FBI, state and tribal partners press for training and data-sharing on jurisdiction, MMIP and forensic-genetic genealogy

Leonard Corollo, assistant special agent in charge with the FBI's Denver Field Office, told the Select Committee on Tribal Relations that the FBI prioritizes violent felonies on reservations and has increased cooperation with federal and state partners.

"We prioritize and primarily investigate violent felonies," Corollo said, describing partnerships the FBI formed in the last several years with BIA, state police and county agencies to pursue narcotics trafficking and violent crime.

Corollo and several state witnesses described three persistent challenges: overlapping jurisdiction among tribal, federal and state agencies; a rise in drug trafficking and fentanyl on and around the reservation; and underreporting or delayed reporting of missing persons.

Task forces and alerts

Corollo described the Safe Trails Task Force, a multiagency narcotics task force that includes the FBI, Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, Wyoming Highway Patrol and county and local partners, and said the group has recorded recent seizures and prosecutions. James Thomas, field operations commander for the Wyoming Highway Patrol, said the Patrol values the partnerships and noted the agency is working to expand training so troopers can carry Special Law Enforcement Commission cross-deputization in order to enforce on reservation cases under tribal jurisdiction.

Brian Kent, a Highway Patrol communications specialist, explained the three alert types now used in Wyoming and how they are deployed by dispatchers: Amber Alert (child abduction), Ashanti Alert (adults believed abducted or endangered) and Missing/Endangered Advisory (non-phone-alert advisory to law enforcement). He said alerts are posted quickly once law enforcement confirms criteria.

"It's time is of the essence," Kent said, describing the importance of near-immediate alerts and the state's recent legislative changes enabling decentralized reporting and faster activation.

Missing and murdered indigenous persons and genetic genealogy

Cara Chambers, director of the Division of Victim Services at the Wyoming Attorney General's Office, and Emily Grant from the University of Wyoming presented the task force's data updates and policy work, including the state's missing-persons protocol law (Senate File 114). Grant said revised annual numbers show disproportionate homicide and missing-person rates for Indigenous people.

"The homicide rates in Wyoming for, indigenous people are about 8 times higher than it is for white people in the state," Grant said, summarizing figures compiled for the task force.

Commander Ryan Cox of the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation described a forensic genetic genealogy (FGG) pilot funded by the legislature. The pilot created an application process, contracted with a lab and is consulting on a handful of qualifying cold cases. Cox said the science can take time but can produce investigative leads by comparing unknown DNA against voluntarily contributed public genealogy databases and then using genealogical research to identify potential relatives.

Public outreach and trust

Speakers said improving reporting (especially for missing persons), victim services and public information is essential. FBI and state officials said they will continue community outreach and work to build trust with tribal members, and tribal MMIP liaisons described local volunteer and training efforts including Amber/Ashanti tabletop exercises. No formal votes or directives were recorded.

Ending

Committee members asked for continued training and a data-driven follow-up. Presenters recommended more multiagency training, expanded SLEC cross-deputization and continued support for the MMIP task force and FGG pilot.