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Missing Children’s Day May 25th – looking back at the 1979 case of Carlota Sanchez and Elsie Luscier

Tomorrow, May 25th is National Missing Children’s Day. It’s a day to honor the people who have made it a focus to protect children and bring abusers to justice. This is also a day to recognize the children who remain missing – hoping that shedding some light on cases will trigger a vital tip.

Among our cases that remain open, one dates back to 1979 and has ties to a local tribal community. Carlota Sanchez and Elsie Luscier were cousins from Taholah, Wash., they were reportedly last seen in Downtown Seattle.

“These girls were just 12 and 13 when they vanished,” said Chief Carmen Best. “Their families will never forget them, and neither will our department – their cases remain open and unsolved.”

The crisis surrounding missing and murdered indigenous women and girls is something Seattle and the State of Washington is taking steps to address.

The Seattle Police Department is working closely with the Seattle Indian Health Board and Councilmember Debora Juarez to build relationships between our officers and Native American communities. This effort will include adding a liaison to our team and improving how we collect data and create policies in cases involving missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.

“Seattle was the first in the nation to pass legislation and fund concrete, measurable steps to combat the MMIWG [Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls] epidemic,” said Councilmember Juarez. “The legislation was the first of many steps the City took as well. On November 25, 2019, the Seattle City Council passed the 2020 budget which allocated: $87,500 to the Seattle Police Department to contract with an indigenous-led organization and $161,000 for a strategic advisor to work on MMIWG casework in the Data Division.”

The Seattle Police Department’s investigators work tirelessly to find any child, or adult, who goes missing. We ask that anyone with information about any missing person’s case dials 911 or calls our non-emergency line at 206-625-5011.