We Are Resilient: An MMIW True Crime Podcast We Are Resilient

Michelle Elbow Shield, age 26, went missing on September 27, 2023. It is believed she was in the Sioux Falls, SD area and was last seen.
Michelle has light brown eyes and brown hair. She is 4' 10" and weighs approximately 100 pounds. Michelle also has tattoos, one is a butterfly on her left ankle, an infinity symbol on her left arm with the names Michelle and Cody Red Wing and a heart with devil horns behind her right ear. Michelle was last seen wearing a black, blue and gray sweater and black jeans.


Sources:

https://www.bia.gov/missing-murdered-cases/michelle-elbow-shield#:~:text=Profile&text=Michelle%20Elbow%20Shield%20went%20missing,blue%20sweater%20and%20black%20jeans.
https://www.kotatv.com/2024/01/18/police-seek-pine-ridge-woman-missing-since-october/
https://www.greatplainstribalhealth.org/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women.html
https://missingpersons.sd.gov/
https://www.newscenter1.tv/news/pennington-county-missing-persons/article_ac0ebdda-bc78-11ee-8bbd-2380e5b4bb58.html

In April 2023, the body of 16-year-old Ruby Sky Montelongo was discovered in a vacant lot in Covelo, California. Her death came three weeks after the death of 20-year-old Round Valley Man. With the rates of Missing and Murdered Indigenous people skyrocketing in Northern California, Round Valley Indians Tribes have declared a state of emergency.

Sources:
California girl, 15, suspected of killing another teenager | AP News
‘They took everything’: an Indigenous town rocked by the killings of young people | Indigenous peoples | The Guardian
Girl, 15, suspected in killing of girl, 16, as NorCal town reels (sfgate.com)
MMIW: Ruby Sky Montelongo - The Cherokee One Feather (theonefeather.com)
California tribes ask lawmakers for help to stem violence - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)
15-Year-Old Girl Booked for Murder as a Suspect in the Killing of Covelo Teen | MendoFever – Mendocino County News
Round Valley Indian Tribes of the Round Valley Reservation - Wikipedia

Esther Wolfe, a 25-year-old South Dakotan woman was shot and killed on February 21st 2024, in what news reports have called a public execution. Her story prior to her death had been one with filled unimaginable pain and overcoming the most harrowing of circumstances.


Sources:


https://www.blackhillsfox.com/2024/02/28/states-attorney-esther-wolfe-death-was-public-execution/?outputType=amp


https://www.keloland.com/news/local-news/2nd-man-arrested-in-connection-with-death-of-esther-wolfe/amp/


https://www.kotatv.com/2024/03/05/second-suspect-involved-death-esther-wolfe-appears-court/?outputType=amp


https://www.siouxfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Esther-Marie-Wolfe?obId=30866952

In February 2024, 52-year-old Brian Steven Smith, a South African man residing in Alaska, was convicted of the savage killings of two Alaskan Native women, Kathleen Henry and Veronica Abouchuk. The grim particulars surrounding their demise are chilling and profoundly unsettling. Listener discretion is advised.

Sources:

https://law.alaska.gov/press/releases/2024/022224-Smith.html
https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2024/02/23/brian-smith-found-guilty-14-charges-related-murders-2-women/


https://people.com/brian-steven-smith-murder-conviction-two-women-alaska-8598994


https://heavy.com/news/2019/10/kathleen-j-henry/


https://www.ktoo.org/2024/02/23/jury-makes-quick-decision-in-the-brian-smith-murder-trial-convicting-him-in-the-deaths-of-two-native-women/

She was called Mighty Mia. In 2007, at 18 years old, she was embarking on her freshman year of college at the University of Arizona and excited about the new chapter in her life. A member of the Navajo Nation, Mia had dreams to become a doctor and return to her tribe to help her people. She never got that chance.

Sources:

https://tucson.com/news/blogs/police-beat/life-sentence-affirmed-in-2007-ua-homicide/article_9fbce65d-cf7a-5cb7-9c77-cc9d8527d4b1.html

https://www.nhonews.com/news/2008/sep/16/remembering-mia-henderson/

https://murderpedia.org/female.H/h/harrison-galareka.htm

https://navajotimes.com/news/2008/1108/112508harrison.php

https://www.eastvalleytribune.com/news/former-ua-student-gets-life-in-dorm-stabbing/article_a72779e6-fb82-5db7-9c1a-213cf52f22cd.html

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/21398968/mia-janelle-henderson

Bryanna Rayne Ducheneaux Clown was 22 years old and on the cusp of doing great things in her community in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, however, her promising young life was cut short in October 2023 and her family is demanding answers.
Sources:
https://kbhbradio.com/women-from-eagle-butte-found-dead-near-terry-peak/
https://www.blackhillsfox.com/2023/11/07/eagle-butte-woman-found-dead-near-terry-peak/?outputType=amp
https://www.keslingfuneralhome.net/obituary/bryanna-ducheneaux-clown