Tribal Chairman Frank White Clay confirmed Thursday afternoon that the body found on the Crow Reservation on Wednesday is that of 8-year-old Mildred Old Crow.
"Our hearts ache for the family and I lift them up in prayer. The entire community felt the loss when Mildred went missing and we feel it again today. My hope is that we can find closure, grieve together, and work to ensure that children are protected and supported on the Crow reservation and beyond. We want justice for this child and for all of the victims of the epidemic of people missing from reservations across the country," White Clay said in a statement.
Mildred's body was found Wednesday in a camper near Garryowen. She was reported missing in November 2020 by non-custodial relatives.
The FBI said the search for Mildred began on November 19, 2020, when Mildred’s non-custodial relatives notified BIA Law Enforcement at Crow Agency that they had not seen the child since July of 2018. Subsequent investigation revealed that Mildred was last seen in March of 2019 on the Crow Indian Reservation, in the care of her Crow Tribal Court-appointed guardian.
Two Hardin women facing charges in connection to Mildred's disappearance are behind bars again and facing additional charges. Crow Tribal Prosecutor David Sibley says Veronica Tierza Dust and Roseen Lincoln Old Crow are each being held on $5,000 cash bonds. Sibley recently filed an additional charge of custodial interference in the case against both women.
The relationship between the two women and Mildred is unclear, but a warrant stated they were granted informal custodianship by the tribal court on or about March 14, 2017.
Tierza Dust and Lincoln Old Crow were captured as fugitives from justice in Billings on December 23, 2020. The arrests came after the Crow Tribe issued warrants for their arrest on December 16 which stated they “failed to produce the child nor was any proof of life provided.”
