In its second annual report to the Minnesota Legislature, the state’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) Office highlights “two notable success stories.”

Legislation to establish the MMIR office was signed into law in 2021 to address a massive disparity in the number of Indigenous people who are missing and subjected to violence.

MMIR named its first director in 2022, and in 2023, the office hired staff members and was “able to begin work in earnest,” according to the 2023 Legislative Report.

The latest Legislative Report filed last month showed that work picked up steam in 2024. By the end of the year, Ana Negrete was named interim director when former director Juliet Rudie became the Tribal Relations director for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

In an interview on Monday, Negrete discussed what the report highlighted as “two notable success stories,” beginning with a phone call from the Fergus Falls Police Department last fall that ultimately helped bring a suspected human trafficking victim home across the border to Canada.

“We got a call in September from Fergus Falls and just said, ‘We have a really unique case for you. We have a relative here, you know, we have an Indigenous woman that is is alive, but is struggling to communicate who she is.'”

“When I saw her picture, she looked afraid,” Negrete said.

The call came from Lt. Connor West, the officer assigned to the case alongside Otter Tail County social worker Liz Bakken.

“I wouldn’t say we exhausted all of our local resources, but we were getting towards the tail end of it,” he said in an interview on Monday.

“So I came back to the office and had just been talking to one of my partners, and [they] had made the suggestion to reach out to the MMIR for potential assistance, which really broke the case open.”

Lt. West stressed the case was ultimately solved with the help of several agencies, including the Fergus Falls Police Department, the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office, Otter Tail County Human Services, Winnipeg Police Service in Canada, U.S. Border Patrol and the Minnesota MMIR Office.

“They reached out to us, which triggered us reaching out to another connection that we had made in Canada, and that triggered another…” Negrete explained.

“Everybody stepped up to protect her. I don’t think that happens for a lot of Indigenous people and Indigenous women in those situations.”

The shelter in Canada Negrete connected with has since reported back to MMIR that “…She has been staying with us regularly since her return… And she is doing very well.”

The second notable case happened in May in Ramsey County, where the Medical Examiner was struggling to identify an Indigenous man who died weeks prior.

“And so, we were able to do some digging, and thankfully, able to help them connect with family members in South Dakota,” Negrete shared.

These success stories are still a drop in the bucket, especially for native women. While they make up less than 1% of the state’s population, 10% of missing women in Minnesota are Indigenous, Negrete reported.

“When we talk about racial disparities, that’s it,” she said.

“Any case where we can help bring a resolution, that they have the answers of where their loved one might be, you know, that’s what our office is here for.”

Over the past four years, the state has allocated nearly $2.8 million to the MMIR Office. The Legislature also laid out “duties” of the office, including that the office recommend legislation to help improve outcomes and review cold cases.

Asked if those duties were in the works, Negrete said, “So this year, we’ll be looking at those mandates and setting goals and objectives around some of that work.”

“Being the first office in the nation, there’s no road map. Like, ‘when you hit this roadblock, here’s what you do,'” she continued.

“There’s not this clear pathway. And so, it’s a lot of trial and error, and try it again. That’s the most important piece is that trying, to just continue to push forward and ask questions, and look for more resources.”

Negrete noted that families of missing Indigenous relatives must first file a missing persons report before MMIR officials can help. It’s never too soon or too late to do so, she added.