MMIW Cases

Mr. Nash,

Thank you for your correspondence to the Virginia Department of State
Police (the Department). As you may be aware, requests for records of the
Commonwealth, its agencies and political subdivisions are governed by
the *Virginia
Freedom of Information Act* (FOIA), §§ 2.2-3700 *et. seq.* of the *Code of
Virginia*.

Based on your request, the Department has formulated an approximate advance
estimate of the anticipated charges. Under the Virginia Freedom of
Information Act, we have determined that the estimated charges for
searching for and redacting the requested records will be
$­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­717.00. Before continuing to process your request, we
require that you agree to the payment of a deposit in the amount of the
advance determination. The deposit will be credited toward the final cost
of supplying the requested records. The time period for producing the
records or making a response under VFOIA is tolled for the amount of time
that elapses between the notice of the advance determination and your
response. Please advise us if you would like to pay the estimated charges
and we will then proceed with processing your request.

*Please forward a copy of this letter along with a check for $717.00,
payable to the Department of State Police, Attention: Legal Office, P.O.
Box 27472, Richmond, Virginia, 23261-7472.*

Thank you,

Angela S. Kepus, FOIA Specialist

*on behalf of 1st Sgt David Ostwinkle *

First Sergeant David L. Ostwinkle
Virginia Department of State Police
Office of Legal Affairs
Bureau of Administrative and Support Services
(804) 674-8028 (Office)
(804) 674-2345 (Fax)
david.ostwinkle@vsp.virginia.gov <angela.kepus@vsp.virginia.gov>

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: <requests@muckrock.com>
Date: Sat, Oct 27, 2018 at 1:26 AM
Subject: Virginia Freedom of Information Act Request: MMIW Cases
To: FOIA, rr <foia@vsp.virginia.gov>

Virginia State Police
FOIA Office
P. O. Box 27472
Richmond, VA 23261-7472

October 27, 2018

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Virginia 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. We are requesting
cases dating from 1900 to the present.

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).

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 5 business
days, as the statute requires.

Please note that I am a citizen of Virginia, and am using MuckRock's
services to help manage and track my request.

Sincerely,

Tom Nash

Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com
Upload documents directly:
https://www.muckrock.com/accounts/agency_login/virginia-state-police-372/mmiw-cases-62903/?email=foia%40vsp.virginia.gov&uuid-login=77b902d0-c9c1-4af0-9096-6307dd18da48#agency-reply
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above link to let us know.

For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 62903
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516

PLEASE NOTE: This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is
being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share,
and manage public records requests. Also note that improperly addressed
(i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the
department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.