MMIW cases (Great Falls Police Dept.)

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Montana Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

Data on all cases of: unsolved missing persons, homicides, suspicious deaths, and deaths in custody involving an Alaska Native/American Indian woman or girl victim within your jurisdiction(s). For the purposes of this request, "Alaska Native/American Indian" is defined as any individual who was identified as a member of an Alaska Native or American Indian community or as having Alaska Native/American Indian heritage. "Woman or girl" includes all victims identified as females, as well as transgender women. If there are any Jane Does that have been identified as potentially Alaska Native or American Indian, please include them as well.

This request is for basic information on cases as classified above. Such information may include but is not limited to victim name, location and date of disappearance/death, age of victim, status of case (solved or unsolved).

Please note Helena Police Department has already complied with a prior request for such data in their jurisdiction. Requests were sent to Billings and Butte police departments approximately 8 months ago, with no response. This data (and any law enforcement interactions re: the data, or lack thereof) will be shared with the Montana State-Tribal Relations Committee, as they explore potential legislative options re: missing persons in the state. The Committee received a prior iteration of existing data that has been collected on missing and murdered Native women and girls in Montana earlier this year.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days.

Sincerely,

Annita Lucchesi