Searchers gathered for a second day trying to find clues in the cases of missing teens in the Bemidji area who haven’t been seen for years.

It’s the first time the Minnesota Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office, or MMIR, helped to coordinate the search along with law enforcement.

Bemidji police said that 15-year-old Nevaeh Kingbird’s disappearance started as a runaway case in the early morning hours of Oct. 22, 2021, when she was seen leaving a party. Police added she was seen leaving a second home alone about an hour later, around 2 a.m.

The investigation intensified in December 2021, when it became clear no one had been in contact with her since October, which then led to other searches in the area.

Her family worries Kingbird was taken against her will.

“This is sad. If it was my child, I’d want to search every inch of where my child could possibly be. It was overwhelming,” said MMIR Office Director Juliet Rudie, who watched search teams on Monday.

Rudie said Kingbird’s family reached out to the MMIR Office asking it to help coordinate a search in collaboration with Bemidji Police.

“That’s why this office was created, for Indigenous people, so they had a place to go to look for assistance,” Rudie said. “A very common complaint is, ‘We don’t know what is going on with their case.’ OK, we’ll help make that connection.”

The MMIR has now created a way for families to reach out for any type of assistance regarding their loved one.

“It seems like I’m in a bad dream,” said Teddi Wind, Kingbird’s mother. “I don’t know the answers to where she’s at. My mind goes off into different directions as to what might have happened to her.”

Community members were also looking for 17-year-old Jeremy Jourdain, who went missing on Halloween 2016. He was last seen leaving a family party in Bemidji.

Bemidji Police said by late Tuesday afternoon, most of the search teams had returned with “nothing notable discovered.”

If you have any information about either teen, contact the Bemidji Police Department at 218-333-9111, or Crime Stoppers of Minnesota at 800-222-8477.