An advocate for the family of a 16-year-old found murdered earlier this month is criticizing White Mountain Apache police for their handling of the girl’s missing persons case.
Leila Woodward with the Arizona Missing Child Task Force says White Mountain police likely did not report the disappearance of Challistia Colelay to other law enforcement agencies because of manpower challenges. It wasn’t on the Department of Public Safety missing child database, either.
"The data that they get that from is through the National Crime Information Center and the Arizona Crime Information Center and then DPS puts its that on that database. So it was alarming that she was not placed on there," she said.
Colelay disappeared in mid-October and her remains were found weeks later less than a mile from her home. A homicide investigation is ongoing.
-
![Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren [left] Gov. Katie Hobbs and Hopi Chairman Lamar Keevama sign a memorandum of understanding for coal-impacted communities at the Desert Botanical Garden on Aug. 11, 2026.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/7ad88d7/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4158x2317+0+505/resize/280x156!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa5%2F46%2F67ddb3664347bcd872157bbfffaf%2Fnavajo-hopi-az-agreement-cg-20260811.JPG)
The six-page MOU is being touted as a blueprint for cooperation between the Navajo Nation, Hopi Tribe and the state of Arizona — all of which are “vulnerable to future coal mine and generating station closures.” -
Leadership clarified that non-members — including employees or residents, guests of tribal members, travelers on public roadways and vendors tied to the Tohono O’odham Gaming Enterprise — may still travel freely “without any restrictions.” -
![The Long family [clockwise from top left] Joni Lapahie, Dáilan Long, Jona Lapahie, Emma Long and Emery Long.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ac75967/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4032x2246+0+389/resize/280x156!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8c%2F3e%2Fcb7758794c59b588da1f9a3323b8%2Flong-family-household-burnham-nm-gp-202602.jpg)
Coal has long been the economic bedrock of the Navajo Nation, which owns deposits in Wyoming, Montana and New Mexico. Now, the tribe is asking the Trump administration to dramatically expand the life — and size — of an operational coal mine that could uproot the lives of some Navajo families. And their longtime homes — literally. -
So instead of Santa hand-delivering stockings of coal along with his team of reindeer, it’s NTEC — or the Navajo Transitional Energy Company — with its diesel-powered trucks trekking across the sprawling 27,000-square-mile reservation. -
Coal is perhaps most closely associated with Appalachian states like West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky — or Wyoming, the nation’s leading producer of the fossil fuel. But the coal-mining business was once thriving in northern Arizona as well, atop the Colorado Plateau.
![Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren [left] Gov. Katie Hobbs and Hopi Chairman Lamar Keevama sign a memorandum of understanding for coal-impacted communities at the Desert Botanical Garden on Aug. 11, 2026.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/bcf9baa/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4158x2317+0+505/resize/560x312!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa5%2F46%2F67ddb3664347bcd872157bbfffaf%2Fnavajo-hopi-az-agreement-cg-20260811.JPG)
![The Long family [clockwise from top left] Joni Lapahie, Dáilan Long, Jona Lapahie, Emma Long and Emery Long.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8f96e94/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4032x2246+0+389/resize/560x312!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8c%2F3e%2Fcb7758794c59b588da1f9a3323b8%2Flong-family-household-burnham-nm-gp-202602.jpg)
