Dateline Missing in America - Ep. 18: The Vanishing of Melanie James

Summary

Dateline Originals: The Vanishing of Melanie James - A Comprehensive Summary

Episode: Dateline Missing in America - Ep. 18: The Vanishing of Melanie James
Release Date: October 1, 2024
Host: Josh Mankiewicz
Produced by: NBC News

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Introduction: A Community in Mourning

In the Four Corners region of New Mexico—a crossroads where Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico meet—lies the town of Farmington. This area, rich in indigenous culture and history, is also fraught with a troubling pattern of disappearances, particularly among Native American women. In this poignant episode of Dateline Missing in America, Dateline Originals delves into the mysterious disappearance of Melanie James, a 21-year-old Native American woman whose vanishing has left her community and family in profound grief and relentless pursuit for answers.

Melanie James: A Glimpse into Her Life

Melanie James was known in Farmington for her vibrant personality and deep love for her family. Born to Leila Mailman, Melanie grew up alongside her two brothers and sister, Melissa James. Her heritage is a blend of Walker River Paiute and Comanche, and she cherished her Native American roots, particularly through music and dance.

• Leila Mailman reflects on Melanie's joyful nature:
  “[00:59] Leila Mailman: She's funny. Loves to dance. Her and Melissa loved to dance together, make routines.”

As Melanie transitioned into her late teens, she began to stray from her previously stable environment, engaging with new friends whose influence steered her towards troubling behaviors, including substance abuse and minor legal troubles.

The Disappearance: April 2014

April 20, 2014, marked the last time Melanie was seen by her sister, Melissa. On that day, Melissa encountered Melanie at a church parking lot, accompanied by a man she didn’t recognize—a slender African American man about six feet tall, with short hair and a beard.

• Melissa James recounts the moment:
  “[06:09] Melissa James: I saw her on the way back from dropping off my son… She was walking alongside a young man Melissa had never met.”

Melanie disclosed plans to move to Albuquerque, expressing a desire to escape her current circumstances. Shortly thereafter, Melanie ceased all communication, plunging her family into a decade-long search fraught with uncertainty and heartbreak.

Family’s Relentless Search and Community Response

Leila Mailman, Melanie’s mother, has been at the forefront of the search, dedicating over ten years to finding her daughter. The community of Farmington, burdened by a high rate of missing Indigenous women, rallied around Leila and Melissa, highlighting systemic issues that hinder the resolution of such cases.

• Leila Mailman passionately states:
  “[01:24] Leila Mailman: I'm not going to give up on trying to look for her. Every little opportunity I have to put awareness out there is what I'm going to do.”

Melissa echoes the family's determination while grappling with the emotional toll:
“[22:48] Melissa James: It has torn us apart, completely destroyed us…”

Investigative Efforts and Challenges

Initially, the Farmington Police Department faced criticism for delays and perceived negligence in handling Melanie’s disappearance. A significant roadblock emerged when the family reported that the missing person notification was delayed by two months—a gap the family contends occurred much sooner.

• Leila Mailman expresses frustration:
  “[16:03] Leila Mailman: It seems to me the only time that we would get any response before was I had to constantly call. I had to keep bugging them, bugging them, bugging them before I could get.”

In January 2024, Detective Davin Bodoni was assigned to Melanie’s case, bringing renewed hope. His investigation unearthed critical evidence, including Melanie’s belongings found in an alleyway on April 24, 2014, and cell phone records indicating her last known movements.

• Detective Davin Bodoni explains the findings:
  “[16:45] Detective Davin Bodoni: This is four days after the last time Melissa saw Melanie.”

Despite these efforts, key pieces of evidence, such as security footage from the Family Dollar store where Melanie was reportedly seen alive in September 2014, were lost due to procedural delays. Moreover, challenges like limited resources and the complexities of Melanie’s lifestyle have hindered the case’s progression.

The Broader Context: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW)

Melanie James’s disappearance is emblematic of a larger, systemic crisis facing Indigenous communities across the United States. The Bureau of Indian Affairs highlights that four out of five Indigenous women have experienced violence in their lifetime, a statistic that underscores the perilous environment many Native American women navigate daily.

• Melissa James connects historical injustices to present-day tragedies:
  “[26:14] Melissa James: Correct. So if you look back at the time of Christopher Columbus and the slave trade and the conquistadors…”

Leila's advocacy reflects the urgent need for systemic change, pushing for better investigative resources and heightened awareness.

• Leila Mailman asserts:
  “[23:35] Leila Mailman: Fight and to say, I am still looking for my daughter.”

Current Status and Ongoing Search

As of October 2024, Melanie remains missing, and her family continues their advocacy both for her and for other Indigenous women who have vanished without a trace. Detective Bodoni remains committed to finding new leads, urging anyone with information to come forward.

• Detective Davin Bodoni appeals:
  “[33:03] Detective Davin Bodoni: I need this unknown black male to come forward and give me a statement.”

Leila and Melissa maintain their unwavering hope and resilience, despite the decade-long anguish and the lack of closure.

• Leila Mailman shares her enduring belief:
  “[33:39] Leila Mailman: I know she's alive in my heart. I won't give up on her.”

• Melissa James holds onto hope while grappling with reality:
  “[34:22] Melissa James: Deep down, I know she's alive. And I have to hold on to that hope.”

Conclusion: A Call to Action

"The Vanishing of Melanie James" serves not only as a heartbreaking narrative of a missing young woman but also as a stark reminder of the systemic failures that contribute to the high rates of missing and murdered Indigenous women. Through Melanie’s story, Dateline Originals shines a light on the urgent need for reform, better resources, and heightened awareness to prevent future tragedies.

Listeners are encouraged to support ongoing efforts by accessing resources such as the New Mexico Department of Justice’s hub for missing Indigenous persons and to remain vigilant in advocating for those who remain unheard.

For more information or to help locate Melanie James, visit dateline missinginamerica.com or contact the Farmington Police Department at 505-334-6622 or the detective tip line at 505-599-1068.

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Produced by Veronica Mazaika, Keoni Reed, Bradley Davis, Paul Ryan, and Liz Cole. Audio sound mixing by Bob Mallory and Bryson Barnes.

Transcript

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Friday night on an all new dateline, a rich businessman killed in his own bed. This is unbelievable. Can police untangle a web of possible suspects? Lance had a secret life. Multiple secret lives.

[Leila Mailman]

Yes.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

An all new Dateline Friday at 9, 8 Central, only on NBC. It's called the Four Corners region, the area where four southwestern states meet Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. There's even a spot where you can stand in all four states at once. Historically, that same spot also marks the land boundary of two American Indian nations, the Navajo Nation and the Ute Mountain Ute tribe reservation. It's a rocky landscape rich with indigenous culture and history. Some pueblo ruins date back as far as 1300 AD. It's in this area in the town of Farmington, New Mexico, where a 21 year old native American woman went missing. Her name is Melanie James. This is her mother.

[Leila Mailman]

I'm not going to give up on trying to look for her. Every little opportunity I have to put awareness out there is what I'm going to do.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Leila Mailman has been looking for her daughter for more than 10 years. Unfortunately, where she lives is a place where people like her daughter go missing much too frequently. Melanie's disappearance has baffled the community there and become part of a rallying cry in a persistent crisis.

[Leila Mailman]

No more missing relatives, no more missing system.

[Melissa James]

And we just have had this ongoing system of failures when it comes to Native Americans.

[Leila Mailman]

It's been going on for centuries and centuries. But isn't it type to stop it?

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Melanie's family believes she is still alive and still out there somewhere and they desperately want her back with them. That's where you come in. Please listen closely because you or someone you know might have information that could help solve this case and bring Melanie home. I'm Josh Mankiewicz and this is dateline. Missing in America. This episode is the vanishing of Melanie James. Melanie James grew up in Farmington with her two brothers and her sister. Melanie is part Walker River Paiute, part Comanche. Her mom says Melanie enjoyed Native American music growing up, especially when that involved dancing.

[Leila Mailman]

She's funny. Love to dance. Her and Melissa loved to dance together, make routines. I'd come home from work, look, Mom, I made this up. And they would start dancing and show me.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

When I said tell me about her, Leila, you smiled.

[Leila Mailman]

Just a lot of memories going through my mind. I could see her face right now. Come on, kid, you got this.

[Melissa James]

She was always making us laugh. Very caring person.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

That's Melanie's sister, Melissa James. She says Melanie grew up deeply loved by her family. Then as she reached her teen years, Melanie started spending time with new friends, and it made her sister worry.

[Melissa James]

She was hanging out with people that weren't really good for her. People that would just get her into substances and, you know, drinking that would.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Eventually lead to some serious trouble with law enforcement. At 18, Melanie took part in a burglary and was arrested.

[Leila Mailman]

It was small, so the people put her in through the window because she was small enough to fit. And then once they saw the cops, they all took off.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

They were trying to, what, burglarize somebody else's house?

[Leila Mailman]

Yeah, they were trying to get some jewelry and some other stuff so they could sell it.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

It definitely sounds like Melanie was running with the wrong crowd.

[Leila Mailman]

Yes.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

And I'm also thinking that both of you at different times said to her, this is a bad idea. You're hanging out with the wrong people.

[Leila Mailman]

Yes, we did.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Melanie pleaded guilty to the burglary, served some jail time, and was released in November 2013. Her family says when they would confront her about her behavior, Melanie's typical teenage response was queued up and ready.

[Melissa James]

I know what I'm doing. I know what I'm doing.

[Leila Mailman]

I got this.

[Melissa James]

Yep, I got this. I know what I'm doing. And don't worry about me.

[Leila Mailman]

Yeah. And that's what a lot of our arguments were about, because I didn't like her friends, her so called friends, you know, they're only going to get you in trouble.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

By April 2014, Melanie's family believed she put that group of friends behind her.

[Leila Mailman]

She wanted to change her life. She wanted to upgrade her life and stop doing the stuff that she was doing.

[Melissa James]

She knew that life wasn't for her anymore.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Sort of time to grow up.

[Melissa James]

Yeah.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Melanie was about to turn 22, and for her, growing up meant getting a degree.

[Leila Mailman]

She was going up to the college to enroll in some classes, and then coming back from the college, she was going to put job applications in her.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

School of choice, San Juan College in Farmington. What do you think she would have been studying?

[Leila Mailman]

Animals.

[Melissa James]

Yeah.

[Leila Mailman]

Veterinarian. She loved animals. That's where she was going.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

It seemed Melanie was on that new path. At least that's what Melissa thought up until the last time she saw her sister on April 20, 2014.

[Melissa James]

I seen her on the way back from dropping off my son, and I stopped at this church and I seen her walking and I yelled at her. I was like, mel, Mel. And she realized that it was me. So I pulled over, pulled into the church. It's like a big old empty parking lot.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Melissa Says she knew most of her sister's friends, but when she saw her in that parking lot, Melanie was walking alongside a young man Melissa had never met.

[Melissa James]

This was one that I did not recognize.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

She says he was a slender African American man, about 6ft tall, with short hair and a beard. He was wearing a navy blue muscle shirt with faded black pants and black and white sneakers. Did Melanie tell you his name? Did she introduce you?

[Melissa James]

No, she did not. She just said that it was her friend and he kind of just stood quiet by the. By the driver's side.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Melanie told Melissa her new plan. She was headed to Albuquerque, three hours away.

[Melissa James]

She was just telling me about how she wanted to go to Albuquerque because she just felt like she was. She didn't really want to be here.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

When Melissa did not hear anything from Melanie, she began to worry. Leila was not hearing from her either.

[Leila Mailman]

I just wanted her back home, wanted to know where she was and how she was doing. And she just didn't call me at all or have any contact with me at all.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Leila says eventually her anxiety became too great and she started searching for Melanie herself.

[Leila Mailman]

I was out there looking for her, driving around 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

This cost you a job at one point, didn't it?

[Leila Mailman]

Yes, it did.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Because you were spending all your time looking for Melanie.

[Leila Mailman]

Yes, it cost me a job, but that didn't matter. That was just a job. Okay, I can always get another job, but my daughter cannot be replaced. And that was the only thing going through my head at the time. I have to find her. There's no doubt about it. I have to do what I gotta do.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

With no sign of Melanie, Leila decided she needed to report her daughter's disappearance to Farmington police. In that missing persons report, an officer noted that Leila mailman told him, quote, melanie has had trouble with alcohol, been in trouble and arrested in the past, as well as been gone for days at a time, but has never been gone this long, unquote. The timing of that report is one thing Lela and the department do not agree on. Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe notes the family made that first report In June of 2014, two months after Melanie vanished. Lela says it was much sooner, whatever actually happened. Police say it was a two month delay, which became an instant roadblock for them.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

The reporting from the beginning is just.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

A little harder for us. We're scrambling a little bit because nobody's seen her for a little while. Or did they? A snippet of video was about to jolt this family with some sudden, unexpected hope.

[Leila Mailman]

Sandra showed me the footage and I id'd her.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

No question. That's Melanie.

[Leila Mailman]

No question. Yes, it was Melanie.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

MSNBC Films presents a new four part series from NBC News Studios that exposes the injustices of wrongful convictions. The Sing sing Chronicles first two episodes premiere tomorrow at 9:00pm Eastern on MSNBC. Hi everyone, I'm Jenna Bush Hager from.

[Melissa James]

Today with Hoda and Jenna and I'm excited to share my new podcast, Open Book with Jenna. Each week, celebrities, experts, friends and authors.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Will share candid stories with me about.

[Melissa James]

Their lives and new projects. Guests like Stephen and Evie Colbert, Nicholas Sparks, Emily Henry, and more.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Like a good book, you will leave feeling inspired and entertained.

[Melissa James]

Join me for my brand new podcast, Open Book with Jenna. New episodes of Open Book with Jenna are released every Thursday. Listen now on Apple Podcasts.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Hey everybody, it's Hoda Kotb from the Today show reminding you to check out.

[Leila Mailman]

My podcast, Making Space.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

In this week's episode, I sit down with Hollywood legend Goldie Hawn to talk about her accidental rise to fame, her famous family, and where she finds her purpose. You can listen to the full conversation.

[Leila Mailman]

Right now by searching Making Space wherever.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

You get your podcasts. Lela Mailman had been doing everything she could to find her daughter all the time afraid she might never see her again. Then it came in September 2014, five months after Melanie disappeared. A new reason for hope. A former co worker of Lela's named Sandra said she had spotted Melanie at a Family Dollar store in Farmington.

[Leila Mailman]

I worked with Sandra. I worked with her at Goodwill. And so she knew Melanie Leila was.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

At work when she got the call from Sandra. So she sent one of her sons to go check it out. Could Melanie really be alive and well? Unfortunately, by the time her son arrived at the store, Melanie was gone. Lela says she later asked to see the security footage of that day and the store manager agreed. And no question, that's her.

[Leila Mailman]

Yes, definitely was her.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

How'd she look?

[Leila Mailman]

Well, she looked healthy. She didn't look skinny or like somebody that was on the street, you know, doing drugs and everything. She was pretty well kept.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

For Lila, those few seconds of security video were equal parts encouraging and ominous. Her missing daughter was alive and apparently healthy at the same time. Lela says the camera shows Melanie buying a single lollipop and looking around as if someone might be watching her.

[Leila Mailman]

She liked lollipops, but the nervousness or the way she carried herself that day was definitely not her.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Melanie's sister, Melissa has her own theory about what's happening in that video.

[Melissa James]

She would only buy one item like that if she was nervous. There's a few times where some creepy people would just, like, try to follow us or whatever. So we would go inside of the nearest convenience store and we would just buy, like, one item, one thing. So to me, that was my signal as some. Somebody was definitely following her, because that is something that me and her used to do, too. Okay, we'll just go in here, we'll buy something, because that's what our mom taught us to do.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

But the cashier didn't say anything. The cashier never called police?

[Leila Mailman]

No.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

So if your friend hadn't been there, you wouldn't know about that?

[Leila Mailman]

Yeah, I wouldn't have known at all.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

That video would have been a great piece of evidence, except for one thing. Farmington police have never seen it. They say that by the time they found out about it, the video had been erased. Detectives interviewed Sandra and confirmed her account of seeing Melanie at the Dollar Store. But without video, it remains a tantalizing footnote. Still, as Melissa thought about that nervousness, her mother said Melanie displayed in the video, she thought about someone, a man. The family told police Melanie was afraid of her ex boyfriend. She'd been in a relationship with a guy who has been described as abusive. Were you aware of that?

[Melissa James]

At first, we didn't think it was abusive physically. It was more like he was controlling.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Melanie's family says that boyfriend's controlling behavior later took a turn for the uncontrollable.

[Melissa James]

I know there was a few times where he did get physically aggressive and grab her and maybe, like, toss her around the room.

[Leila Mailman]

She called me up one day and she said, mom, come get me in Aztec.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Lela immediately made the half hour drive from Farmington to Aztec, New Mexico, to pick up her daughter.

[Leila Mailman]

She was, you know, kind of sobbing pretty hard. And I kept asking her, what's wrong? And she goes, I'm just happy to see you. You know, she was hiding the whole thing. And he was standing right there. And I said, what happened to your ears? Because it was cut from her earring. She goes, mom, I just want to go home. Says, all right. So we went across to get. Get the stuff. I had a weird feeling. I said, you're not going in there yourself. So I got the bat and I got the mace. And we went in, we got her stuff. And as we were going back, she just broke down crying. And she goes, mom, he. He threw me over on the floor and he started hitting me. With his fist.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

After they left, Melanie told her mom she couldn't take it anymore and called police. On March 17, 2014, her ex was charged with false imprisonment and aggravated assault against a household member. She filed charges on him. And he went to jail.

[Leila Mailman]

Yeah, he went to jail, but he continued to try to write, you know, letters to her.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

It wasn't long before the clues and theories in Melanie's case dried up like a creek bed in this corner of New Mexico. Months turned to years as her case shuttled through a series of detectives, still with no answers. Through it all, Lela grew more and more frustrated, believing police were not giving her daughter's case adequate attention.

[Leila Mailman]

It seems to me the only time that we would get any response before was I had to constantly call. I had to keep bugging them, bugging them, bugging them before I could get.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

A like a answer, she says. Recently, that began to change. In January 2024, Chief Hebby assigned Farmington police detective Davin Bony to put some fresh eyes on the case.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

I just need tips or people to come forward and give us statements.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Since then, Bodoni has been reinvestigating, looking for clues that were missed. He quickly learned police did have some key evidence early on.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

This is four days after the last time Melissa saw Melanie.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

On April 24, 2014, officers found a black duffel bag and a woman's purse, both belonging to Melanie James. Those were partially hidden in an alleyway behind a strip of businesses on 20th street, not far from Farmington's public library.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

At a movie theater, the officer found a bag and found two cell phones in there. Called the last number that was called on there, and that was a guy named Brian. So Brian said Melanie had left his place the night prior.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Brian was a friend Melanie spent time with. At that point, police were not searching for Melanie as a missing person. So officers took a found property report and put Melanie's belongings in evidence for safekeeping. As he reinvestigated In May of 2024, Detective Bodoni was able to track down Brian and ask about the last time he saw Melanie. Brian said he remembered Melanie was hanging out with him that night.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

He was staying with family at a residence on 21st street here in Farmington, which is a few blocks away from where her bags are found. So Brian recalled that Melanie was intoxicated and she was knocking on doors, on neighbors doors, and police were called.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Brian says he told Melanie she was disturbing the neighbors and had to get out of the house, and she did.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

Melanie grabbed her bags and left. So that was the same day, April 24, about 1:00 in the morning.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Did police encounter her on that day?

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

No. No. So police ran two names. One of them was Brian and then another male. But no, they did not ran Melanie. I believe she was gone before police officers arrived.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Police think Melanie may have walked a few blocks to that spot in the alley where they later found her purse and duffel. They also learned Melanie had been couch surfing, staying with various friends here and there around Farmington. That meant she would sometimes stash her belongings in a safe place.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

It was common for her to hide her bags in a nice area of town and then maybe come back for it later.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

The detective says Brian's story about Melanie has remained consistent. But he notes Brian did reveal one new detail in an interview earlier this year.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

The only thing that Brian added was that a week later he received a phone call from Melanie and she was in Albuquerque and it was asking him for money to return back to Farmington.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

That new bit of information matches what Melanie told her sister. That she was headed to stay in Albuquerque for a while. It sounded as if she got there. So now the timeline's extended a little bit. You believe, Brian, that she was alive as of four days after her family saw her and sounds as if she's not with anybody else and she's not under duress.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

That is the perception given to us at this time. Yeah, it sounds like she was in Albuquerque a week after April 24th. So that put us in May of 2014.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Why would Melanie be headed to Albuquerque? Was she running away from something or someone? Melissa couldn't shake the thought that her sister had to be in danger. And her mind kept drifting back to Melanie's ex.

[Melissa James]

I knew she was scared of him. She just wanted to, you know, get away from him.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Where was that guy when Melanie disappeared?

[Melissa James]

So she had heard at the time that he was out of jail.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

So Melanie at least thought, he's looking for me and I have to hide.

[Melissa James]

Yeah.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

MSNBC Films presents the Sing Sing Chronicles, a new four part series from NBC News studios featuring decades of investigative reporting from dateline producer Dan S.L. plebian that exposes the injustices of wrongful convictions. I spent half my life in prison and that's time we can't get back. The Sing sing chronicles first two episodes premier tomorrow at 9pm Eastern on MSNBC. Out of nowhere there it was. Sudden, shocking, terrifying.

[Melissa James]

I have never in my life felt fear like that.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Was this someone's idea of a sick prank or was it a horror movie? Come horribly alive?

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

I'm thinking he killed him and he.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Had filmed the murder. I'm Keith Morrison and this is dateline's newest podcast, the man in the Black Mask. All episodes are available now. To listen ad free, subscribe to Dateline Premium on Apple podcasts, Spotify or DatelinePremium.com hello, I'm Keith Morrison from Dateline.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

If you're a fan of true crime.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Then you need to know DATELINE is back with an all new season and that means all new mysteries in our DATELINE NBC podcast. Great storytelling with a twist and more. Much more new episodes available every Tuesday on the DATELINE NBC podcast. Follow now. Having a missing loved one doesn't come with a manual. There is no one size fits all answer for how to cope with the disappearance. Melanie's kin have now lived a decade without her. What's this done to your family?

[Melissa James]

It has torn us apart, completely destroyed us. There's times where we don't have contact with each other because we're so depressed and we don't, we don't want to show each other because we're trying to be strong for each other.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

They've also come to realize they are far from alone in their quest for answers. New Mexico has one of the highest rates of missing and murdered indigenous women in the nation. And according to the Bureau of Indian affairs, four out of five indigenous women have experienced violence during their lifetime. Facing those statistics, Lela decided there was only one response, and that was to.

[Leila Mailman]

Fight and to say, I am still looking for my daughter.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

When you're talking about her story to whoever, when you're protesting, when you're marching, when you're trying to get the word out, that actually helps you as well as maybe her.

[Leila Mailman]

It helps us let go of some of the emotions that we have at the time and also to give us the strength that we need to carry on.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Leila relied on that strength. At an event in 2022, Deb Haaland was giving a lecture at the University of New Mexico and opened the floor for questions. I was watching some video of you talking to Deb Haaland at that meeting, the interior secretary. And what I thought was that you were doing a very good job of concealing how angry you were.

[Leila Mailman]

Yeah.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Secretary Haaland is in a unique position. In 2021, she became the first Native American to serve as a US Cabinet secretary. She's also become a target of criticism for how little has changed over many.

[Leila Mailman]

Decades with the first two families that went up. She kept saying, I sympathize with you. And that's when I said what I said on the tape.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Ma'am, I'm so sorry for your loss.

[Leila Mailman]

I don't.

[Melissa James]

I truly am.

[Leila Mailman]

I don't need sympathy. I need understanding. We just need help. I think this has gone long on long enough and it's getting worse. I just wonder, what else are you going to do for these Native Americans that are missing?

[Melissa James]

I want you to know that we're trying. We're working as hard as we can.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

We contacted Secretary Haaland's office for further comment. They noted that one of Haaland's first acts as secretary was to establish the Missing and Murdered Unit, which works to expand collaborative efforts with other agencies when it comes to missing and murdered indigenous people. Her team told dateline Holland is determined to make this issue a top administration priority. Attorney Darlene Gomez says she's also making it a top priority. Just for listeners who maybe don't follow this as much, the hashtag that you see online, MMIW missing and murdered Indigenous women. That came into being this century after 2000. But that problem's a lot older, isn't it?

[Melissa James]

Correct. So if you look back at the time of Christopher Columbus and the slave trade and the conquistadors that came into New Mexico, and then we have the federal government that made tribes go onto reservations, we have boarding schools, we have the water being taken away from them, we have poverty, we have alcohol introduced to the Native Americans. And we just have had this ongoing system of failures when it comes to Native Americans.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

On their website, the Bureau of Indian affairs notes that many MMIW cases remain unsolved due to a lack of investigative resources. People have gone missing and there's been no accountability and no one to investigate it.

[Melissa James]

Correct.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

A New Mexico native, Darlene, met Lela at a rally and took up Melanie's case. She helped Lela get a billboard put up to find her daughter. Melanie's is one of many MMIW cases Darlene has taken on pro bono. She helps families plan events and marches, speaks to the media to raise awareness, and sits in as an advocate in meetings with police. She says Melanie's disappearance mirrors similar MMIW cases across the country. She was 21 years old, so she was technically an adult. Police rarely respond to a missing 21 year old the way they do to a missing 10 year old. For example, she had a previous criminal record, which sort of changes the way that law enforcement reacts to someone when they're missing, because that can sometimes lead to an assumption that, well, they've done something to put Themselves in harm's way, we're not going to go look for them.

[Melissa James]

Correct. And I think one of the things that you talked about was victim blaming. So we see a lot of this, and even in this report talking about not having a job, having criminal charges. She had been in a domestic violence relationship prior to her going missing. I think cases like these, they just get put on a shelf. I don't know if there was policies and procedures in place to ensure that these cases get investigated.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

I asked Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe about that. You know, this is something that comes up in missing cases all the time. When they have a criminal record, do you look for them differently? Is that a lower standard? Is there a sort of an assumption by law enforcement that, well, they've probably done something to put themselves in harm's way?

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

No, in this case, it just makes.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

It a little harder.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

The lifestyle of she doesn't really live in a place and have a 9 to 5 job. It's just a little more complex for.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Us to do it. But it certainly doesn't affect our response.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

It just affects our ability to achieve the same results.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

The chief points out the challenges his department has faced. Remember Melanie's purse found in that alleyway? Well, Farmington police did submit samples from it for DNA testing. That was much later. Here's Detective Bodoni.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

We requested that the swabs be tested through our state laboratory, which is the New Mexico Department of Forensic Laboratory. It's in Santa Fe, and it's our state lab where we send all evidence. So they declined to process it because we did not have evidence of a crime. And that's something that they required. They required a criminal offense to process any DNA. So that's kind of where we ran into an issue.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

It's sort of a law enforcement catch 22. No proof of a crime means no DNA testing.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

But there was nothing obvious to those bags that something had happened to whoever was carrying those bags. At this point, we don't have any.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Clue whether there's a crime or there isn't. Even so, the department didn't submit that hearse for testing until two years ago. That's eight years after Melanie had disappeared. Chief, are you confident that your department has done all it could from the beginning? I haven't come across information that shows.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

Me, look, we dropped the ball here or here. And I'll be honest with you and.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Tell you, I certainly, in my time.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

As chief, we've had those days where.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

We didn't do a good job. And, you know, you're Going to own.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

Those, and you're going to try and.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Figure out what we didn't do. Right. Farmington is running into the same problems faced by a lot of departments. Resources are limited, and searching for the missing is never the top priority. Chief, how many sworn officers on your force deployed? We're around 105. In a city of how many people? 45,000. And the only guy on missing persons is the one next to you? Correct. So it's a tall order.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

It's a tall order.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Chief Hebby says he's determined to get answers in Melanie's case. To this day, you know, I. I think it's terrible, and I would not want to be in that position of.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

Having a family member that's gone for 10 years and the emotions that go around that we still are looking.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

We actually do care about this. And we're going to do all we can to see if we can bring this to conclusion.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

We need leads. We need other people to help us.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Try and locate her. Detective Bodoni says he's actively chasing any new lead he can find.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

I'm letting my evidence lead me where I need to go, but I'll talk to whoever, anybody. This whole case revolves around people that know her or came across her. And at that point, I would hope that they would give me information.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

People like that ex boyfriend. The detective did look into his whereabouts at the time Melanie disappeared.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

We could confirm that through our jail records. He wasn't incarcerated at the time. In April and even I believe, and most of the time in May, he was incarcerated.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

So there's very little chance that he's involved in her disappearance.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

Yes.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Melanie's ex pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in September 2014, five months after her disappearance. Prosecutors dropped that other charge of false imprisonment. However, the detective has yet to interview him, and he says he can't rule out any potential suspects until he talks with them. He's also hoping to track down that friend Melissa saw Melanie with in that parking lot days before she went missing. She says he was a slender African American man, about 6ft tall with short hair and a beard.

[Detective Davin Bodoni]

I need this unknown black male to come forward and give me a statement. That way I can check his name off the list and we can move on and not focus on him.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Melanie's family says they are pleased with the way Bodoni has handled the case so far. After years of feeling abandoned by law enforcement.

[Leila Mailman]

The detective that's working on the case just really gave us a lot more information than the other detectives have before, and it gives us a Lot more hope, you know, that he's really doing something.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Melanie's mom, Leila, does not just hope her daughter is alive.

[Leila Mailman]

I do think she's still. Well, I know she's still alive, you know, like a connection. I loved her before she was born, and I loved her more after she was born. So in my spirit, I think she's. I know she's alive. I just know she's alive in my heart. I won't give up on her. I won't give up on you, Mel. Wherever you are, I love you.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Melissa is still clinging to that last moment she saw her sister.

[Melissa James]

Deep down, I know she's alive. And I have to hold on to that hope. But I am human and I struggle with it every day. And it just doesn't make sense. Throughout 10 years, there's no way that she. There's no way she would not call me. There's no way she would not stop by my house.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

And Melissa has her own theories of where her sister might be.

[Melissa James]

I think she's either being held hostage or she's hiding. I know she knows how to survive out there. She's really smart. She knows which way to take, how to survive without a phone, without id, without a lot of things. She knows how to take care of herself.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

Leila has vowed that she will continue to advocate for missing and murdered indigenous people long after Melanie's case is solved.

[Leila Mailman]

I told everybody that I am not going to stop when Melanie's found because I know what it feels like and what every family is going through right now because of their loved one is in the same situation as Melanie.

[Josh Mankiewicz]

In March of 2024, the New Mexico Department of Justice set up a new website to serve as a hub for information, advocacy and support all related to cases of missing indigenous people. There is also a database for reporting and searching for missing indigenous persons. Melanie James is listed there. Here's where you can help. Melanie James would be 32 years old today. She's 5ft tall and weighed about 115 pounds at the time of her disappearance. Her hair was dark black and one of her top front teeth was chipped. Melanie has a tattoo of a spade on her right hand. You can see photos of her on our website. Anyone with information about Melanie's disappearance should call the Farmington Police Department at 505 334, 6622 or the detective tip line at 505-599-1068. You can access the New Mexico Department of Justice's website for missing and murdered indigenous people at the link in the description of this episode. To learn more about other people we've covered in our Missing in America series, go to dateline missinginamerica.com There you'll be able to submit cases you think we should cover in the future. Thanks for listening. See you Fridays on Dateline on NBC. Missing in America is a production of Dateline and NBC News. Veronica Mazaika is the producer and audio editor of this episode. Keoni Reed is associate producer, Bradley Davis is senior producer, Paul Ryan is executive producer and Liz Cole is senior executive producer from NBC News. Audio Sound mixing by Bob Mallory Bryson Barnes is head of audio production.