The remains of an Indigenous woman were discovered last week in a remote part of Washington state, five years after she disappeared. The investigation into the death of Mary Johnson-Davis is still ongoing, and her tribe as well as the FBI have offered a $60,000 reward to anyone with information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible.
Johnson-Davis, 44, was last seen on Nov. 25, 2020, walking to a friend's house on the Tulalip Reservation, about 40 miles north of Seattle, police said. FBI. She was reported missing on December 9 of that year.
FBI Seattle Field Office announced on Friday that DNA tests recently identified human remains discovered in June in Snohomish County, between Seattle and the Tulalip Reservation, and matched them to Johnson-Davis.
“With deep respect for the family and the Tulalip community, the Tulalip Police Department is heartbroken to confirm that the human remains have been positively identified as Mary Johnson-Davis, a member of the Tulalip Tribe of Washington,” Sean Ledford, Tulalip Police Chief, said in a statement. “This case remains an active and ongoing investigation, and the Tulalip Police Department will continue to work in partnership with the family and the FBI.”
FBI
Johnson-Davis' family said they were “saddened by this news” in a statement sent via text message by the woman's ex-husband. KING-TV. According to the TV channel, he sent a statement on behalf of her family and her lawyer.
“Our hearts are also heavy because so many loving people are sad for our sister and our family. We do not believe that we will never see Mary again. We all wanted her to come home. Now she is being returned to us, but not in the way we had hoped,” the statement said. “At the same time, our family finally got better. We have peace of mind and can now rest knowing that our sister has been found and will be returned home where she is loved and will always be remembered.”
Indigenous women go missing and killed at disproportionately high prices in the US and Canada compared to other groups, and experts say the crisis is rooted in historical mistakes.
