Hundreds of people marched down East Franklin Street in Minneapolis on Friday as part of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Day of Remembrance.

Holding signs with their loved one’s faces on them were the families of Nevaeh Kingbird and Kateri Mishow, who are both missing.

Eighteen years ago, Kateri vanished from Minneapolis — at the time, she was 22 years old.

“She would call her dad every day, so when she wasn’t calling, when friends came over to the house asking where she was, we knew something was wrong,” said Kathy Mishow, Kateri’s mother. “We need to bring her home I believe in miracles.”

The family of Nevaeh Kingbird marched as well. Back in October 2021, Nevaeh, age 15, went missing in Bemidji.

“I love her, and I miss her so much every day, it doesn’t go away,” said Teddi Wind, Neveah’s mother.

“This is one way [the] community can come together and stand with the family and say ‘you’re not alone,’” said Ana Negrete, interim director of the state of Minnesota’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office. “I’m so happy to see this crowd.”

The MMIR office has a staff of about five people.

Back in 2021, Minnesota was the first state in the country to have an MMIR office.

In 2024, the office provided services to 28 families searching for their loved one, consulted on 10 additional cases and in four of those cases, the person was found.

Digging deeper into the data, 716 Indigenous persons went missing in Minnesota last year; 57% were women, according to the Minnesota BCA Missing Persons Clearinghouse.

“I think that’s the reality of why our office exits; the totality of it, a lot of those cases resolved, thankfully,” said Negrete. “It’s an alarming rate, that’s why our office exists.”

If you have any information about any missing persons cases in Minnesota, click here.