Northern California tribes submit DNA in effort to combat MMIP crisis

BLUE LAKE, Calif. — In one of the state's largest efforts to combat the Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) crisis, on Saturday, the California Department of Justice (DOJ) held the first of a series of DNA-testing events in the hopes of potentially identifying some of the thousands of nameless bodies that have been determined to be indigenous.

The event, held at the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribe's Sapphire Palace, was a collaboration of various local tribes and agencies, including six different sheriffs from Northern California counties. Also at the event was the Yurok Tribe's recently-hired MMIP investigator, Julia Oliveira.

The dozens of DNA samples collected Saturday will be entered into state and national unidentified persons databases, where they could ultimately be connected to the DNA of the unidentified bodies, if there is a familial connection.

"Once [the forensic scientists] get those processed—I don't think it will take that much time—they should get a hit pretty quickly, and there's a certain percentage that they look for in that hit," Oliveira said.

The event brought in members from 28 different Northern California tribes, in the hopes of helping solve the local MMIP crisis.

"There are over 200 missing in just Northern California. When you think of the population in comparison, per capita, it's devastating," Oliveira said.

At the beginning of the event, California Attorney General Rob Bonta stressed that the DNA samples would not be used to incriminate anyone.

"None of that DNA was going to be used in any kind of criminal system," Oliveira said. "With that, once those people are located, that sample would be destroyed and not sent anywhere else."

The event also gave people a chance to hear an update on the cases of their own murdered or missing friends and family, as well as to file any new reports of missing persons.

"I hope that [our event] was a good example to encourage people to participate, and I'm hoping that people will trust that these samples could really help," Oliveira said. "I don't want them to be afraid to put it in there."

Three more DNA-testing events will be hosted throughout the state in the near future, according to Oliveira.