SEATTLE — Editor's note: KING 5 has updated this story to remove the identity of the missing woman, who was located by a search party on May 11.
A search is underway for a missing Indigenous woman last seen in Seattle in 2017.
The family of the woman said it’s been more than a year since they’ve heard from the 31-year-old who was known to frequent homeless shelters in downtown Seattle and in the SODO area.
The woman went missing back in 2017 when she was 26 years old, and her family didn’t hear from her until last year when she called them. They haven’t heard from her since.
Now, a group of those looking for her is asking anyone that wants to help pass out flyers and canvass downtown neighborhoods to meet in the parking lot of Denny’s at 2762 Fourth Avenue South on Wednesday and Thursday at 10 a.m.
It is part of a four-day search effort organizers have put together through Facebook.
Those looking to participate can contact the lead search organizer Roxanne White of Missing, Murdered Indigenous Women, People and Families at 509-406-945.
The search comes as research from the Urban Indian Health Institute in Seattle found that Indigenous women and people are more than four times more likely to go missing than white women.
Washington state also has the second-highest number of missing Indigenous people compared to the rest of the U.S.
Currently, there are 23 Indigenous people from Washington state still missing, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Person System.
As for this case, anyone with information about her disappearance or whereabouts is asked to contact Lt. Daniel Taylor with Nez Perce County Dispatch at 208-746-3366.
