(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . After more than two years, the search continues for Arden Pepion – Daily Montanan [1] ['Nicole Girten', 'More From Author', '- August'] Date: 2023-08-11 Diana Burd has been involved in the search for the young Arden Pepion since the day she went missing on the Blackfeet Reservation in April 2021, and she hasn’t given up hope. “We always hope. We always think the best,” Burd told the Daily Montanan on Thursday. Pepion, who was 3 years old when she went missing, was last seen on the banks of the Two Medicine River. She was under the supervision of her uncle, HaHaax Vielle, who later pleaded guilty to negligent endangerment, according to reporting from KRTV. In this upcoming search, Burd said weather conditions like reduced water levels and the involvement of a forensics team from the University of Montana, including a doctoral student from the Blackfeet Reservation, were giving her hope that this time, they’ll find her body. The crew is scheduled to search the area next week. “You read stories where people got in the water, and they found them 10 feet away from where they went in maybe five years later,” she said. “We always hope this is the case.” Pepion is one of eight open missing persons cases in Montana, according to the ​​U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing and Murdered website. Despite making up just shy of 7% of the state’s population, Indigenous people made up 30% of missing persons in Montana in 2021, according to a report released last year. Time is ticking for investigators to search for Pepion. Burd said they likely have about three weeks before weather would be a factor again. And they’ve been down this road before. Burd said cadaver dogs have gone to the same point several times, and a scuba diving team went down and didn’t find anything. However, Meredith Snow, lead researcher overseeing the University of Montana forensics team, said certain conditions like low water levels and fires, which can clear the landscape, could be beneficial in this search. Snow pointed to the example of Lake Mead experiencing low water levels last summer, leading to the discovery of several human remains. “Conditions change, and suddenly you can find things that you wouldn’t have before,” she said. Snow is leading a team of eight, including doctoral student Haley Omeasoo, a Blackfeet descendent who grew up in Browning. She said this search is different and emotional for her since she is going back to her hometown and doing the work that she sought when she first pursued this field of study. “Everything that I’m training to do is so that I can go back and do these searches for our people,” she said. “​​If I can somehow be a piece of that puzzle that can help this family heal and move on — that’s everything that I’ve been working for.” The lead agency in the search for Pepion is the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, but other law enforcement agencies have been assisting, including the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office. Detective Justin Kambic of the Sheriff’s Office is working with Burd and other volunteers to facilitate the search taking place next week, with Sheriff Jesse Slaughter commending Kambic on his passion and leadership. Slaughter said increased collaboration with tribes in the region, especially before a tragedy happens, has helped tremendously in finding missing people. The lack of coordination among agencies has been a major roadblock in search efforts across the state. Burd said she hopes different jurisdictions will collaborate more in future cases and is encouraged by some of the grants being made available towards such an effort. The legislature established a missing persons response team training grant program during the last session in a bill sponsored by Rep. Tyson Running Wolf, D-Browning, to train people to be able to help in search efforts without potentially damaging evidence. Slaughter said water levels being low could be a factor in next week’s search and said wildlife has also played a role in other cases, but that couldn’t be determined until the body was recovered. He said just because searchers didn’t find her in one location doesn’t mean it’s not the right place. “When we start talking about lost and missing persons, there’s also a human factor — someone else could have moved them,” he said. “It’s not just the last behavior of that individual, there’s sometimes another individual who forces their movement, albeit through kidnapping them, coercing them, or after the person maybe is deceased, moving the remains.” He said Kambic’s expertise is knowing the most probable places to search with those factors in mind. [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/08/11/after-more-than-two-years-the-search-continues-for-arden-pepion/ Published and (C) by Daily Montanan Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/