{"id":34141,"date":"2023-05-09T14:52:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-09T20:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/farmington-missing-and-murdered-rally-draws-families-officials-support-organizations\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:16:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:16:23","slug":"farmington-missing-and-murdered-rally-draws-families-officials-support-organizations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/farmington-missing-and-murdered-rally-draws-families-officials-support-organizations\/","title":{"rendered":"Farmington Missing and Murdered rally draws families, officials, support organizations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Members
Members of American Indian Movement Din\u00e9 Territory attended the rally to promote awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous people. (Ann Willow\/Tri-City Record)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Family members of missing and murdered relatives gathered May 5 in Berg Park to continue their push for justice and honor their loved ones during the second annual Farmington rally for National Day of Awareness: Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People.<\/p>\n

Speakers included Jaymie Begay<\/a>, Ms. Indigenous San Juan College 2022-23. Her cousin, Cecilia Barber, disappeared in 2019, and was found murdered in Las Vegas in 2021.<\/p>\n

Begay said she attended the rally to \u201craise the voice and awareness (of MMIP issues) because nowadays it\u2019s all over social media \u2026 and we have a voice now. \u2026 Please, if you know (about missing or murdered persons), tell!\u201d<\/p>\n

President Joe Biden officially declared May 5 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day in 2022, when he signed into law the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022.<\/p>\n

The event opened with music by DJ Phish, followed by a welcome from event organizer, Vangie Randall-Shorty, director of Northwest New Mexico Crusaders for Justice<\/a>, a support group for families of victims.<\/p>\n

Albuquerque attorney Darlene Gomez<\/a> co-organized the event, but was out of the country. Gomez represents families of MMIP on a pro bono basis.<\/p>\n

Randall-Shorty introduced state Rep. Anthony Allison (D-San Juan County), who gave a statement of support for MMIP. Allison, with council members from Gallup and Crownpoint, and Channel 7 News from Albuquerque, left soon after the opening ceremony to travel to Window Rock, Arizona, to make a statement at the MMIW Honor and Remembrance Walk taking place there.<\/p>\n

\"San
San Juan County Rep. Anthony Allison spoke in support of MMIP work. (Ann Willow\/Tri-City Record)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Among the many relatives in attendance was Celeste Henderson, who spoke about her husband, Candrick Begay, who was killed April 5 with Anthony McCants at their place of employment, Highway 64 Auto Salvage in Farmington. Their case is still under investigation by San Juan County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n

Becky Martinez, sister of missing person Calvin Martinez, tried to hold back tears as she spoke. She said, \u201cI didn\u2019t want to get out of bed today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martinez tearfully described her brother as someone who \u201cmay have built your house \u2026 (or) picked you up at the side of the road.\u201d She pleaded with attendees to \u201chelp me to find where my brother Calvin is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shanna Nez\u2019s brother, Jevon Descheenie, disappeared Oct. 25, 2021, and was found dead Nov. 12, 2021, with his hands handcuffed behind his back.<\/p>\n

Georgiana Harrison is the sister of Ranelle Rose Bennett, who disappeared from their Hogback home June 15, 2021. \u201cSomebody loves us out there,\u201d Harrison said of missing relatives.<\/p>\n

Germaine Russell\u2019s missing relative, Leon Hayes, was last seen Feb. 2, at Mesa Farms.<\/p>\n

A man sitting on the grass, preferring to remain anonymous, said his daughter, TT, a high school senior, went missing five years ago on her way to school. He wears her ring on his pinkie finger.<\/p>\n

\"The
The father of missing person \u201cTT\u201d wears her ring on his pinkie finger. (Ann Willow\/Tri-City Record)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Other participants included George Cordero and his son Chris Cordero, council members of 4 Directions Brotherhood<\/a>, an organization that helps U.S. and Canadian Native families in times of crisis. They traveled from Cisco, Texas to provide security for the event.<\/p>\n

Christian Johnson, president of AIM Din\u00e9 Territory, said the organization is grassroots-based chapter of American Indian Movement, with several certified search and rescue team members.<\/p>\n

Johnson said the teams conduct searches, even crawling \u201cinto little caves \u2026 and are now able to search underwater\u201d in recovery efforts to find missing relatives \u201cno longer on this earth.\u201d Johnson said they, unfortunately, have never found anyone alive.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep an eye on each other when you\u2019re in town \u2026 keep your eye on each other\u2019s kids,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

AIM Din\u00e9 Bik\u00e9yah Chapter was also present. Both AIM chapters work together on MMIP issues.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Andrea \u201cMussy\u201d Denetso of Missing and Murdered Din\u00e9 Relatives<\/a>, said MMDR and her purpose for attending the rally was to create a \u201csense of cohesiveness among families (of MMIP) so they know they\u2019re not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking on behalf of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was Lashawna Tso, deputy secretary for New Mexico Indian Affairs Department.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs of today, there are an estimated 200 missing Indigenous New Mexicans. I say \u2018estimated\u2019 because that number is likely an undercount and the result of years of discrimination and inadequate collaboration between law enforcement agencies,\u201d Grisham\u2019s official May 5 proclamation <\/a>stated. \u201cThis is a state that will continue to fight to interrupt this pattern, working closely with sovereign nations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tso vowed to continue the search for justice on behalf of the state\u2019s 23 nations, tribes and pueblos that have lost loved ones and are seeking closure.<\/p>\n

Kimberly Multine, representing Mobile Victim Advocate<\/a> of the Shiprock division of Utah Navajo Health System<\/a>, said the focus of her work is on victim advocacy \u201cas a liaison between families and law enforcement.\u201d UNHS Behavioral Health Victim Services also aids families in searches for missing loved ones.<\/p>\n

San Juan County Partnership<\/a>, an organization focused on homelessness and substance abuse prevention, \u201csupports the community in all efforts to amplify the issue (of MMIP),\u201d said Dionna Comanche, program coordinator.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Also providing support to the rally and MMIP was Sara Holiday, victim advocate for Farmington Police Department Victim Assistance Program<\/a>, Magic Roofing and Construction Co<\/a>., State of New Mexico Indian Affairs Department<\/a>, Totah Behavioral Health Authority<\/a>, and Farmington Fire Department<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Detectives Alma Chavez and Daven Badoni, Sgt. Justin Anaya and Lt. Shawn Goodsell of the Farmington Police Department attended the rally to show their support of MMIP victims and families.<\/p>\n

Red Eagle Wing drummers and dancer Nathan Largo honored families and those missing with sacred songs and dance.<\/p>\n

The event closed with Randall-Shorty reading names of missing and murdered people from Farmington, San Juan County and the Navajo Nation, ending with a family march down Scott Avenue to San Juan Boulevard and returning to Berg Park pavilion.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember their names, and say their names,\u201d Randall-Shorty proclaimed.<\/p>\n

\n

Names of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and RelativesJoey ApacheeCorren BedonieCandrick BegayElla Mae Begay (suspect recently arrested, body not yet found.)Ruben BegayRanelle BennettMarcus BowmanAshley CollinsJevon DescheenieLeon HayesMelanie JamesEugena K. MartinezCalvin MartinezMelissa MontoyaAnthony McCantsPepita RedhairTiffany ReidAbram M. SeguraZachariah Juwaun ShortyLaverda SorrellDerrick TenorioShawna ToyaJonathan WacondoKaelin WoundedfaceJamie Yazzie<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Anyone with knowledge of missing or murdered individuals is asked to contact the Farmington FBI office at (505) 326-5584. Tips may remain anonymous.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

National Day of Awareness rally brings together those involved in MMIP awareness<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[168,799,28,1131,51,443],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-34141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-crime","tag-farmington","tag-headlines","tag-missing-and-murdered-indigenous-people","tag-police","tag-san-juan-county-new-mexico"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34141"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82487,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34141\/revisions\/82487"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34141"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=34141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}