PHOTO COURTESY OF MESKWAKI MEDIA — The family of Rita Papakee, a Meskwaki woman who has been missing for over a decade, came together for a photo during the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW)/Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Walk on the Settlement last Friday evening.

MESKWAKI SETTLEMENT — The 10-year anniversary of Rita Papakee’s disappearance on Jan. 16, 2015 has come and passed, and although that date brought some attention back to the case of the Meskwaki Settlement woman who was 41 when she went missing, members of her family are still frustrated with a lack of resolution and closure — a reality they continue to face on a daily basis.

Last Friday evening, tribal members gathered at the Meskwaki Rec Center to lead a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Walk (MMIW)/ Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) walk as a show of support for the Papakee family, with many even wearing t-shirts showing Rita’s smiling face. They weren’t out to raise any money, but rather to keep up the pressure on individuals to come forward and law enforcement to solve the case and provide closure.

“It means a lot to me, anyway, to see everybody come out and support the walk, but I wish somebody would step up and say what they know. Like, I know there’s a lot of people that know what went down, but nobody wants to talk about it,” Papakee’s mother Iris Roberts said. “But yeah, I like it when all the people show up and march, and I don’t want her to be forgotten.”

Papakee’s aunt Oona Youngbear feels that there is likely still a fear of criminal punishment for those with knowledge of the case.

“We’ve heard talks, you know, about what happened, but nobody wants to talk,” she said.

PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY - Walkers set out from the Rec Center in an effort to raise awareness of Papakee’s situation, and many of them wore t-shirts showing her face.

Olivia Walker added that Papakee, her cousin, always cared about her family and her four children, and she now has two grandchildren she has never met.

“She always showed up for family, loved her family. In her own way, she fought for justice for women too. She had been involved in a court case involving interpersonal violence and domestic abuse, and she was, in her own way, an advocate,” Walker said. “So we want to remember the good things, but I think what’s important, too, is we want to make sure this doesn’t happen to another family member in our community or anybody anywhere. And I think it’s so amazing that folks still show up 10 years later and honor her memory and remember her and keep her memory alive. It’s just frustrating that we have no answers.”

Over the years, Walker said, there have been “stops and starts” with police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and she believes that lack of consistency has resulted in the current limbo the family still finds itself in today. Back in January, Meskwaki Nation Police Chief Jeff Bunn told the newspaper he had Lt. Jason Gudenkauf dedicated to investigating the case, and a new search was conducted on the Settlement last June with assistance from the FBI. Ultimately, no relevant discoveries or revelations emerged, and Roberts hasn’t heard “anything from anybody” since then.

“I try to be hopeful. I try to be optimistic that they will continue. I mean, you always read about cases where after so many years, something happens and they find out the truth,” she said.

Bunn, who was also in attendance on Friday evening, said there were no new updates to share since he last spoke to the newspaper about five months ago. The reward for relevant information remains at $100,000.

PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY - Signs outside of the walk show the reward for information on Papakee’s disappearance as well as statistics highlighting the unique threats indigenous women face.

Regardless of what transpires in the months and years to come, Papakee’s loved ones have no intention of giving up the fight.

“We’ll be here. Her kids will be here, and even if we do end up getting justice and closure, we’re always gonna remember her,” Walker said. “This is one case. We’ve always said one tip can break open the case, so if anybody has ideas of what might’ve happened, come forward. Usually, media has been really helpful. Anytime we do a story with folks, it usually kind of, like, spurs up a couple of tips that go to the police department. So yeah, we’ll keep being loud. We’ll keep talking about it.”

Tips can be submitted to the MNPD by calling (641) 484-4844 and also by emailing Bunn at jbunn.mnpd@meskwaki-nsn.gov or Gudenkauf at jgudenkauf.mnpd@meskwaki-nsn.gov.