FBI Sets $25,000 Minimum Reward in Native Cases

Lisa Foster, whose longtime friend Vallo was found dead in New Mexico, hopes the money renews interest in the case. "Someone knows something there," Foster said. "They have to. I mean, it's weird that she went to work and then all of a sudden this happened to her."

Mary Kathryn Nagle, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and an attorney who advocates for families of missing Native Americans, said federal investigators often "parachute in" to tight-knit communities where witnesses stay silent out of distrust and fear of retribution. Larger rewards, she said, could still get people talking and show families the cases are being taken seriously. "We have people in Indian Country who know what happened to our relatives," she said.

Luana Ross, who is Bitterroot Salish and a co-director of the Native Voices program at the University of Washington, said rewards can boost interest but often aren't paid out. "It is my opinion that in reservation communities, people would be extremely reluctant to turn a friend or relative into a criminal justice system that hasn't served them well," she said.

Lisa Carlow, whose father was found dead at Pine Ridge, put it bluntly: "Everybody's scared in Oglala. So to me it's like, okay, what do you guys know that you're not saying?" Her sister JoDee Carlow said the fear runs deeper than one reservation: "It's not just on Pine Ridge. It's on every reservation."

FBI spokeswoman Brooke Brennan in Phoenix said investigating crimes in Indian Country is often complex because of the remoteness, limited resources and extensive workload.