Following the brutal killing of Arizona teenager Emily Pike, lawmakers are reexamining state systems that help children. They are looking to pinpoint issues they can improve on to prevent another tragedy.
The Arizona Department of Child Safety told a legislative panel the agency didn’t have much information about Pike, because she came from the San Carlos Apache Reservation, a tribal jurisdiction.
Pike, 14, had a history of being sexually abused, attempting suicide and running away.
Sen. Theresa Hatathlie (D-Coalmine Mesa) said officials shouldn’t be splitting hairs over jurisdiction.
“The fact that this is a missing child, just the fact that they're a child and that they're missing — we should be sounding the alarm,” Hatathlie said.
According to tribal leaders, when Pike ran away in January — two months before her dismembered body was found — the Mesa Police Department didn’t communicate it with the tribes or with DCS.
Committee Chair Sen. Carine Werner (R-Scottsdale) said they need to close the gap between the tribes and DCS as well.
“It’s like the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing,” she said.
A recently passed state law established a new statewide Turquoise Alert system for missing Native American people, like an AMBER Alert. The legislation was inspired by Pike’s death and is known as Emily’s Law.
Pike ran away from the Sacred Journey Inc., a group home, for the last time in January.
According to San Carlos Apache Chairman Terry Rambler and Vice Chairman Tao Etpison, Pike escaped through a window with an alarm that had been disabled. When she left, she didn’t have a cellphone on her to track.
The tribal leaders suggested making working alarms a requirement and getting cellphones for children in group homes.
They also noted that there is a $75,000 reward for information about Pike’s death.
Representatives of the group home did not attend the hearing.
