Kimberly Dudik & Associates, a Missoula-based law firm, launched a free legal advocacy program to support families of missing or murdered Indigenous people.

The disproportionately high rates of missing and murdered Indigenous people is a nationwide crisis, and experts say Montana is an epicenter. As of June 17, there were 189 active missing persons cases in Montana. Of those, 60, or 32%, were listed as Indigenous, though Native Americans comprise 6.7% of the state’s population. Two Indigenous people went missing this spring from the Blackfeet Reservation. Arden Pepion, 3, was last seen on April 22, and Leo Wagner, 26, was last seen on April 27. Search efforts for both individuals have since been scaled back