Federal investigators and tribal police discovered two sets of human remains while searching a rural area of the Chickasaw Nation.
The remains have not yet been identified, but families have been notified, according to a Bureau of Indian Affairs news release.
The discovery followed a large-scale joint-operation between the Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing and Murdered Unit and the Chickasaw Lighthorse Police Department alongside several other federal and state agencies. They were looking into the disappearance of Molly Miller, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, and Colt Haynes. Miller was 17 at the time of her disappearance and Haynes was 21.
The pair was last seen in Overbrook, Oklahoma on July 8, 2013, according to the BIA’s Missing in Indian Country page.
As of 2024, Oklahoma is ranked second in the nation for missing and murdered Indigenous people, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
There are currently 87 missing American Indian and Alaska Native people in Oklahoma, according to the database. The database reports 920 missing American Indian and Alaska Native people nationwide.
On Feb. 18, search teams discovered the two sets of remains in an area between Oswalt Road and Pike Road and Long Hollow Road roughly two hours south of Oklahoma City. Remains were collected by the FBI Evidence Response Team and Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for examination and identification.
The search covered more than 1,000 acres of land in Love County, Oklahoma, which borders Texas. This area had not previously been searched for the pair according to investigators.
Anyone with information related to this investigation is encouraged to contact the BIA-MMU anonymously at 1-833-560-2065, emailing OJS_MMU@BIA.gov or text BIAMMU to 847411.
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