difference. Anonymous tips are also accepted
Armando's memory lives on in the hearts of his family, friends, and community, and every effort to bring justice honors the life he lost too soon.