TRIBAL PD CHIEF WEST INITIATES MMIR SEARCH KITS
By Vivian LaMoore, Inaajimowin Editor
Dylan Sam was reported missing in December 2022. Friends and family members had been searching for him for roughly two months before the first all-community search was orga nized and began in February 2023. Mille Lacs Tribal Police Chief James West and then District I Representative Virgil Wind walked alongside family members through nearly knee-deep snow on the search/recovery for their relative. The search was unsuccessful. It became clear that better tools were necessary to keep search teams safe and coordinated. In a collaborative effort with the Minnesota Missing and Murdered Relatives Office, West initiated a new missing persons’ search kit to be placed with Minnesota Tribes for future search efforts.
Organizing community searches can be challenging. In the search for Sam, community members found it difficult to walk through the snow and found it hard to keep a search line in tact with the thick brush, West said. Communication was also a barrier keeping track of the various search parties. In an un related search in the spring/summer months of 2022 while searching for Matt Chapel Jr. West said communication, visibility through thick brush, and the inability to mark off search lines were also challenging.
West met with MMIR Office Interim Director Ana Negrete, who was also present in the search efforts for Sam. Together, they agreed on the equipment that would make search efforts more efficient and ultimately more successful.
With the new kits in hand, West organized another search for Sam in the Spring of 2022. “The snowpack had melted, and a second full community search was scheduled. The Mille Lacs Band community search groups were issued and instructed on how to use the MMIR Search Kit items,” West said. “Once the search began, Dylan’s body was recovered within one hour. This time, they were able to locate the remains of the missing 47-year-old Dylan Sam.”
Search kits are now located in four Tribal nations with the last kit recently distributed (Red Lake Nation, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Lower Sioux Indian Community) and are available for use by the public and law enforcement agencies. One additional kit is located at the MMIR Office in St. Paul and is available by request.
Each kit contains: • 10 two-way radios to mitigate communication barri ers and keep communication open between all search groups. • 10 GPS devices for precise and accurate mapping of grid lines and to keep track of what areas have yet to be searched. • 100 high-visibility safety vests. • 10 walking sticks. • Traditional medicines like tobacco, sage, cedar, and sweetgrass.
Additional consumables for 100 volunteers, like first aid kits, rain ponchos, and whistles. Manuals with logistical guidance for community-led and law enforcement-led searches.