Found Deceased MT - Selina (Selena) Not Afraid, 16, I-90 rest area between Billings & Hardin, 1 Jan 2020

Selena Not Afraid, 16, was last seen on January 1 at a rest area between Billings and Hardin along Interstate 90 in Montana. According to the Billings Gazette, people who had been driving Selena home after a New Year’s Eve party told police that they left her at the rest stop after the van they were driving broke down, but reportedly later restarted.
Does anybody know if she was independently seen at the rest stop, or are the only witnesses the party goers whose story could be seen as odd?

Apparently the party goers state that Not Afraid wandered away from the broken down van to the extent that they could not find her. Or, that they made no effort to find her prior to leaving. In either case, the claim seems strange.

Likewise, I wonder if her phone activity could be used to support or detract from the possibility that she was at the rest stop?
 
Last edited:
The search for Big Horn County teen Selina Not Afraid was suspended at dark on Thursday night.

Not Afraid, 16, was riding in a van from Billings to Hardin on New Year’s Day.

The driver of the van fixed a mechanical problem.

The driver took off with three passengers, leaving Not Afraid and another woman behind because he was concerned the van would stall again.

That driver called his mother to pick up the woman and Not Afraid, who was not there.

The Big Horn County investigators want to hear from the two men and three women that were in the van with Not Afraid.

Three are from Billings, so the FBI and the Billings police will help with interviews.

Big Horn County Sheriff Pete Big Hai also said investigators searched the van and found “nothing suspicious.”

Update: Search suspended for night for teen missing in Big Horn County

I find this story SO odd! You were afraid your van would break down again so you just left without two people?! Where is the other woman!
 
There's a whole lot of nothing out there on I90 where the rest are is. Ranches and Jack rabbits, coyotes and scrub. Would make a rational person think twice about hoofing it unless they new someone in the surrounding area MOO Praying for Selina and her family and friends
 
I find this story SO odd! You were afraid your van would break down again so you just left without two people?! Where is the other woman!

I think this part of the story is about the driver calling the family to come get her at the rest stop AFTER getting the van operable and taking off without a second thought for his passenger's safety. All five persons at the rest stop with her told conflicting stories, which is not particularly unusual. Only two of the five passengers reside in Big Horn county; while the other three returned to Yellowstone county, and it may take time before they are located; for further questioning.
The overall theme here so far is gross irresponsibility, but not necessarily the cover-up of a crime IMO
 
I will start by saying that I live on a reservation in Montana. I am a parent to a 12 year old daughter who is an enrolled member of our tribe. I am so thankful this case is getting the attention it deserves!! There has been so so many....Ashley Loring HeavyRunner, Henny Died, Kaysara Stops....that's just off the top of my head. HT is a genuine concern, but the "outside world" genuinely has little clue as to just how entirely rough life can be for these young kids on the reservation. Example---a teacher once had kids write a "what did you do last summer" paper==(these were 11th graders). One told a story of a 4o year old woman who was gang raped at a party and in the paper stated "the ***** deserved it....she shouldn't have been at the party in the fist place". People are quiet when it comes to their own family members who are accused monsters. Someone above stated that when the feds show up, people shut up. This, unfortunately, is true. Tribal police are usually hands of the tribal council.....if it's their relatives or someone they love that is the accused, little is done. Cops involved romantically with suspects can really damage an investigation. There is no agreement between state/local police and the feds (IE the BIA). No databases that talk to one another, ect. Each reservation is it's own sovereign nation with their own tribal laws and codes. This is where the problem lies, and this is where the #MMIW problem needs to start to be corrected. There are also steps to prevent these horrible things from happening. If a young 13-17 year old girl is in a town over 50 miles away with young men who are in their 20's bad things can happen. This is not victim blaming, this is not parent blaming, but somewhere along the line someone, somewhere has failed this young lady terribly. My daughter will NEVER, and I mean N E V E R be in this kind of situation. Young people hitchhiking at night is probably not a good idea. We, as parents, have to know where our children are....at all times, period. They should not be "swooped" by friends to go to a basketball tournament over 100 miles away if we do not know who these friends are, what time will they be home, ect.
But---I digress....I could go on and on, my apologies. This family has suffered so much, I really hope their baby comes home soon. :(

Hi...so good to have you on board. Welcome. I really appreciate that you share your insights and experiences with us. It's a complicated matter....and solving it will take years and years...IMO. But baby steps are taken, consciousness is aroused.....there has always to be the first step for starting the journey.....Keep a good eye on your precious daughter...she is blessed with a mother like you.
 
The link is the latest comprehensive update from the local Billings Gazette newspaper. The latest developments are that the FBI has issued a B.O.L.O (Be On the Look Out) Alert for Selena, the C.A.R.D. unit (Crime Reduction Rapid Deployment) has arrived and has set up search headquarters near the Sheriif's Office in Hardin, and canine and aerial search units were deployed today. IMO
FBI issues BOLO for missing Hardin girl
^^bbm

Seems to me @Dave F. that you're misrepresenting the link here regarding FBI's CARD. This case is about a possible minor child abduction, not crime reduction:

The FBI has been involved since the start of the search, according to spokesperson Sandra Barker. But Wednesday marked the first involvement of a special "child abduction" team. Local law enforcement asked for the team's help Tuesday.

The CARD team is a group of specialized investigators working from the sight of an abduction, often with behavioral analysis experts and technical specialists, according to the FBI.


FBI issues BOLO for missing Hardin girl
 
Did the newspaper say that CARD stood for Crime Reduction Rapid Deployment? It’s the Child Abduction Rapid Deployment, so I’m curious if newspaper was confused.

This is all sounding terribly suspicious.

Nope - not the newspaper.

The FBI has been involved since the start of the search, according to spokesperson Sandra Barker. But Wednesday marked the first involvement of a special "child abduction" team. Local law enforcement asked for the team's help Tuesday.

The CARD team is a group of specialized investigators working from the sight of an abduction, often with behavioral analysis experts and technical specialists, according to the FBI.

FBI issues BOLO for missing Hardin girl
 
Selena’s name is given different ways by the news media and authorities. According to the Montana Department of Justice, her full name is Selina Shelley Faye Not Afraid. However, on Facebook, she goes by the name Selena Bell, and family members use the Selena spelling also. Many in the news media are calling her Selina Not Afraid.

Selena Not Afraid Missing: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com
 
Selena’s name is given different ways by the news media and authorities. According to the Montana Department of Justice, her full name is Selina Shelley Faye Not Afraid. However, on Facebook, she goes by the name Selena Bell, and family members use the Selena spelling also. Many in the news media are calling her Selina Not Afraid.

Selena Not Afraid Missing: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com
Their poor family has sustained so much loss (from the Heavy.com article)! Selina's twin sister committed suicide at just 11 years old, and then Selina's brother died in a police related shooting. Another sister was killed in a hit and run accident. My goodness, I don't know how Selina's mother is still standing after that.
 
Last edited:
Their poor family has sustained so much loss (from the Heavy.com article)! Selina's twin sister committed suicide at just 11 years old, and then Selina's brother died in a police related shooting. My goodness, I don't know how Selina's mother is still standing after that.

And Selina's other sister was hit by a truck and died.
 
The presence of CARD suggests to me that they have more proof than just an inkling that Selena may have been taken. There seems to be so much unknown surrounding her disappearance...

1. I'd like to hear from the other woman who was left behind (the one that was found barefoot, scratched up, etc). What was she running from, why was she hiding in a ditch?

2. Selena MAY have been intoxicated...how do they not have a clear answer on that? Is it because those she was with are not being forthcoming? If so, I wonder what they have to hide? Supplying alcohol to a minor/corruption of a minor or something worse?

3. How old were those she was in the car with? Reports state that Selina was the only non-adult, but that could mean she was in a car with 18 year olds. I would love to know if the others in the car were close to her in age, or much older.
 
https://heavy.com/news/2020/01/selena-selina-not-afraid-notafraid-missing/

Cheryl Horn, a “blood sister” of Selena’s mother who watched Selena grow up and is actively involved in the search for the teenager, told Heavy in a lengthy interview: “We believe she was taken. She did not get out and run.”

She said the family was told that a “man in a green car” may have tried to get the two girls to go with him, and they ran. She questioned why authorities have not issued an Amber Alert for Selena. “We’re having to be our own investigators,” she told Heavy.
[..]

Horn described Selena as “one of the most positive, loving girls you’d ever come around, she plays basketball rides, horses, and has so many friends. She’s only 16 and these kids were in their 20s. She doesn’t do this; she doesn’t not come home.”
[..]

Of the van ride from the home in Billings to the desolate rest stop, they were told that “my niece didn’t go willingly,” she said.
[..]

According to Horn, Selena was “very drunk and she was trying to get in another car” when she was allegedly “forced into that white van” that then journeyed to the rest stop. She said the family is surprised Selena was intoxicated because they believed she didn’t drink.
[..]

“Selina Shelley Faye Not Afraid, a 16 year old Native American female, was last seen at 2pm at the eastbound Interstate 90 rest area between Billings and Hardin near mile marker 474,” the alert says.

“Selina left a disabled vehicle at the rest area on foot walking into an adjacent field to the rest area. She is possibly intoxicated and is not dressed for the weather conditions. She was last seen wearing a black coat, grey sweater, blue jeans, and grey ankle boots. Selina is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and 133 lbs. She has a scar near her mouth and a tattoo of a cross on her middle finger. If you have any information on Selina, please call the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office at 665-9780 or dial 9 1 1.”

People on Facebook are sharing a Snapchat video they say shows a man in an altercation with a barely visible Selena at the rest stop.
[..]

According to the Facebook page For the Missing: Pacific Northwest, Not Afraid “was part of a group of… people driving to Hardin when the car broke down and restarted… people left in the vehicle and the driver called a relative to pick up Not Afraid and another girl left behind. Only one girl was at the rest stop when the relative arrived.” At least that’s one version of the story.

Sheriff Pete Big Hair told KTVQ that the van had a mechanical problem the driver was able to fix.

The driver was allegedly worried the vehicle would stall again so he called his mother to get Not Afraid and another woman left behind. However, Not Afraid wasn’t there when the woman showed up, according to the television station.

“There’s about two or three different stories from these people in the vehicle,” Big Hair said to the television station. “They’re not all in one story. There’s different stories from a couple of them. We kind of don’t know if they’re telling the truth or not. So that’s why we want to verify.” The television station reported that some of the two men and three women in the van are from Billings.

A relative claimed on Facebook: “Apparently they were all in a van and some reason two girls were kicked out. One was found. Selena still missing.” She also claimed, “The girl said Selena ran towards the trees in the field. That’s all she said.” She added: “The girl they found… hiding in the ditch with no shoes can’t remember what happened. She had no shoes and was all scratched up. Something happened.” Authorities have not publicly verified those details, however.
[..]

In 2014, Selena’s twin sister Zoe died at age 11. A story on the twin’s death reads, “Zoey was born June 18, 2003, along with her twin sister, Selena, to Jacquelena Big Hair and Leroy (Shelia) Not Afraid.” Six people received Zoey’s organs when she died. Horrifically, the Billings sixth grader killed herself.

Selena also lost an older sister in 2018-- killed by hit and run driver, and her brother killed by police in 2017.
 
Does anybody know if she was independently seen at the rest stop, or are the only witnesses the party goers whose story could be seen as odd?

Apparently the party goers state that Not Afraid wandered away from the broken down van to the extent that they could not find her. Or, that they made no effort to find her prior to leaving. In either case, the claim seems strange.

Likewise, I wonder if her phone activity could be used to support or detract from the possibility that she was at the rest stop?

Cell phone activity is unlikely play a role in the investigation of this case. The attachment shows the coverage of Verizon, which is the dominant cellular provider. The jumble of overlapping tower tags is Billings, and the second tag to the right of it (labeled eNB ID 10218) is near the rest stop where she was last seen. Hardin, where she was going, is the next tower to the right (labeled eNB ID 10208). It is not known if she even had a cell phone with her, but once she walked away from Interstate 90, she was out of range of any cellular tower.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_2020-01-09 CellMapper.png
    Screenshot_2020-01-09 CellMapper.png
    444 KB · Views: 19

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
113
Guests online
2,966
Total visitors
3,079

Forum statistics

Threads
595,735
Messages
18,032,267
Members
229,760
Latest member
Aegon_the_Conqueror
Back
Top