BILLINGS-The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced today that Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Cobell has been appointed as the office’s representative on the Montana Missing Indigenous Persons Task Force.
The task force met today at the DoubleTree hotel in Billings. The task force was created by the Looping in Native Communities Act or LINC Act, which was passed by the 2019 Montana Legislature.
Montana Attorney General Tim Fox appointed Cobell based on a recommendation from the task force after it received a request from U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme. Cobell is a prosecutor in the Great Falls office and serves as the tribal liaison coordinator.
“We are pleased to be included on this new task force and know AUSA Cobell will represent us well. We support the state’s effort to better determine the scope of and help find missing Indigenous persons, and we look forward to working with the task force on this important issue that affects the entire state," U.S. Attorney Alme said.
In June, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Montana Department of Justice, FBI and BIA co-sponsored a training for the public and law enforcement on how to use missing persons databases and alerts, what families can do when a loved one goes missing and related topics. A second training will be held on Oct. 16 in Billings at the First Interstate Bank Operation’s Center. Online registration is available at www.dojmt.gov/mpt.
Later this year, the office is facilitating training to tribal governments and members on how to enter and review information in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, or NamUS, which is an online database available to the public and law enforcement.
The U.S. Department of Justice, BIA and Mt Department of Justice have provided or are working to provide all tribal and BIA law enforcement access to the state Criminal Justice Information Network and the National Crime Information Center Missing Person’s File.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
