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

[Seratonin]

 

[PunkCake]

This case is so heartbreaking -I can't imagine how traumatic it has been for her family and friends. While I'm still catching up on this thread, the amount of dedicated work on this thread archiving and establishing the details is so great to see here.

Has anyone heard any follow-up on her toxicology report? Hopefully there might be additional information that could help narrow down the theories as to what happened to Selena. I'm sure others have raised the idea, but I've wondered if she was not necessarily intoxicated but incapacitated by a drug at the party or on the drive back.

Kendall Rae just did a video today on Selena and mentioned the tox wasn’t out yet.

 

[AmandaReckonwith]

Someone ought to be charged in her death. The least of which is that she was underage.

Selena Not Afraid Case Archive:
Selina Not Afraid -MT- by amanda reckonwith

Cell phone users, try this and scroll:
3/5/20 There is a lot of distrust of law enforcement, amid questions about why no arrests are made in cases where women are missing and hypothermia is the COD. But what about the people with them? Arrest them! is the sentiment.

 

[Seattle1]

Relatives, Law Enforcement Clash Over What Killed 16-Year-Old Crow Girl

Jan 24, 2020

“In Montana, with the winter weather as bad as it is, if they knew that she was drunk, and they left her alone in a field in a blizzard, that’s manslaughter,” Lucchesi said.

“That’s intentional negligence that leads to someone’s death.”

 

[Luckyzmom]

Prayers for Selena's family to find strength and support. Cannot imagine the continuing struggle they are going through....my heart goes out to them but that's not enough !! ;(

 

[AmandaReckonwith]

June 18 was Selena and Zoey's 17th birthday. Family and friends sent off memorial lanterns from an I-90 overpass.

Awesome photos here:
Photos: Lanterns honor Selena and Zoey Not Afraid

Article:
Happy Birthday Sal: Family, friends honor missing Hardin girl found dead

 

[Seratonin]

When this case first came out, it was mentioned that another girl was also let out the car to use the rest room, i cant remember if she also was found but alive or did she make it back to the van in time?

 

[PommyMommy]

When this case first came out, it was mentioned that another girl was also let out the car to use the rest room, i cant remember if she also was found but alive or did she make it back to the van in time?

The (adult) woman who got out of the van was at the rest area when the driver's relative arrived to pick her and Selena up. The woman is the one who told officers that Selena walked off into the field.

Hardin teen's disappearance looking 'suspicious' as search continues

 

[CastlesBurning]

Federal MMIP cold case office opens in Billings

 

[Seattle1]

Federal MMIP cold case office opens in Billings

Aug 6, 2020

A federal office meant to solve cold cases in Indian Country opened Thursday in Billings, one of seven across the nation meant to address missing and murdered Indigenous people.

The cold case office is the third to open under the Operation Lady Justice Task Force, a federal MMIP task force that was created by President Donald Trump in November 2019 to address the disproportionately high rates of missing Indigenous people.

Cold case offices opened in Minnesota and Rapid City, South Dakota; and four more will be established in New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska and Tennessee.

The office in Billings will be staffed by newly appointed special agents with the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services, along with the FBI and tribal law enforcement agencies.

 

[AmandaReckonwith]

C.M. Russell Museum announces virtual speakers for MMIW series

Selena's aunt Cheryl Horn is one of the featured speakers.


Here's another article about the same events.
C.M. Russell Museum holding virtual speaker series focusing on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

 

[AmandaReckonwith]

Because my archive site was "updated" the url changed.

This is correct:
Selina Not Afraid -MT-

Note: because "Selina" was originally the reported spelling,
that is what I went with. Unfortunately I can't fix that.

 

[Cascadia Mount]

C.M. Russell Museum announces virtual speakers for MMIW series

Selena's aunt Cheryl Horn is one of the featured speakers.


Here's another article about the same events.
C.M. Russell Museum holding virtual speaker series focusing on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

RIP Selena. Glad her death is getting some attention.

 

[mickey2942]

The glaring issue that is underlying here, is, as usual, living in a very rural area where small town rez politics takes over. I doubt that there will ever be any charges. Because if Selena's family pushed for them, which they could, they would literally be pariahs in the tribe. Sad.

 

[PommyMommy]

NOV 30, 2020
Cheryl Horn became MMIW activist after Selena Not Afraid went missing (greatfallstribune.com)
Cheryl Horn says she's "part of a club you don't want to be in."

Her niece Selena Not Afraid, 16, was one of many Indigenous women who went missing last year.

[...]

Because of jurisdiction issues among law enforcement agencies, cases involving missing or murdered Indigenous women often go unsolved, a crisis so prevalent it has its own acronym, MMIW

[...]

Horn fields phone calls, texts and Facebook messages from strangers every day.

But they aren't contacting her to help with Selena's case anymore; now, they ask Horn for advice.

[...]

"My phone rings on weekends, I answer it. My phone rings at 2 a.m., I answer it. My phone rings with a caller from Virginia, and I don't know anyone from Virginia, but I will always answer it," she said.

[...]

But Horn doesn't just give advice -- she acts on it.

She once hopped on a bus to make sure a girl who had escaped trafficking made it home safely.

[...]

Horn once got a tip from a young man. He thought he might have information on a missing person.

"I told him, 'I don't want to know your name. I'm not a cop. I just want the info you have,'" she said, adding she reported the tip to law enforcement.

[...]

"I have all this knowledge; it's ugly knowledge. But how can I not pass it down to help these families? It's needed," she said. "We are our own support. We are a group, a growing family."

[...]

 

[AmandaReckonwith]

Billings Gazette featured Selena as one of the top 5 stories of 2020.

Health and business reporter Mari Hall's top five stories from 2020

 

[AmandaReckonwith]

FINALLY! It has happened. Unfortunately it will be a slap on the wrist, and none of the others have been charged. YET.

Investigation ongoing into Selena Not Afraid's death one year later

In August of 2020 the Montana Department of Justice assigned two agents from their Department of Criminal Investigation to look into the death of 16-year-old Selena Not Afraid.

Since then, they've finished up part of their investigation and handed some of it off to the Billings City Attorney's office.

On Dec. 23, the attorney's office charged 20-year-old Diandra Pitman with endangering the welfare of children.

Court documents state Pitman invited Selena to a house party on Dec. 31, 2019 with the intended purpose of drinking alcohol.

Pitman said she passed out at some point the next day and when she woke up, Selena was gone.

 

[AmandaReckonwith]

Diandra Pitman's father Denis was a Billings Councilman.
He is running for re-election as Yellowstone County Commissioner.

In my opinion, there are no coincidences. It took up to almost the deadline for a charge to be brought, and it is a misdemeanor charge.

 

[Luckyzmom]

They have waited all this time for THAT !
Rest in Peace Selena

 

[KatzEye]

Diandra Pitman's father Denis was a Billings Councilman

DP is not Diandra's bio father, but I get your drift. I hesitate to share this article, but it may bring some understanding of Diandra's very early childhood :

Painful, joyful road leads to girl's adoption