The Justice Department has announced the results of a six-month surge operation, “Operation Not Forgotten,” aimed at addressing violent crime in Indian Country, including cases involving missing or murdered Indigenous persons. Over this period, 64 FBI personnel were temporarily assigned to support investigations in ten field offices: Albuquerque, Denver, Detroit, Jackson (Mississippi), Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Portland (Oregon), Seattle, and Salt Lake City.
This operation was conducted in partnership with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and tribal law enforcement agencies. It marks the most extensive national deployment of FBI resources to address crime in Indian Country to date.
“These dedicated efforts by FBI agents, together with the BIA and our tribal law enforcement partners, have solved crimes, protected victims of violence, and brought much needed safety and security to communities in Indian country,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “We will never forget the crime victims whose cases remain unsolved, and we will continue our pursuit until justice is served.”
“One of the biggest problems tribal communities face is the vast amount of land to account for, requiring significant resources to crush violent crime,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “As FBI Director, I’m committed to surging personnel to these areas and working hand-in-hand with Tribal partners. Operation Not Forgotten is a major step forward in giving these communities the justice that they deserve.”
The operation included assistance from 36 members of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing and Murdered Unit (BIA MMU). Together with FBI staff, they supported more than 330 investigations. The BIA MMU provided technical expertise such as ground-penetrating radar and underwater cameras for searches.
In fiscal year 2025 alone, initiatives under the FBI’s Indian Country program resulted in charges against 1,260 individuals, 1,123 arrests made, recovery of 304 weapons, and identification or location of 458 child victims.
“The United States Attorney’s Office in Arizona continues to bring the most cases related to crimes affecting tribal members in the country” said United States Attorney Timothy Courchaine. “The national surge in resources brought much needed assets to tribal communities in a number of the twenty-two Indian reservations located throughout the state. Thanks to the continued work of our tribal, FBI, and BIA partners, Assistant United States Attorneys in our office will continue to bring justice for crime victims and their communities.”
“Agents assigned to Indian Country offices have significant caseloads and most of those cases include extremely violent crimes,” said FBI Phoenix Acting Special Agent in Charge Matt Schaeffer. “The surge of resources here in Arizona thanks to Operation Not Forgotten provided our agents some additional help to move cases along quicker and served as a force multiplier with the primary goal of helping victims and ensuring that justice is served.”
During this period in Arizona specifically—April through September 2025—the U.S. Attorney’s Office opened approximately 154 investigations into violent crime on tribal lands and obtained over 73 indictments or complaints.
Among those prosecuted were Kevin Ronnie Tungovia (charged with sexual abuse of a minor and drug offenses) who allegedly gave methamphetamine to a minor during sexual acts; he remains detained pending trial. Another case involved Richard Alex Buitimea who was sentenced to ten years after being convicted for possession of child pornography discovered through an alert from NCMEC leading authorities to over one thousand images on his Google Drive account.
Indian Country continues to face high rates of violent crime; at the start of fiscal year 2025 there were about 4,300 open investigations by the FBI related to deaths (over 900), child abuse (1,000), domestic violence/adult sexual abuse (over 500), among others.
Operation Not Forgotten builds on earlier efforts initiated under Executive Order 13898 during President Trump’s administration that established a task force on missing/murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives. This marks its third deployment; over three years it has supported more than 760 cases resulting collectively in hundreds arrested or charged and nearly two thousand victims or families assisted.
Further support comes from programs like MMIP Regional Outreach which places attorneys/community coordinators across U.S. Attorneys’ Offices nationwide focused on prevention/response regarding missing or murdered Indigenous people.
