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California tribe confronts crisis of missing, murdered women

In this 2014 photo provided by Gary Risling, Emmilee Risling, right, poses after her graduation from the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore., with her great-aunt and adoptive grandmother Viola Risling-Ryerson in this 2014 photo. Risling, a 33-year-old college graduate and an accomplished traditional dancer with ancestry from three area tribes, was last seen more than four months ago walking across a bridge near End of Road, a far corner of the Yurok Reservation where the rutted pavement dissolves into thick woods. Her disappearance is one of five instances in the past 18 months where Indigenous women have gone missing or been killed in an isolated expanse of Pacific coastline between San Francisco and Oregon. (Gary Risling via AP) In this aerial image taken from a drone, a pedestrian walks near End of Road on Jan. 19, 2022, where Emmilee Risling was last seen before going missing in October 2021, in Klamath, Calif. The Yurok Tribe has issued an emergency declaration on human trafficking and missing women. There have been five instances in the past 18 months where Indigenous women have gone missing or been murdered between San Francisco and the Oregon border. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard) Judy Risling wipes away a tear as she talks about the disappearance of her daughter Emmilee Risling on Jan. 21, 2022, in McKinleyville, Calif. The 33-year-old college graduate — an accomplished traditional dancer with ancestry from three area tribes — was last seen more than four months ago walking across a bridge near End of Road, a far corner of the Yurok Reservation where the rutted pavement dissolves into thick woods. Her disappearance is one of five instances in the past 18 months where Indigenous women have gone missing or been killed in an isolated expanse of Pacific coastline between San Francisco and Oregon, a region where the Yurok, Hupa, Karuk and Wiyot people have co-existed for millenia. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard) Blythe George, a Yurok tribal member and friend of missing woman Emmilee Risling poses for a photo on Jan. 21, 2022, in Trinidad, Calif. George is researching missing and murdered indigenous women. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard) Abby Abinanti, chief judge of the Yurok Tribal Court, talks about improvements to the tribal court system which she hopes could prevent cases like the disappearance of Emmilee Risling on Jan. 20, 2022, in Klamath, Calif. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard) Laura Woods, community outreach specialist with Yurok Tribal Court, talks about women missing from the tribe on Jan. 19, 2022, in Trinidad, Calif. Emmilee Risling, a 33-year-old college graduate and an accomplished traditional dancer with ancestry from three area tribes, was last seen more than four months ago walking across a bridge near End of Road, a far corner of the Yurok Reservation where the rutted pavement dissolves into thick woods. Her disappearance is one of five instances in the past 18 months where Indigenous women have gone missing or been killed in an isolated expanse of Pacific coastline between San Francisco and Oregon, a region where the Yurok, Hupa, Karuk and Wiyot people have co-existed for millenia. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard) Students at Trinidad Elementary School use shadow puppets to tell the traditional Yurok story of a little bird seeking refuge on Jan. 19, 2022, in Trinidad, Calif. Schools near the Yurok reservation have begun teaching tribal and non-tribal students alike about their peoples' history as part of a plan to reinforce cultural roots with the tribes youngest members. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard) Students at Trinidad Elementary School build shadow puppets while telling the traditional Yurok story of a little bird seeking refuge on Jan. 19, 2022, in Trinidad, Calif. Schools near the Yurok reservation have begun teaching tribal and non-tribal students alike about their peoples' history as part of a plan to reinforce cultural roots with the tribes youngest members. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard) Maile Kane, 13, walks with her grandmother's dog, Charlie, outside her family's home on Jan. 20, 2022, in Hoopa, Calif. The girl's mother, Brandice Davis, said she grew up with Emmilee Risling and worries about the safety of her own daughters. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard) Brandice Davis hugs her daughter Maile Kane, 13, while talking about the disappearance of Davis' friend Emmilee Risling at their home on Jan. 20, 2022, in Hoopa, Calif. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard) Former Hoopa Valley Tribal Police Chief Bob Kane, right, who helped to investigate the disappearance of Emmilee Risling, embraces his wife Brandice Davis as they talk about Risling's case at their home on Jan. 20, 2022, in Hoopa, Calif. Davis, who knew Risling growing up, said that she worries her girls could could go missing like hundreds of other indigenous women throughout the country. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard) Maile Kane, 13, left and her sister Gracie Kane, 9, jump on a trampoline outside their home on Jan. 20, 2022, in Hoopa, Calif. The girl's mother, Brandice Davis, said she grew up with the missing woman Emmilee Risling and worries about the safety of her own daughters. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard) Yurok Tribal Police Chief Greg O'Rourke visits the last confirmed location on Jan. 19, 2022, where Emmilee Risling was seen before going missing in October 2021, in Klamath, Calif. The 33-year-old college graduate — an accomplished traditional dancer with ancestry from three area tribes — was last seen more than four months ago walking across a bridge near End of Road, a far corner of the Yurok Reservation where the rutted pavement dissolves into thick woods. Her disappearance is one of five instances in the past 18 months where Indigenous women have gone missing or been killed in an isolated expanse of Pacific coastline between San Francisco and Oregon, a region where the Yurok, Hupa, Karuk and Wiyot people have co-existed for millenia. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard) Yurok Tribal Police Chief Greg O'Rourke poses for a photo on a dirt road that runs between the Yurok and Hoopa reservations on Jan. 19, 2022, in Klamath, Calif. Emmilee Risling, a 33-year-old college graduate and an accomplished traditional dancer with ancestry from three area tribes, was last seen more than four months ago walking across a bridge near End of Road, a far corner of the Yurok Reservation where the rutted pavement dissolves into thick woods. Her disappearance is one of five instances in the past 18 months where Indigenous women have gone missing or been killed in an isolated expanse of Pacific coastline between San Francisco and Oregon, a region where the Yurok, Hupa, Karuk and Wiyot people have co-existed for millenia. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard) Yurok Tribal Police Chief Greg O'Rourke drives through the Yurok Reservation while revisiting the sites where Emmilee Risling was last seen, Jan. 19, 2022, in Klamath, Calif. The 33-year-old college graduate — an accomplished traditional dancer with ancestry from three area tribes — was last seen more than four months ago walking across a bridge near End of Road, a far corner of the Yurok Reservation where the rutted pavement dissolves into thick woods. Her disappearance is one of five instances in the past 18 months where Indigenous women have gone missing or been killed in an isolated expanse of Pacific coastline between San Francisco and Oregon, a region where the Yurok, Hupa, Karuk and Wiyot people have co-existed for millenia. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard) A sign advertising the Pem Mey Food Mart, one of the only stores in Klamath, Calif., displays a notice about missing woman Emmilee Risling on Jan. 21, 2022. The 33-year-old college graduate — an accomplished traditional dancer with ancestry from three area tribes — was last seen more than four months ago walking across a bridge near End of Road, a far corner of the Yurok Reservation where the rutted pavement dissolves into thick woods. Her disappearance is one of five instances in the past 18 months where Indigenous women have gone missing or been killed in an isolated expanse of Pacific coastline between San Francisco and Oregon, a region where the Yurok, Hupa, Karuk and Wiyot people have co-existed for millenia. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard) A dog walks along End of Road on Jan. 19, 2022, where police received and investigated reports of Emmilee Risling staying before her disappearance in October 2021, on the Yurok Reservation, Calif. The 33-year-old college graduate — an accomplished traditional dancer with ancestry from three area tribes — was last seen more than four months ago walking across a bridge near End of Road, a far corner of the Yurok Reservation where the rutted pavement dissolves into thick woods. Her disappearance is one of five instances in the past 18 months where Indigenous women have gone missing or been killed in an isolated expanse of Pacific coastline between San Francisco and Oregon, a region where the Yurok, Hupa, Karuk and Wiyot people have co-existed for millenia. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard) Gary Risling holds dancing regalia that had been used by his missing daughter Emmilee Risling at their family home, Jan. 21, 2022, in McKinleyville, Calif. The 33-year-old college graduate — an accomplished traditional dancer with ancestry from three area tribes — was last seen more than four months ago walking across a bridge near End of Road, a far corner of the Yurok Reservation where the rutted pavement dissolves into thick woods. Her disappearance is one of five instances in the past 18 months where Indigenous women have gone missing or been killed in an isolated expanse of Pacific coastline between San Francisco and Oregon, a region where the Yurok, Hupa, Karuk and Wiyot people have co-existed for millenia. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard) Mary Risling, 23, looks at dancing regalia that had been used by her missing sister Emmilee Risling at their family home on Jan. 21, 2022, in McKinleyville, Calif. The 33-year-old college graduate — an accomplished traditional dancer with ancestry from three area tribes — was last seen more than four months ago walking across a bridge near End of Road, a far corner of the Yurok Reservation where the rutted pavement dissolves into thick woods. Her disappearance is one of five instances in the past 18 months where Indigenous women have gone missing or been killed in an isolated expanse of Pacific coastline between San Francisco and Oregon, a region where the Yurok, Hupa, Karuk and Wiyot people have co-existed for millenia. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard) Gary Risling, left, and Judy Risling, talk about the disappearance of their daughter Emmilee Risling on Jan. 21, 2022, in McKinleyville, Calif. The 33-year-old college graduate — an accomplished traditional dancer with ancestry from three area tribes — was last seen more than four months ago walking across a bridge near End of Road, a far corner of the Yurok Reservation where the rutted pavement dissolves into thick woods. Her disappearance is one of five instances in the past 18 months where Indigenous women have gone missing or been killed in an isolated expanse of Pacific coastline between San Francisco and Oregon, a region where the Yurok, Hupa, Karuk and Wiyot people have co-existed for millenia. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard) A picture of missing woman Emmilee Risling sits on a table at the Risling family home on Jan. 21, 2022, in McKinleyville, Calif. The 33-year-old college graduate — an accomplished traditional dancer with ancestry from three area tribes — was last seen more than four months ago walking across a bridge near End of Road, a far corner of the Yurok Reservation where the rutted pavement dissolves into thick woods. Her disappearance is one of five instances in the past 18 months where Indigenous women have gone missing or been killed in an isolated expanse of Pacific coastline between San Francisco and Oregon, a region where the Yurok, Hupa, Karuk and Wiyot people have co-existed for millenia. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard) Mary Risling stands near a photo of her missing sister, Emmilee Risling, at the family home on Jan. 21, 2022, in McKinleyville, Calif. Emmilee Risling, a 33-year-old college graduate and an accomplished traditional dancer with ancestry from three area tribes, was last seen more than four months ago walking across a bridge near End of Road, a far corner of the Yurok Reservation where the rutted pavement dissolves into thick woods. Her disappearance is one of five instances in the past 18 months where Indigenous women have gone missing or been killed in an isolated expanse of Pacific coastline between San Francisco and Oregon, a region where the Yurok, Hupa, Karuk and Wiyot people have co-existed for millenia. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard) In this aerial image taken from a drone, the city of Klamath, Calif., home of the tribal headquarters for the Yurok Tribe, dots the side of U.S. Highway 101 at sunrise on Jan. 21, 2022. The Native American tribe has issued an emergency declaration on human trafficking and missing women. There have been five instances in the past 18 months where Indigenous women have gone missing or been murdered between San Francisco and the Oregon border. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard) In this Dec. 2020, photo provided by Mary Risling, missing woman Emmilee Risling is seen holding her infant daughter at a home in California. The 33-year-old college graduate -- an accomplished traditional dancer with ancestry from three area tribes -- was last seen more than four months ago walking across a bridge near End of Road, a far corner of the Yurok Reservation where the rutted pavement dissolves into thick woods. Her disappearance is one of five instances in the past 18 months where Indigenous women have gone missing or been killed in an isolated expanse of Pacific coastline between San Francisco and Oregon, a region where the Yurok, Hupa, Karuk and Wiyot people have co-existed for millenia.(Mary Risling via AP) In this 2016 photo provided by Mary Risling, missing woman Emmilee Risling is seen with her son, then 4, at her home in McKinleyville, Calif. The 33-year-old college graduate -- an accomplished traditional dancer with ancestry from three area tribes -- was last seen more than four months ago walking across a bridge near End of Road, a far corner of the Yurok Reservation where the rutted pavement dissolves into thick woods. Her disappearance is one of five instances in the past 18 months where Indigenous women have gone missing or been killed in an isolated expanse of Pacific coastline between San Francisco and Oregon, a region where the Yurok, Hupa, Karuk and Wiyot people have co-existed for millenia. (Mary Risling via AP)