NAVAJO NATION – New Mexico State Police released a missing and endangered notification for Ella Mae Begay on June 16.
Begay is a 5’ 1” tall woman who weighs 110 pounds. She has brown eyes and shoulder length brown hair.
The Navajo Nation Police Department Shiprock Division said that she is likely travelling through New Mexico and Cibola County, her exact destination is unknown. She was last seen on June 15 in the area around Sweetwater, Arizona.
NPD believes that Begay is travelling in a Silver 2005 Ford F-150 with Arizona license plate AFE7101.
Despite all the information available about Begay, the family has been left without any updates or answers from the Navajo Nation Police.
“There have been no new updates. She’s still missing, it seems like we’re at a standstill. I’m pretty frustrated with Navajo Nation police and the FBI,” Gerald Begay, E. Begay’s son, said. “They can’t even find a vehicle or find her. I can’t understand why; they have a person in custody regarding former warrants.”
On June 18 NPD arrested Preston Tolth in the Navajo Nation for an unrelated battery, but police say that he is a suspect in the disappearance of E. Begay. According to G. Begay, no information as to why he is a suspect in E. Begay’s disappearance has been given to the family. Tolth is being held on warrants unrelated to the disappearance of E. Begay, according to the Begay family.
“Our main goal is to push the investigators, this is top priority,” G. Begay said. The Navajo Nation is currently experiencing a crisis of missing and endangered indigenous women, in 2017 the Navajo-Hopi Observer wrote about the increasing number of missing women from the Navajo Nation; in 2019 the New York Times declared the number of missing women from the Navajo Nation a crisis; in 2020 NPR called the human trafficking issues targeting indigenous women “like a pandemic.”
“This is sadly about my mom, but she’s not the only person to go missing on our reservation without being found.” G. Begay added, “This isn’t just about my mom, but all missing indigenous women.”
Despite the Cibola Citizen’s repeated attempts to contact the Navajo Nation Police Department Shiprock Division regarding the disappearance of Begay, none of the efforts were successful.
Police ask anyone with information about Ella Mae Begay to call the Navajo Police Department Shiprock Division at 505-368-1350 or 911.