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Hundreds gather at march to raise awareness for missing and murdered indigenous women

Posted at 1:56 PM, Jan 19, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-19 20:43:26-05

SALT LAKE CITY — Hundreds gathered at the Matheson Courthouse in Salt Lake City Saturday, to raise awareness for missing and murdered indigenous women.

Jennifer Boice, Campaign Chair for Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women Utah, said the march was meant to remember women who have gone missing or were murdered.

“A lot of the names that we carry have not been on any news site,” Boice said. “So we try to raise awareness for them and for their families that are grieving.”

Boice said the issue of why missing and murdered indigenous women are not covered in the media is complicated, but with increased public awareness, she hopes that will change.

“Whenever we [indigenous women] go missing or are murdered, there’s a lot of confusion about jurisdiction on whose case it belongs to,” Boice said.

While investigators are juggling a case, Boice said that valuable time is missed that could go to locating a missing indigenous woman. She said families are often left with the responsibility of looking into crimes and disappearances, even taking photos of crime scenes when investigators don’t show up.

Boice said her organization is working to build community awareness and is working to bring groups together to work on the issue.

For more information on the campaign for Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women in Utah, click here.