True Crime with Kendall Rae - Who Killed Emily Pike? No More Stolen Sisters

Episode Date: April 17, 2025

On February 14th, 2025, 14-year-old Emily Pike’s dismembered body was found in garbage bags in a remote part of an Arizonan forest. This discovery came about three weeks after she had gone missing. Not only was this a horrible crime committed against a child, but Emily was also a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, and violent crime is one of the leading causes of death in the Native American population. If you have information on the case, please contact: Gila County Sheriff’s Det.: [phone] Bureau of Indian Affairs Special Agent: [phone] San Carlos Apache Tribal Police Det.: [phone] Link to full article: https://www.azfamily.com/2025/03/12/e... — This episode is sponsored by: Nanit - promo code: BABY20 HelloFresh - promo code: kendallrae10fm Rocket Money Check out my foundation: Higher Hope Foundation: https://www.higherhope.org/ Watch my documentaries: 530 Days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjUWkmOjNLk Apartment 801: https://bit.ly/2RJ9XXr  True Crime with Kendall Rae podcast: Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3rks84o Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3jC66pr Shop my Merch! https://kendallrae.shop Check out my other podcasts: Mile Higher (True Crime) @milehigherpod YouTube: https://bit.ly/2ROzJcw Instagram: http://instagram.com/milehigherpod The Sesh (Current events, a little true crime, pop culture, and commentary) https://bit.ly/3Mtoz4X @the_seshpodcast Instagram: https://bit.ly/3a9t6Xr *Follow My Social!* @KendallRaeOnyt Instagram: http://instagram.com/kendallraeonyt Facebook: https://bit.ly/3kar4NK True Crime TikTok: https://bit.ly/3VDbc77 Personal TikTok: https://bit.ly/41hmRKg REQUESTS: General case suggestion form: https://zfrmz.com/yg9cuiWjUe2QY3hSC2V0 Form for people directly related/ close to the victim: https://zfrmz.com/HGu2hZso42aHxARt1i67 Join my discord to chat with other viewers about this video, it’s free! https://discord.com/invite/an4stY9BCN C O N T A C T: For Business Inquiries - [e-mail] Send me mail: Kendall Rae 8547 E Arapahoe Rd Ste J #233 Greenwood Village, CO 80112

Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of True Crime with Kendall Rae. Thank you so much as always for joining me today. I truly, truly appreciate it. I know there is a lot of content out there on the internet these days and I really appreciate you taking the time to spend some time with me. And for any of you who are new to my show, welcome. Also, so happy to have you. So today, guys, the case that I am going to be talking about

is one that is very, very, very difficult to talk about. It's also been highly requested by so many of you. And as soon as I started learning the details, as hard as I knew it was going to be to talk about, I knew it. We absolutely needed to. We are going to be talking about Emily Pike, who was murdered at just 14 years old, just a child, just a baby really. And she was brutally and senselessly killed after she snuck out of a group home. And I mean, the story and everything surrounding it

and aftermath of it all is just so, so upsetting, but more people need to hear her story. She is one of the many indigenous people whose life has been stolen. And her case really highlights the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls that plagues this country. It's beyond inhumane what this little girl went through

and there not only needs to be justice, but truly there needs to be a major change in how the system handles cases of all missing and murdered indigenous people, which is something that we have talked about on this show countless times. I have been happy to see that Emily has gotten some coverage in really just the true crime

Podcast and creator community, which is awesome and also in some local news station. It's all fantastic, but She really needs national media attention the monster who killed this beautiful child Should not be able to escape her face and name. They should just be absolutely bombarded with what they did every single day and have to suffer with knowing what and who they stole from this world. Before I get into Emily's case, I do have an exciting announcement. I believe I mentioned this last week, but in case you missed last episode, I did want to bring it up again. missed last episode, I did want to bring it up again. I wanted to let you know that all Mile Higher Media shows, our merch is now all in one place, which is something that we have been trying to work on for quite some time. I know there have been so many people complaining about, you know, I want to get merch from

multiple Mile Higher Media shows, but the shipping, you know, you'd have to pay for shipping for all those different shows, which is totally understandably annoying. We finally fixed this issue. So everything is available at milehiremerch.com. But what's really great, and what I'm really excited to announce is that 100% of the proceeds from merch for all shows. So every single piece of merch on our website is now directly going to my foundation, H Hope, and we'll support victims of violent crime and their families as well as like-minded organizations that are, you know, doing the same thing that we are. So if you're interested in supporting Higher Hope, we could use all the support we could get so that we can help as many

people as we can and that is all available at milehighermerch.com. So check it out, see if there's anything you're interested in. Maybe you wanna get something for a friend even, or Mother's Day, Father's Day is coming up, I don't know. But we would love your support and it's an easy way to do that while also treating yourself to something nice. Her friends and tribe are desperately

seeking attention on this. And if you guys want to help, you can do so just by sharing her story, whether that's word of mouth or on social media we cannot stop talking about Emily. So with that let me tell you about what we know so far which I will warn you you know this is pretty early on in this case there is still a lot that we don't know but I just wanted to tell you what we do know for those of you who haven't already been following her case. So let's start out by just talking about Emily and who she was.

Emily Carla Pike was born on May 16th, 2010 into the San Carlos Apache tribe. And she was born on the San Carlos Apache reservation located in Southeast Arizona. Her mom's death has been as vocal as possible in the midst of all of this, but considering how recently her daughter's life was taken, there's a lot, like I said, that we don't know yet.

But what I can tell you about Emily though, is that she was such a sweet and special little girl. People remember her as having a joyful spirit, as well as a loving and kind of quirky personality, and I'm always drawn to the quirky among us. She also had a major love of K-pop and also playing the game Roblox. Emily loved all things sparkly. She loved pink, which is why I set the background colors to pink today for her.

And she also loved cats. So I hope that she would like my cat. And she told everyone that she actually wanted to be a vet when she grew up. Emily was also super artistic, and I read that she was interested in maybe pursuing art as well, all of which she should have had the opportunity to do. But at just 14 years old,

any hope for her future in accomplishing her aspirations, goals, and dreams was just taken from her, and it makes me sick to know what this poor child went through at the end of her life. You're going to hear me explain the circumstances of how her life ended here in a minute, but I just want to right off the bat remind you guys, which I almost feel I don't need to because my audience is so awesome, but just for, you know, the people that will say things, you know, I just wanted to remind everyone that she did not and could not have known better. So I just ask that you keep any of that commentary to yourself because it's not helpful to anyone.

But with all that being said, let's talk about what happened. So leading up to Emily's murder, she actually wasn't living on the reservation. Instead, she was living in a group home in Mesa, Arizona, which is about 120 miles west. A lot of people I've seen covering this case have chosen not to name the home to protect the kids who are still living there, which I think is a great decision.

I definitely wanna follow suit, but just know that she had been living in a group home. As for why she was there, that's one thing, one of the many things that we don't have a lot of insight on, but we do know that she was placed there by tribal social services. And we also know that she was likely placed there because she was struggling with her mental health and they had better resources for her than if she were on the reservation. Now there is a group home on the reservation, however, due to the high demand for child placement and limited staffing and space, it doesn't sound like there was even room for Emily there.

And one thing that I want to clarify right away here is that the home that she was in does work with the Department of Child Services or DCS to place kids, but Emily wasn't in the care of DCS. She was in the care of, like I said, Tribal Social Services and that distinction does matter. And also if, which I'm sure a lot of people are wondering about, her family and her home life, and that's another area where we just don't have a lot of clarification or answers. I can tell you though that Emily was surrounded by a community who loved her, including her parents, her grandmother, her aunts and uncles, as well as her cousins. Her father was in prison at the time of her death for criminal damage,

and again, there's not a lot of information here on that, but his incarceration didn't impact the love that he had for Emily, as far as what's been reported. I will say I especially loved learning about her relationship with her cousins. She was very, very close with her cousin, some of them, and I think the cousin bond can be very, very special. I am personally best friends with my cousin, and two of her cousins were around the same age as her, and they called themselves

the trio and they were basically inseparable and even while Emily was away they would talk to her on the phone and they would make plans for when they could finally see each other again. They were just a huge part of each other's lives which just breaks my heart thinking that they no longer have her and it shouldn't be that way. They even spoke just a few weeks before what happened and they remember her saying that she was going to be home within a month, which I guess they were excited about because they were making plans to go shopping when she came home, but this was a little confusing

because it hasn't been reported if this was a legitimate plan that they had or if this was something that Emily was independently hoping would happen. Some people think it was the latter though, especially given what happened on January 27th, 2025, very, very recently. That day at 8.19 PM, the group's home manager made a call to the Mesa Police Department to report that Emily was AWOL.

Which if you haven't heard that term, the Oxford Dictionary defines it as absent without official leave but without intent to desert. Or absent from where one should be, missing. I guess there was a local church group that had come to the group home which sort of created a distraction and she was able to slip out of her bedroom window. And according to reports, she was last seen walking near the intersection of Mesa Drive and McKellips Road at around 7 45 p.m. But after that, Emily was never seen or heard from again. And this wasn't very far from the home, so it's believed that whoever took her did so

not long after she left. And what we also don't know yet is if she knew this person or not. The group home doesn't allow cell phones, so I'm not sure if there's any type of digital trail or not. And let me just say, the way the saga, I should say, of how her disappearance was handled is going to piss you off, or at least it should. And that started with what we see in so many cases of missing

children and teenagers who are failed by the system. And that's because the missing persons report when it was taken, she was considered a runaway teen, which isn't entirely untrue. The problem though, and again, something we see a lot, is they used Emily's history of running away as an excuse to not take this seriously. I am so, so excited to finally be partnering with one of my favorite brands out there. Something that was a complete game changer for me when I was a new parent and still something I use every single day. And that is the Nanit baby monitor. This baby monitor allows you to see your baby from anywhere at any time.

So literally when I'm at work in the middle of recording a show, I can stay connected from the Nanit app. The high-def camera means that you can actually see your baby so no more grainy images where you really can't see what's happening. Every time my mom visits, she's always just complaining about how she didn't have anything like this

when I was a kid. Baby monitors truly have come so far, even back when I was babysitting It was just audio back then but the Nanit monitor captures every moment So not only do we know that our daughter is safe and sound but we also have never missed milestones And we've even gotten some of her first words on video I actually have an album saved in my camera roll of Nanit video and pictures So I can see moments where I've put her to bed and I know I'm gonna want to see that one day or moments with my husband taking her

out of the bed in the morning but especially though it gave us so much peace of mind in the early days because it allowed us to track my daughter's breathing and sleep patterns and her developmental milestones which provided me with personal insight into understanding my baby like never before and parents this adds up to more sleep for your baby and more rest for you. In fact, Nanit parents get an extra 36 nights of sleep per year. On average, parents use Nanit for four plus years. And I'm telling you, I'm still using mine. My daughter is almost three now, which is crazy, but it is so worth it. The Nanit Baby Monitor is truly

changing parenthood for the better. It's the one baby item that we can't live without. And of course, I have a special offer for my listeners. You can get 20% off your first order with code baby20. That's code B-A-B-Y 20 at nanit.com. Now, once again, N-A-N-I-T dot com nanit. Parenthood looks different here. Now, Emily's full history of how long she was in the group home actually hasn't been released but we know that she had lived there two separate times and in 2023 she ran away from the home on three different occasions. And on one of those occasions, Emily actually ran away with another child from the home

and this is really sad but every time that Emily ran away and was found by the police, she made it clear that she really did not want to go back there. In September, she and that other child who she ran away with told the Mesa police, quote, "'They did not want to go back to the group home because they make them work by scrubbing walls, baseboards, window seals, and even getting on their hands

and knees to scrub the grout on the tile.'" Now, one of them, and we're not exactly sure who, actually said that she would rather go to jail or live with her grandma than return back to the group home. And then in another September runaway incident, Emily told the officers that she didn't want to go back, quote, because it makes her uncomfortable when the staff gets into arguments with other juveniles in the home. And this is, of course, I think in my opinion, one of those things that you could never truly understand what it's like unless you have lived in a situation like this. And of course, I can't say that I understand how Emily felt because I've never lived in a group home.

And when I was researching this case and, you know, reading comments on other videos and just things on Reddit and forums, I read a lot of stories of people who have lived in these homes. And according to so many of them, these types of things seem to be very common. Some, if not a lot, or the majority of these kids are probably scared and confused and potentially not treated well. And all they really want is to be able to go back home. Obviously there are probably some group homes that are excellent and that kids do have a good experience

in but I'm telling you from just what I have read from other people's experiences, this seems to be what the majority of them are saying. And I'd love to hear from any of you out there who have experienced living in a group home and what it was like for you personally. But it really seems that a lot of them want to get out of these group homes because they either don't feel safe or don't feel comfortable. And again, I want to be really clear here that not all group homes are bad or create

that kind of environment, but some of them definitely are. And from what we just heard, it sounds like Emily wasn't happy and really, really did not want to be there. And a lot of people have questioned whether the home that she was staying in was doing a good job of protecting kids. It's been reported that in the last three years the Mesa police have responded to over 80 calls from that home specifically 42 of which were for missing persons and of those 42 calls 30 resulted in missing persons reports being filed now I don't want to downplay this at all But I do feel it's important that I explain it a little bit further because I've seen a lot of coverage on this, especially in early reporting where people say things like, wow, this group home has had 30 kids run away in just three years, which of course it does kind of sound like that.

But that was 30 reports for 18 kids and that is a horrible number still. I mean, 18 kids is too many. One kid is too many. But I think it's really important when it comes to these cases that we stick to the facts as much as possible. But yeah to clear some of the confusion in this case up it was 30 runaway instances for 18 kids. So basically if a child ran away twice, that is counted as two of the reports. I just wanted to explain that a little further because I think especially in the true crime space it's so important that we stick to the facts and saying things like that just perpetuates misinformation. But still

that doesn't change how I feel about this group home and about other group homes I've learned about. I mean, I definitely question this specific group home's ability to protect children who stay there. And even though 18 of those runaways were found, two of them were not. One of them, of course, being Emily, but there's also another young girl named Veronica Cruz.

Now she disappeared from this group home in March of 2024 and she has yet to be found and that alone should have been an indication that there needed to be change. But instead, Emily was able to slip out of her window where she was quickly met with what can only be described as horror. So in the state of Arizona, it is the law that when a child in state custody goes missing, they need to notify the authorities within one day. But since Emily was under the care of Tribal Social Services, that law actually didn't apply. Now, we know that the group home made the report that night and that the Mesa police

did report her as missing to the National Crime Information Center that night as well. But nobody, not even the police, thought to notify Emily's family. This is absolutely maddening, but it took a full week before her mom got a call from her daughter's case manager that her daughter was missing. I'm sorry, but you can't tell me the police were trying that hard to find her

if they didn't go to her mother first. It just makes no sense. And listen to this, Mesa police said that it wasn't their responsibility to notify her family. Yes, they actually said that. Instead, they said that the group home should have told her case manager who then should have told her family.

And honestly, I don't care what the protocol is, it's all just ridiculous and makes no sense. But at the end of the day, you tell the family if their child is missing. But they didn't. They waited a week and so tons of precious time was wasted. Her family could have spent time getting the word out or going around, putting out flyers, talking to people they knew, just looking for her, but instead they had no idea that she was gone. The police did start to circulate flyers as well as canvas the immediate area,

but apparently since they categorized her as a runaway, she didn't meet the requirements of an Amber Alert, which I have also covered cases on all of our shows where this happens. I will never understand, it makes no sense to me. It is so, so frustrating. And the vibe I really get here, and again, this is just my opinion, is it seems that everyone thought that since she ran away that she would just be coming back.

And so they didn't think or care to look any harder, even though there is a 14-year-old child out there on her own who knows where and who knows in whose hands. Which is just wrong on so many levels, but especially when you consider the fact that indigenous women and girls are murdered and go missing at a disproportionately higher rate than other people.

And the state of Arizona is actually ranked third for the largest number of MMIWG cases behind New Mexico and Washington. The data literally proves that Emily was a high-risk individual and yet she was not treated that way even remotely. And I don't care what her history was and I don't care if she chose to run away. It honestly doesn't matter at all. She did not deserve to be killed. And the fact that this wasn't a high priority from the start is why so many people are calling for change, and have been for so long. Are you tired of figuring out what's for dinner night after night, especially on those

busy weekdays? Well, get dinner done the easy way thanks to HelloFresh. It's easy to find time to eat well with 50 wholesome, hassle-free meals to choose from each week that are delivered right to your door. And HelloFresh's new ready-made meals go from fridge to your fork in just 3 minutes you guys, that's insane. But it's still the same high quality ingredients and restaurant worthy flavor that you expect from HelloFresh, just none of the work. Their lineup of prep and bake meals come together with minimal mess and only 5 minutes of prep so your oven does most of the work, not you. HelloFresh's 15-minute meals are done in just three simple steps

so that you can eat better this year without all the hassle. There are so many options with HelloFresh, and I love that they're changing it up every single week so you never get bored. And you can even cut back on trips to the grocery store thanks to HelloFresh Market. There's over 100 add-on items that you can add to your weekly box,

like quick breakfast, packable snacks, beverages, and more. For me, it's all about the time saved and honestly the mental load saved. Not having to think about the grocery store and getting all the ingredients you're going to need. You just pick out your meal and everything's going to come right to your door. That's truly the best part to me. So get up to 10 free meals and a free high protein item for life at hellfresh.com slash Kendall Rae 10 FM.

That's one item per box with active subscription. Free meals applied as discount on first box. New subscribers only, varies by plan. That's up to 10 free HelloFresh meals. Just go to HelloFresh.com slash KendallRae10FM. Which unfortunately brings me to the hardest part to talk about in this case, which is finding Emily's body. Very recently on Valentine's Day,

February 14th, 2025 officers with the Gila County Sheriff's Office were notified by civilians about suspicious trash bags in a remote area just off of the highway. And when officers arrived, they discovered multiple contractor trash bags, which contained dismembered human remains. The remains were located in a very remote area off of Highway 60 near mile marker 277 and 4 Service Road 355 just outside of Globe, Arizona.

And based on where she was left, it seems as though someone had pulled into the service road to toss her body before making their escape in an unknown direction. Now, Highway 60 can take you all the way from Arizona to Virginia. And in context of where Emily was last seen, her dump site was 100 miles to the east. And it was also in the direction of her reservation,

which has led many people to believe that maybe that's where she was trying to go. Like maybe she was hitchhiking or something, that could be a possibility here. And this just makes me sick to think about. But do you want to know how her family and everyone else found out about this? Through a leaked memo on Facebook. Yep, you heard that right. Someone in law enforcement accidentally posted an internal memo to the Sheriff's Office Facebook page and I can't even begin to understand how someone would make a mistake of this magnitude. It is

beyond strange to me. It's so negligent. It almost feels and this is just my opinion. It almost feels like And this is just my opinion. It almost feels like Purposeful, but at the same time I'm like why why would anyone do that? But how could you be dumb enough to make a mistake like that? It's just so I Cannot understand it and it was horrible. It was horrible because it contained graphic Descriptions of what had been found. Also, I just wanted to quickly note that this memo is very graphic. What I'm about to say is very graphic, very upsetting, so that's your warning to skip forward or to just close out now. But I hope that you'll stay even though it's difficult to hear because

Emily's story really needs to be heard. This memo shared that an unidentified female was found dismembered in contractor trash bags and that a head and a torso were found in one bag, and that legs were found in another. It was mentioned that her head and face showed visible signs of trauma, and to this day, her arms and hands have never been found. And I know that that information is brutal to hear, extremely terrifying, and I mean, there aren't even words for it.

It is so horrific, but I think it's important that we share what exactly happened to her, what this child went through probably at the end of her life. Now they didn't name Emily directly in this leaked Facebook memo. Absurd, I don't even have words for it, it's so wild. But it was pretty clear that she was who they were talking about. And get this guys, they even included photos of the crime scene in this post,

including the trash bags that she was found in. Can you even imagine what that would be like for anyone to see, let alone her own family and loved ones, her friends? It is horrific beyond words. It is such a massively disgusting mistake that I just, oh my God, it makes me so angry that this could ever have happened. Not to mention that anyone could have seen that post and then gone to the crime scene, gone to the

spot where it happened, and possibly destroyed evidence, especially since it was so early on. I mean, it is just such a massive fuck up. And I'm sorry for my language there. Another word just doesn't seem to cover how messed up this situation is. And to say that this was careless feels like an understatement, but all of this just truly speaks to how cases with indigenous people, indigenous victims are handled. So to say that this absolutely outraged their community would be an understatement.

I mean, they are so, so angry beyond words as they should be. And what makes it even worse is there hasn't even been an apology. Just a follow-up memo that came out on February 26th which didn't do a whole lot of explaining at all it reads in part on February 14th 2025 the remains of an unidentified female were found. The Gila County Sheriff's Office in conjunction with the San Carlos Apache Tribal Police began an investigation. Due to the circumstances, it was decided that further information was needed before any public notification. There was no indication that there was an active threat to the community.

Unfortunately, the information on Facebook was intended only for law enforcement agencies and was leaked. GCSO detectives are currently working long hours to make positive identification and find any information and evidence. I do get that this was an official statement, but it is shocking how little sympathy or responsibility there was. I mean, there was really no... no accountability at all, no real recognition of what a massive mistake this was, and really no apology whatsoever or any attempt at anything close

to that. And also, I don't know if you caught this, but they said that there's no active threat and that just pissed off everyone, the whole community, because to suggest that there's no active threat, it makes no sense. That has been so upsetting to so many people to hear. I think we can all agree that someone who is willing to kidnap and then dismember a 14 year old girl has either done this before or is sick enough in the head to do it again. Even if they are trying to say that this is an isolated incident and even if it is, I understand why people are scared

and angry. And the next day everything that people in the community and her loved ones were fearing came true because the sheriff's office confirmed that these remains did in fact belong to Emily Pike. This confirmation came through both dental records and a DNA sample submitted by her mom. The remains of a 14 year old girl were recently found in a wooded area outside of Globe. The teen had been missing after she walked away from a group home.

12 news journalist Sean Rice is joining us where those remains were found with some new emerging details on her death Sean. How did 14 year-old Emily Pike disappear from a Mesa group home in 2 weeks later have her remains found right here where I'm standing off Forest Road 3 55 around 20 miles northeast of the town of Globe. That's a question that Gila County Sheriff's Office and the San Carlos Apache Police Department are desperately trying to answer January 27 2025. That's the date Mesa police say young Emily Pike walked away from a Mesa group home in the area of Mesa Drive and McEllips for over two weeks.

She was considered a missing person or a runaway teen. Then on February 14th, parts of Emily's remains were found here in a desolate area off of Highway 60 northeast of Globe. For over a week and a half, the community had no idea that Pike's remains had been found until

the Gila County Sheriff's Office accidentally leaked more details on Facebook that were only meant for other law enforcement agencies. In that post, they revealed that Emily's head and torso were found in black trash bags and her arms and hands were still missing.

During this time, the case still being investigated as a homicide, but the Sheriff's Office and other agencies were intending to keep this information close to the, Emily's mom did end up saying a few things publicly and understandably, it's been hard for her to say a lot given the anguish that she is probably dealing with right now, but she did share how difficult all of this has been for her. Steph also said that she just doesn't understand why this happened, why her daughter, an innocent child had to be killed. She said that it's gonna be especially hard when Emily's 15th birthday comes around.

However, she wants to make sure to celebrate her this year and every year that follows. My heart truly breaks for her mother. I mean, Emily was her baby and now she's gone. And she doesn't have any understanding as to what happened or why. And I would really like to believe that something is being done about it. I'm hopeful that it is.

I mean, trying to be, but a lot of it seems to be being kept very close to the vest at this point. Steph has said that she has been told that they have three suspects that they're looking into, which you would think sounds promising. But the sheriff's office has actually stated that they have no suspects or even persons of interest at this point. And all they've said that they have is a few leads that they are following up on. And I don't know what that means. Missing out on a show that everyone is talking about is just not an option for me. I absolutely love following the latest TV shows and I'm constantly signing up for this

streaming service or that one and then a few months later I realize I've still been paying for the service long after I finished that show. But that all changed for me when I started using Rocket Money because they found my unwanted subscriptions and helped me cancel them so I never had to worry about them slipping through the cracks again. Now if you haven't heard of Rocket Money, it's a personal finance app that helps you find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps to lower your bills so that you can grow your savings.

See all of your subscriptions in one place and know exactly where your money is going and for ones you don't want anymore, Rocket Money can help you cancel them. Rocket Money's dashboard gives you a clear view of your expenses across all of your accounts and it's so nice that it's all in one place and then you easily can create a personalized budget with custom categories to help keep your spending on track. See your monthly spending trends in each category to know exactly where your money is going. They also alert you if your bills are going to increase in price or if there's unusual spending activity or maybe you're close to going over budget.

And here's the best part and I don't think a lot of people know this about Rocket Money but they will even try to negotiate to lower your bills for you. They automatically scan your bills to find opportunities to save and then you can ask them to negotiate. But the best part of it all guys is they deal with the customer service so you don't have to. Rocket Money has over 5 million users and has saved a total of 500 million in cancelled subscriptions saving members up to $740 a year when using all of the apps premium features and we have premium.

We absolutely love it. I highly recommend. So cancel your unwon subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Just go to rocketmoney.com slash Kendall Ray today. That's rocketmoney.com slash Kendall Ray. One more time rocketmoney.com slash Kendall Ray. Oh, and just for clarification, it's the Gila County Sheriff's Office who is taking the lead since that's where Emily was found.

But what's difficult is we don't actually know where Emily was killed. We know where she was last seen and we know where she was found, but we're missing a crucial piece of this puzzle. And so obviously, finding this third location is crucial because it could help explain what happened to her. And the contractor bags that she was found in are also going to be very critical. I can imagine and I hope that they're being tested for DNA and fingerprints, but the type of bags that these were could also speak to the person who did it potentially.

I don't know, maybe it could give us insight on their occupation potentially, or could help figure out where they were purchased. I mean, any insight at this point would be good insight, right? And hell, right now, we don't even know what her cause of death was. And a lot of people have questioned why her hands haven't been found. And if you, you know, are really into true crime in general, fall a lot of cases or potentially work in law enforcement or something similar, you may understand

there are several reasons why someone wouldn't want the hands of their victim to be found. But it's a very interesting point that people have brought up because one of the potential reasons for this is could Emily have fought her attacker? Is it possible that she may have gotten some of their DNA under her fingernails?

So it's possible that they were hidden in a more concealed location. Because when you think about it, whoever did this dumped Emily in a remote location, but they didn't conceal her that well. I truly hate talking about cases where people were dismembered. I think it is so, so disturbing. But one thing I have learned over the years is that sometimes killers will conceal certain

body parts, specifically the hands being one of them, in a different location and try to make them harder to find to avoid the victim from being identified. It's possible that they were hoping that if her remains were found they wouldn't be able to figure out who she was or maybe they just didn't want her to be found at all. I'm sure that was a goal as well, but there's something to be said about how and where she was found. I hope that all of those details are being considered. I'm sure they are. The FBI, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the San Carlos Apache Tribal Police

have stepped in to help support this investigation. I'm really, really glad to hear that. I hope they can really work together to get this beautiful little girl justice. And I will say, it does give me some hope that this many organizations have started coming together for Emily. Emily's case has sparked a major flame when it comes to discussing the disappearances and murders of indigenous people. And on one hand, it's good to see that happening more and more over the years, but it's horrible that things like this have to happen for people

to talk about it. A 14-year-old shouldn't have to be found in trash bags for people to care about the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous people. And quite frankly, the conversations that are being had, as great as they are, aren't enough. I mean, even me covering this case isn't enough. And I've seen a lot of support from the true crime community on Emily's case specifically, which is incredible to see.

I feel like there has been so much growth in the true crime space over the years. And I'm so thrilled to see that. But, and like I said, the local news media has picked this up to some degree as well, and that's great. But like I also said earlier, there has been zero national coverage, and her case absolutely deserves that,

absolutely needs that, and it hasn't happened yet. And why it hasn't been picked up by the national media really just speaks to the problem, right? I mean, indigenous people are largely viewed as invisible to our society. And that's not just my opinion, that's a fact. And understanding Native American history, particularly the oppression and marginalization, is something that we all need to take the time to educate ourselves about.

And if you already have taken the time to educate yourself about it, educate yourself about it more and try to educate others. Because choosing not to learn and recognize this history is frankly just choosing to ignore and isolate a group of people who deserve the same respect and attention as anyone else. And maybe if there's more conversation and better education, more awareness, maybe some of these horrifying statistics can be improved. A 2016 study by the National Institute of Justice found that 84% of American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced violence in their lifetime,

including 56% who have experienced sexual violence. According to the Indian Health Service, an average of 40% of women involved in sex trafficking are identified as American Indian and Alaska Native. And get this, homicide is the third leading cause of death for Native girls aged 15 to 19 and women aged 20 to 24. Really let that one sink in. It's the third leading cause of death.

And not to mention, and again, let this one really sink in, the murder rates for native women are more than 10 times the national average. Okay? This is a crisis to say the least and it disproportionately affects indigenous communities, especially women and girls. And with the lack of coverage on these cases, there is little to no accountability. This epidemic has been swept under the rug countless times for so long, and it just can't keep happening. It makes no sense. And thankfully, Emily's case is getting some traction, but it can't be for nothing. Now, there have been endless marches and vigils since the news of Emily's murder broke which really aimed to highlight these very issues. Just a day after they announced

that the remains were Emily's, the San Carlos Apache tribe rallied together to raise awareness and it's really because of their effort that we know about what happened. And the photos from these rallies guys, they have been so incredibly powerful. And if you're just listening to this episode, I really want to encourage you to look some of these photos up. They're just so impactful. And you know, the saying a picture says a thousand words, I think heavily applies here.

It's just so important that you see them for yourself to understand the impact and the pain that these communities are experiencing constantly. And these vigils and rallies for Emily were happening very frequently. Just recently on March 4th, there was a vigil held near Mesa Drive and McKellips Road, where Emily was last seen, and there was well over 100 people there to show their support. And it wasn't only her tribe, but tribes from all over the valley came to Mesa as well. And it wasn't only her tribe, but tribes from all over the valley came to Mesa as well. It's a song for those who mourn.

This is not just a simple little story. This is a 14 year old girl. The way she died is not OK. Our communities here are hurting. Native Americans from all over the valley in Mesa to remember 14 year old Emily Pike, who went missing late in January and found dead on February 14th off Highway 60 northeast of Globe. Authorities found her body dismembered.

They're investigating it as murder. Pike's aunt remembering the joy she was. Emily was artistic. She was kind. She was funny. Her grandma explained to her that she was quirky. She was always laughing. Pike was part of the San Carlos Apache tribe. Her death highlighting a troubling trend. Native

American women go missing and are murdered at a much higher rate than those of other populations. It's why passions run high. And police have shut down the intersection as supporters of Emily and her family take to the streets to call for justice and to remember her name. They should be aware that this is real. We don't always have all the resources we need to help solve these cases. Emily's aunt said that her niece sparked the world which is now on fire because of her. And that was just so powerful to me. Her case is igniting, continuing to ignite long overdue change and it's about damn time.

And very quickly a memorial was created on the corner of the intersection where Emily disappeared from, making it so that people not only have a place to memorialize her, but so that people can't ignore what happened. And the next day, there was another vigil in Mesa where hundreds more took to the streets shouting, say her name, demanding that justice be served. Dozens of posters could be seen with Emily's name on them, both advocating for justice and for the reform that needs to take place in order to prevent this from happening again. And the spokesperson for Emily's family said that seeing these large crowds

really truly touched their hearts because it gave them comfort and strength in a time where they needed it most. And these large crowds have really come out full force and they have kept it up for a while. On March 10th, there was a quote, day of action held at the Arizona State Capitol to call for justice where more than 100 people marched with the goal of urging lawmakers to make changes when it comes to the crisis of missing

and murdered indigenous people. And listen to this, a 2016 urban Indian health report showed that out of 5,712 cases of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, only 116 were logged into the Department of Justice database. And I want to say those numbers again so that it really sinks in because I don't think a lot of people truly understand how bad this epidemic has actually gotten. Okay, so 5,712 cases of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, and only 116 of those, 116 out of 5,712

have actually been logged into the Department of Justice's database. Doesn't that make you just wanna bash your head on the wall? It blows my mind. And it's not like people are just calling for action without a solution.

They have a solution or at least a plan of something that can start to solve this problem. For example, House Bill 2281 aims to establish an Amber Alert style system specifically for missing indigenous people. And it would operate just like Amber and Silver Alerts and would ensure that indigenous individuals receive the same priority

when it comes to notifying the public. The bill was actually introduced in January of 2025 before Emily even went missing, but in the aftermath of her murder, the push to get it approved has really been expedited. At four o'clock today, Lucha will have activists out here in front of the state capital rallying in honor of Emily and other missing and murdered indigenous girls and women. This comes as a piece of legislation is moving through the legislature that would add an amber alert style system for the indigenous community. Now this legislation started actually before Emily went missing,

but recently just passed the House unanimously and is on its way to the Senate where it will be heard in a public safety committee on Wednesday. The sponsor of this bill says this legislation would create systematic change for the indigenous community. And we don't have the appropriate data,

the jurisdiction and the resources to address when indigenous people go missing. And so this bill helps not address it completely, but starts taking away at the main issue. And I'm happy to say there actually has been a positive movement with this bill. In February, it actually passed unanimously in the House. And then in March, it passed unanimously by the Senate Public Safety Committee. So now it's going to be heard by the Senate. And if it passes there, it's going to go to governor Katie Hobbs

where she can either sign it into law or veto it. And hopefully with how things are trending, I really, really hope and I expect that she will sign it into law. Because if she doesn't, in my mind, she is just a terrible person and I wouldn't be able to understand why anyone wouldn't sign it into law.

Just makes sense, right? But I feel confident that she will. I really, really hope she will. And then another really big issue that needs to be addressed is the lack of communication between different law enforcement agencies. Because when tribal police don't communicate with local and federal authorities and vice versa, that's where serious problems occur.

The Not Invisible Act of 2019 was signed into law, and it aimed at improving the coordination among these agencies to combat violence against the indigenous. It also established a commission to help make recommendations for improving teamwork and finding the best ways to support survivors and families of victims as it relates to the MMIP epidemic. And then there are other bills as well, like the Arizona House Bill 2479 that have been passed to help when it comes to the mandated reporting of missing or runaway children. And of course, all of this is great, but the problems aren't solved yet.

And like anything, it does take time for these systems and laws to truly work and really it's going to be up to all of us to make sure that the pressure doesn't go away. Okay we've got to keep the momentum going and just because these laws are being signed doesn't mean that we can ignore what's happening or pretend like it's getting better. But getting back to Emily's case I wanted to talk about Emily's grandmother, Agatha. And she has also spoken out about the pain that this has caused for their family and that she and her granddaughter were incredibly close.

Agatha Key is Emily's biological grandmother. Crying a lot. She says Emily was always a nice, sweet, quiet girl that got good grades. I miss her. How could we imagine what happened to her? Her death is now being investigated as a homicide by the Gila County Sheriff's Office in the San Carlos Apache Tribal Police and so far no

arrest have been made and the fact that no arrests have been made yet is really frustrating because I get that she was found in a remote location, but where she was abducted was a busy street. And law enforcement has said that they have found surveillance footage of Emily walking in the area, so of course I understand that they can't release everything, and I guess we just have to hope that they were able to capture someone picking her up or

at least someone near her or someone in the area that they are considering a person of interest or that they have a lead on something. It seems that they are really focusing on tips from the public to help get Emily justice and they have even created an online tip portal where people can submit any information they have and of course I'm going to link that below in the description of this episode and the show notes if you are listening on a podcast platform. Now another big update did come out more recently in mid-March. That's when DCS announced that they were opening a licensing inquiry into the group home where Emily had been staying. However, a spokesperson from the department did say that they don't believe any action the group home took caused what happened to Emily and

Coincidentally or maybe not just a day after this was announced someone from the group home Finally decided to speak out and I'll link the article for you guys with all the questions that they were asked and answered But to summarize it there was a lot of skirting around the issue in my opinion. One thing that was very strange in my opinion was when this person was asked why the staff doesn't go out and look for kids when they run away. And the answer was basically that they're a hands-off facility. Like they don't physically touch the kids if they run away.

And okay, but that's not what's being asked here. They want to know why they didn't go out and look. We They want to know why they didn't go out and look. We all want to know why they didn't go out and look, not why they don't touch the kids. It was just a super weird answer in my opinion. Oh, and speaking of the group home, Emily's roommate actually spoke out and had some very interesting things to say as well.

Now it is a little unclear if she was her current roommate or if she lived there previously and got this information from another girl, but she said that Emily used the church group as a distraction to slip out and see a boy that she met while taking guitar lessons. And I'm sure you guys want to know more about this and believe me, so do I. I would love to know who this is or if this has been looked into more. We don't really have anything more than that, I would assume. I really do think that. It's got to be something that the police are actively looking into.

And the roommate was also the one to share that Emily was in the home because of her struggles with mental health, because they supposedly had better resources for her. The tragic story of Emily Pike seen by millions. After the 14 year old's dismembered body was found in eastern Arizona on Valentine's Day, her remains stuffed into trash bags. But the story hits hardest for those who lived with Emily in the Mesa group home like her roommate who were calling Chelsea to protect her identity. My relationship with

Emily was just like trying to steer her in the right direction because it's hard being in the group home. Chelsea says she lived at the group home near Mesa Drive in McEllips for four years and that Emily lived there two different times. Emily was from the San Carlos Apache Reservation,

and Chelsea says she struggled with mental health and there were better resources in the valley. While Chelsea recently moved out, she's in contact with many of the girls still living there. She says Emily left the home in late January because she wanted to visit a boy she met while taking guitar lessons. Chelsea says at the time Emily left,

a church group was conducting activities at the group home. What it looked like was that the church was there and that served as a distraction of when Emily left she left because she wanted to go out and see the boy that she liked and she

wanted to talk to him. She either used the back door. She used the window and she left as everyone to him. She either use the back door. She used the window and she left as everyone was distracted. Based on where Emily's remains were found off Highway 60 heading northeast, Chelsea believes she was just trying to go home. I feel like she just ran away

and she got she was trying to hitchhike back to her reservation to see her parents and she just got picked up by the wrong person. And something that I keep just coming back to is, of course, it may not have been the group home's responsibility to keep an eye on Emily 24-7 necessarily, but it is definitely their job to keep her safe. And again, in my opinion, I don't believe they did that. I know that they reported her missing as soon as they realized that she was gone, but the

whole thing just feels very negligent to me. And just as with law enforcement, they should have contacted her family right away. And they didn't, which just wasted precious time. Emily's uncle, Allred Pike Jr., has been a voice for justice in her case, and he has really emphasized the pain that this has caused. Especially because Emily's dad is in jail, he says that's been one of the hardest parts. He believes if her case had been paid more attention to in the beginning, or maybe if she wasn't treated only as a runaway, we might already have answers by now.

And that is really just a sad fact of this case is that Emily had a history of running away and because of that, they decided to assume that that's what happened and that she was going to come back. Now there is a task force that was put together for her case, but that wasn't even put together until three weeks after her remains were identified. So why did it take them so long to do that? Also I wanted to note that the San Carlos Tribal Council is offering a $75,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person responsible,

and I hope that's enough to get someone talking. The tribe is also doing an independent study to review their internal processes to determine where improvements can be made, and I'm very happy to see that. They also want to find ways to improve the group home standards off the reservation so something like this doesn't happen again. Specifically, they're requesting that state leaders investigate and tighten regulation for state licensed residential groups. And here's a quote on this. This investigation should carefully review the safety, security, monitoring, licensing, and operational standards for group homes and determine how these could be strengthened to prevent children from leaving their care without permission. We ask that your recommendations be presented to the

legislature to be considered an appropriate legislation that is named in honor of Emily Pike." There really has been such a beautiful sense of community in all of this, which of course by no means makes any of this okay, but you know, there's I think some comfort and hope in that. And I wanted to highlight a couple examples. A handful of artists actually came together to paint the most beautiful mural of Emily. And it's not only an incredible depiction of her beauty and her warmth, but it's filled with painted red handprints of people who wanted to honor her and show their support,

including her moms. And I'm sure a lot of you know this, but the red handprint is a symbol that's used in the MMIWG movement, which represents the voices of Indigenous women and girls who have been silenced and haven't had their voices heard. Emily may no longer be here, but her story is always going to live on and that is something that I'm sure of. And seeing how vigils and rallies have been held not only in Arizona, but all around the country shows that she is a uniting force, not just for her own case, but for all missing and murdered indigenous people. Also, the case of Leo Harry White has gained some attention during all of this and get this. He is also Native American and he was found off of Highway 60 and mile marker 277. Just like Emily. I mean,

it wasn't the exact same spot, but it was pretty close. And he was found shot to death in a car in 2021 and his case has gone cold. And I'm guessing a lot of you haven't heard of him because it has gotten zero attention. And I mean, I know I hadn't heard of him because it has gotten zero attention. And I mean, I know I hadn't heard of him. And then there's Alexander Esky, another name who has been brought up a lot recently. He went missing in June of 2020, and his family is still desperately seeking answers. Now more recently in Emily's case, towards the end of March, a 12 page police report was released from the Mesa Police Department.

And this gave us more insight into Emily's past and the timeline of her case. And I've already shared what we know about her past, but there are a few things from that that I wanted to highlight. Specifically that on February 11th, the police were notified by an employee of the group home that they received a voicemail from an anonymous caller who claimed that Emily was back home on the reservation with her mom. And what's strange though is that this call came in on February 2nd and they say it wasn't listened to until the 7th.

Leaving four days that they didn't report this and what reason did they have to hold on to this information? I have no idea. I mean obviously it didn't turn out to be true as confirmed by Emily's mom but still. We also did learn that Emily was taking some type of medication for what they described as behavioral issues, but I wasn't able to find out any more about this. Obviously, as you can tell, this is one of those cases where there is just so much we still just don't know.

There are so many unanswered questions. I really hope I have to believe that these questions are going to be answered. And the reason I say I believe that is because from what I've seen in her community, nobody is giving up on this little girl and they will continue to fight until justice is served. Emily was laid to rest at the end of March where hundreds of people gathered in her memory at the San Carlos High School Gym, and a lot of those people were wearing pink. It was a beautiful but deeply emotional celebration of life

where they honored Emily through photos and stories vowing to never give up in the fight for justice. And it was actually a two-day memorial and wake, and her body had been escorted by a motorcycle group so that they could lay her to rest safely. And I did read that her dad was allowed to attend the wake, however, he was not able to attend the memorial and burial. And again, these pictures just, they're so powerful.

They really capture the emotion of it all and the pain that this community and her loved ones are experiencing. And all I can really say is how badly I'm hoping that justice comes soon, that answers come soon. There have been volunteer led search efforts to find the rest of Emily's remains. And I know that bringing all of her home is something that everyone wants.

Searches have also been conducted by law enforcement, but it sounds like right now they're holding off on doing any anymore until new i I've gone to the location has been searching a part wanting to come home and wanting us to come and fi the area while has led sm

searches for Emily Pike's remains for myself as a parent, knowing that we did put in that full effort and whether her remains be found or not. It brings you a bit of closure, but she's raising questions on what efforts are being taken by local and federal law enforcement. We need a crew out there. We need people out there. We need drones out there. The Hela County Sheriff's Office tells the ABC 15 investigators that they've conducted additional searches in the area with multiple agencies and cadaver dogs. They say that they'll

do more searches if there's new information or evidence that would lead them to specific areas. God has gained another beautiful angel. Hundreds coming out to honor Emily, both Friday and Saturday, services were held to remember the team. As a Native American person, as an Apache person, no. She's still out there. We have to go look for her. the You don't want anything like this for anybody.

And for us as Native Americans, we have a belief system where. Having all of her there, regardless what the condition is, is completing her journey. Twilight plans to continue searches, hoping there will soon be a larger focus and more direction to bring

Emily home. Let's find her. Let's bring her home. Let's bring peace and closure for the family, for the community. I've been checking daily for updates. I just literally checked right now as I'm recording this and there's no information as of right now. But if anything comes out, I will pin a comment and put in the description or show notes any new information that comes out. I mentioned earlier that she likely didn't have a cell phone, but I'm wondering if there's any kind of digital trail somewhere. And I've also heard people talking about how she played the game Roblox, which I know a

lot of young people play. And I've also, as much as I don't know really anything about Roblox, I I know a lot of young people play and I've also, as much as I don't know really anything about Roblox, I've heard that I've seen a lot actually about how it can be a breeding ground for predators. I know it's an online game and I'm not sure if she had access to a computer or phone to play it. So yeah, I'm not entirely sure if she even was on Roblox. That's just kind of something people have been talking about. Obviously, your mind can go a million different

places when trying to figure out what happened or how she could have ended up in the hands of the wrong person. But at the end of the day, all that really matters is justice. So we need to continue to say her name, need to continue to spread awareness and that means sharing any information that you can about Emily's case Whether that's just by word of mouth to people that you know Whether that's posting on your social media or sharing any type of coverage whether it's my episode someone else's coverage a news Special an article anything like that anything that you can do to spread awareness on Emily's case would be deeply appreciated by her loved ones in her community. And as I mentioned earlier, we're in the process of reaching out to Emily's family

to see what we can do about getting them a HOPE grant, which I hope can support them. They did have a GoFundMe at one point, but they actually did close it after receiving $27,000 in donations. So if they aren't looking for more financial help, I'm sure we can find a way to raise the reward for information, something like that. I mean, we have various ways that we can help them through the foundation, so I hope that we're able to do so. But again, if you guys want to help out yourself, don't underestimate the power of just spreading

awareness. But most importantly, above all else, if you have any information regarding her murder, please contact the Gila County Sheriff's Detective at 928-200-2352, the Bureau of Indian Affairs Special Agent at 505-917-7830, or the San Carlos Apache Tribal Police Detective at 928-475-7252. I so desperately wish I had more to share with you about Emily's case. I know the information is very, very limited and that makes these cases so frustrating, but they are still very important to talk about. So I really appreciate all of you who stuck through this entire episode, listened to everything that I had to say on this and really listened to what the

community is trying to get people to understand because we have to see these changes. You know, the deaths of indigenous people cannot be in vain. There are so many, just like Emily that we have to remember and we have to make these changes or this is just going to continue to happen. I really want to hear your thoughts on the case about the epidemic as a whole, you know, especially from those of you who have experienced this yourself. As always, I definitely want to hear from you all as far as your thoughts on the case. I would love to see some positive comments as you guys always do for her loved ones in

case they come across this coverage because those comments really go a long way. I know that firsthand from speaking to victims families who have come on the show. You guys are just so awesome and I'm so so grateful for this audience. I truly am. I can't say it enough. I know it's probably annoying how much I say that, but I really, really appreciate you guys. I'm so proud of this audience that truly, truly cares about justice for all victims.

That is gonna be it for me today, guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode and make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple podcasts. It really does help me out. If you wanna watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked, or you can just search Kendall Rae. I will be back with another episode soon,

but until then, stay safe out there.