What happened to Ashley Loring Heavy Runner? Preview Dateline: Missing In America Season 5

Summary

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Dateline NBC – “What happened to Ashley Loring Heavy Runner?”

Preview: Dateline Missing In America, Season 5

Host: Josh Mankiewicz
Guest: Kimberly Loring
Date: August 3, 2026

Episode Overview

This preview episode introduces Season 5 of Dateline: Missing in America, focusing on the harrowing disappearance of Ashley Loring Heavy Runner, a 20-year-old woman who vanished from the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana in June 2017. Through interviews with Ashley’s sister Kimberly Loring, the episode highlights the painful, ongoing search for answers and shines a light on the broader issue of missing Indigenous people in America. The show’s purpose is to bring renewed attention to unsolved mysteries in the hope that listeners might come forward with information.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: The Blackfeet Reservation

• Josh Mankiewicz opens by describing the vast and rugged terrain of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Northwestern Montana, emphasizing its natural beauty and remoteness, and the challenges this geography poses to solving missing persons cases.
  • “The Blackfeet Indian Reservation...spans 1 1/2 million acres of dramatic landscapes...where wolves, grizzly bears and bison roam free.” (01:08)

2. Ashley Loring Heavy Runner’s Disappearance

• In June 2017, Ashley vanished somewhere within these lands at the age of 20, sparking widespread concern in her family and community.
• The case remains unsolved, with little progress publicly reported by law enforcement.

3. Kimberly Loring: A Sister’s Grief and Resolve

• Kimberly Loring, Ashley’s older sister, describes the enduring pain of loss:
  • “I can look at her picture and feel totally broken. It feels like it just happened. I continuously think of my sister every day.” (02:04)
• After Ashley went missing, Kimberly became her advocate, relentlessly telling her sister’s story from Montana to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.:
  • “There’s something seriously wrong here. Because our girls, our people, and our men are important.” (02:37)
• Kimberly also recounts her efforts to physically search for Ashley in the wilds of Montana:
  • “I just remember yelling Ashley’s name. My mind was yell for Ashley, but my heart wasn’t accepting that we’re actually looking for her, her body.” (02:55)

4. The Ongoing Mystery and Perceived Neglect

• Despite her efforts, there has been little transparency or progress from law enforcement. Kimberly implies that important information has been overlooked or ignored:
  • “I feel like Ashley’s case was very easy to solve—it's right there.” (03:20)

5. The Call To Action

• The preview closes with Josh Mankiewicz encouraging listeners to follow the podcast and listen to the new season, reminding the audience of the real hope that someone out there may have information vital to solving these cases:
  • “We hope someone listening might have a clue that could help crack one of these cases. Could that someone be you?” (00:55)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Kimberly Loring on her enduring pain:

  “I can look at her picture and feel totally broken. It feels like it just happened.” (02:04)

• Kimberly Loring on her advocacy:

  “There’s something seriously wrong here. Because our girls, our people, and our men are important.” (02:37)

• Kimberly Loring on searching for Ashley:

  “I just remember yelling Ashley’s name... my heart wasn’t accepting that we’re actually looking for her, her body.” (02:55)

• Kimberly Loring’s belief in solvability:

  “I feel like Ashley's case was very easy to solve—it's right there.” (03:20)

• Josh Mankiewicz’s closing thought:

  “We hope someone listening might have a clue that could help crack one of these cases. Could that someone be you?” (00:55)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:55: Introduction to Season 5 and the Ashley Loring Heavy Runner case
• 02:04: Kimberly Loring speaks about the personal impact of her sister’s disappearance
• 02:37: Kimberly addresses the broader issue of missing Indigenous people
• 02:55: Kimberly’s recollections of searching for Ashley
• 03:20: Kimberly shares her opinion on the difficulty, or lack thereof, in resolving the case

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Tone and Atmosphere

The episode is somber, urgent, and empathetic, capturing both the vastness of the Montana landscape and the weight of personal loss and determination. Kimberly’s words are raw, sincere, and compelling, and Josh Mankiewicz’s narration underscores both the unresolved trauma and the hope for listener involvement.

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Final Note

This preview sets the stage for Dateline: Missing in America Season 5, promising in-depth examinations of six unsolved cases, starting with Ashley Loring Heavy Runner’s disappearance. The hope is that renewed attention will prompt leads and maybe, finally, answers.

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Transcript

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[Josh Mankiewicz]

hey, it's Josh Mankiewicz with a preview of Dateline. Missing in America. In our podcast's fifth season, we share six new unsolved mysteries and we hope someone listening might have a clue that could help crack one of these cases. Could that someone be you? Here's Dateline Missing in America. The Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Northwestern Montana spans 1 1/2 million acres of dramatic landscapes. At the border it shares with Glacier National Park. Its sweeping eastern grasslands collide with the jagged peaks of the Rocky Mountain front. It is a place where wolves, grizzly bears and bison roam free. In June 2017, somewhere within these ancient lands of the Blackfeet Nation, 20 year old Ashley Loring, heavy runner, vanished. Kimberly Loring is her sister.

[Kimberly Loring]

I can look at her picture and feel totally broken. It feels like it just happened. I continuously think of my sister every day.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Her disappearance didn't just change her life, it changed yours too. In a huge way.

[Kimberly Loring]

Oh yes, yes, completely.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

When Ashley disappeared, Kimberly became her sister's voice, telling Ashley's story to anyone who would listen. All the way from the wilds of Montana to U.S. senators on Capitol Hill,

[Kimberly Loring]

there's something seriously wrong here. Because our girls, our people and our men are important.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

When she's not appealing to those in power, Kimberly has been scouring Montana's mountains searching for her sister.

[Kimberly Loring]

I just remember yelling Ashley's name. My mind was yell for Ashley, but my heart wasn't accepting that we're actually looking for her, her body.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

So far, those mountains have kept any secrets they might hold. And while law enforcement has very little to say about Ashley's case, publicly Kimberly believes she knows what happened to her sister.

[Kimberly Loring]

I feel like Ashley's case was very easy to solve it's right there.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Thanks for listening. Search for Dateline Missing in America to start listening to Season five and follow now. For ad free listening, subscribe to Dateline Premium, on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify or at Dateline Premium.

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