BIA whistleblowers expose cold case backlog

Tonight on Fox 10 Investigates, two whistleblowers within the Bureau of Indian Affairs are sounding the alarm over the handling of cold case murders and missing persons. Now this comes after a recently released audit from the U.S. Department of the Interior. The report criticized the BIA's understaffing and a heavy backlog of cases. Fox 10 investigator Justin Lum joins us live after speaking exclusively to two BIA employees. Justin. Mark, Christina, the missing and murdered indigenous persons crisis is nothing new yet reforms are still needed within the bureau of Indian Affairs this 29 page report says agents in the missing and murdered unit or MMU had unmanageable workloads and that investigators should only have investigative duties but that's not happening the BIA's missing and murdered unit covers five regions the northwest great plains Great Lakes, Southeast, and the Southwest. Two BIA employees are going on the record and they agree with the U.S. Department of Interior's Inspector General report. Indian country is suffering and it's directly because of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The audit says the Missing and Murdered Unit or MMU does not have the right processes for efficient case management to solve missing murdered and human trafficking cases in indian country another part of that is there's been some internal affairs corruption where police have been targeted and because of targeting employees we have lost a lot of people and sort of backfill the patrol functions we're substituting MMU agents to backfill these patrol functions at all these different direct service agencies which then means that MMU agents aren't at their most doing their job despite having funding for 65 staff members. The MMU had only 44 as of October 2025. The audit says BIA struggled with filling these jobs, citing competition from other federal agencies like the FBI, which offers higher level positions and more pay. The impact is felt by Native American families seeking answers and justice. It's very tough. And if you work on the patrol side, you are at the brunt of that every day. Why did it take so long for you guys to get here? what's going on with this case. Have you guys looked into this? It's a lot to deal with in a day. Loved ones of 16-year-old Chalastia Colale know the feeling. It's been nearly a year since she was found dead in White River after going missing for weeks. The BIA believes her death involved foul play. According to the audit, MMU agents are assigned an average of four cold cases with no more than five suggested by the National Institute of Justice. But on average, each agent gets assigned 14 referrals. Agents screen referrals and recommend whether or not a case should be opened. Then a supervisor decides if an investigation begins. As of November 2024, the MMU had 83 open cases and nearly 400 open referrals. Of those referrals, 72% were received between 2020 and 2023. Stuck in the review process. How do you navigate such a heavy caseload? Most people aren't. Some areas have some major crime, crimes can have somewhere up to 30 plus cases. Some areas only have a few. It's actually unmanageable. Since the MMU's inception in 2021, the budget has increased from $9.5 million to nearly $15 million annually. But over a three-year span, a total of $15.2 million has been diverted to other purposes, including purchases or modifications of BIA vehicles. Funding diversion stems from the inability to staff, the audit says. Meanwhile, our sources say they are lacking basic equipment. I'm being tasked with overseeing two different agencies. I cover the size of Rhode Island with three cops. That's all I have to provide 24-7 coverage and the Bureau can't even afford to give me radios. We have no comms. I don't have a driver law enforcement here. They were all disbanded when BIA reassumed the programs. BIA whistleblowers tell us there is a lack of qualified leaders to address their needs and fear retaliation for voicing concerns revealed in the audit. In 2024, I came across a case when I was in internal affairs that had a lot of misconduct. And we discovered that multiple members of management across the nation were engaging in unauthorized, unlawful employment practices, which was resulting in a shortfall for the patrol functions. Because, you know, they deemed that anybody that's willing to complain isn't willing to be there. And so they would go out of their way to eliminate them as an employee. Well, chasing them off or terminating them again leaves a vacant position where we, as agents, have to backfill to offset the patrol functions. Foxton reached out to the Bureau of Indian Affairs asking for comment on the audit and concerns raised by employees. We have not heard back. The audit also points to a need for the Victim Services Program to improve, saying the MMU should be consistently contacting victim specialists so that families can receive critical information about their case and the legal process. Here are the eight recommendations the Inspector General issued for implementation. Develop a plan to clear the massive backlog of referrals. Update MMU policy so investigators are focused on their cases, not administrative tasks. Provide proper intake training so solvable cases are assigned correctly. Establish a strict time frame for reviewing cases before they are opened or closed. Work with HR to fill vacant positions promptly. Train all staff on the Victim's Rights and Restitution Act. require regional agents to ensure families are connected with victim services or provide reasoning as to why they weren't. And finally, properly staff the victim services program so families actually get the support they need. Do you think there's optimism that it will bring some action? I'm a believer. I want to believe that action can happen. I want to believe that we can do better. Again, we reached out to the BIA for comment not only on this audit, But concerns raised by these employees, and as you guys know, I mean, there's a lot that they're risking, but they feel strongly that they have to come forward and speak out about these issues. And BIA is losing people to the FBI because of pay, but are there other factors here contributing to the short staffing? Yeah, according to the audit, compensation and career growth. Career growth is another factor. I mean, we found, according to this audit, there were four MMU positions that have been vacant for more than 100 days. So trying to fill in those gaps, but also trying to recruit and the pay just not as comparable to other federal agencies. And there were a few special agent positions, according to the audit, that had the status mark needs advertisement. So that's concerning as well. Yeah, the staff, they're having to focus on more administrative tasks, right? So what are they doing to stay afloat, make it work? Yeah, according to the audit, some agents are just putting aside time to work on these several dozens of referrals besides the open cases that they have. And then, like we said, they're working on those administrative tasks and doing patrol. So they're just trying to keep their heads above water and make the time for the cases that deserve attention, but also these referrals that are somewhat brand new. And meanwhile, referrals don't stop. From 2020 to 2024, the missing murder unit reported nearly 1,000 referrals for cases involving deaths and missing persons. So they're juggling these tasks, and then they're also getting in these new cases to look at. Our full deep dive on this, our investigative team did a new episode, this BIA audit, on the BIA audit, on our latest episode of On the Record. Just scan the QR code on your screen, and you can stream the full discussion about this case. All right, Justin, thank you for that tonight.