Feds aid in 330-plus probes involving Indigenous communities across Utah and the United States

WASHINGTON — Federal officials assisted in more than 330 probes in Utah and the rest of the country as part of the latest deployment of an initiative meant to trim the backlog of unresolved crimes involving Indigenous communities.

“We will never forget the crime victims whose cases remain unsolved, and we will continue our pursuit until justice is served,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement this week.

Operation Not Forgotten, as the initiative is known, is part of the FBI’s broader Indian Country program, which resulted in charges around the country against 1,260 people, 1,123 arrests and recovery of 304 weapons in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. Moreover, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement on Monday, 458 child victims were identified or located.

Experts and investigators from the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Missing and Murdered Unit were temporarily redeployed to Salt Lake City and nine other U.S. cities starting last April as part of Operation Not Forgotten.

They completed temporary 30- to 90-day deployments in each city over six months to bolster efforts to help with investigations into still-unresolved violent crimes involving Native American communities.

“Combined, those personnel provided investigative and intelligence support by assisting in over 330 investigations,” the Department of Justice said. Bureau of Indian Affairs officials “also provided technical support and expertise through ground-penetrating radar, underwater cameras and sonar searches.”

The heightened efforts led to action in three cases linked to the portion of the Navajo Nation in New Mexico, among others.

In one of the cases, three people were indicted on federal charges in New Mexico in connection with the 2020 shooting death of Zachariah Shorty, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. Austin Begay, 31, was charged with first-degree murder in the matter, and Jaymes Fage, 38, and Joshua Watkins, 40, face charges for alleged efforts to conceal the killing.

Officials didn’t identify any arrests tied to Utah, where part of the Navajo Nation is also located.

Native American communities across the United States experience disproportionate numbers of murder and missing-person cases, which has been a focus of federal attention and attention within Utah, among other places.

A special task force in Utah issued a report in 2023 highlighting the issue in the state. While American Indian and Alaska Native people account for around 1.6% of Utah’s population, they account for more than 5% of murder victims in the state, according to the report, a trend echoed on a national level.

“Indian Country faces persistent levels of violent crime and victimization,” the Department of Justice statement said. “At the beginning of fiscal year 2025, FBI’s Indian Country program had approximately 4,300 open investigations, including over 900 death investigations, 1,000 child abuse investigations and more than 500 domestic violence and adult sexual abuse investigations.”