Dateline Missing in America – Ep. 23: Through the Cracks

Podcast: Dateline Originals
Host: Josh Mankiewicz / NBC News
Date: September 5, 2025

Overview of Episode Theme

This episode of Dateline’s Missing in America shines a spotlight on the disappearance of Tiffany Reed, a 16-year-old Navajo girl who vanished in 2004 while walking to school in Shiprock, New Mexico. The episode investigates how Tiffany’s case "fell through the cracks" due to law enforcement inaction, systemic neglect, and a lack of resources—failures that are heartbreakingly familiar in the stories of missing Indigenous women. Through emotional interviews with Tiffany’s sister, Deandra Reed, and community advocates, Dateline explores both the personal anguish and the broader crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people (MMIP).

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Tiffany Reed’s Disappearance and Immediate Aftermath

• Tiffany’s Character and Family:

  • Tiffany was a creative, expressive teenager, close to her older sister, Deandra, who acted as her protector due to domestic turmoil at home. Their mother struggled with cancer, which forced Tiffany to mature quickly.
  • “She did her hair different every day. She was really into her style.”
    — Deandra Reed [01:06]

• The Day Tiffany Disappeared (May 17, 2004):

  • Tiffany left home on foot for school after Deandra, exhausted from a night shift, couldn’t give her a ride.
  • When Tiffany didn’t come home, initial concern morphed into dread. The family’s call to police was met with assumption: officers suggested Tiffany had run away and enforced a 72-hour wait before even taking a missing persons report.
  • “They just basically ran with that and said, okay, well, maybe she just ran away from home. So if she's not back in 72 hours, then you can report her missing.”
    — Deandra Reed [07:41]

• Delayed and Sloppy Police Response:

  • After the mandated waiting period, it took police four more days to enter Tiffany into the NCIC, the federal missing persons database—a full week lost. Tiffany’s family began their own search, distributing flyers and talking to friends.
  • “So that's a whole week of not even having her in the system. That's a lot of time loss.”
    — Deandra Reed [10:05]

• Discovery of Tiffany’s Belongings:

  • Tiffany’s purse and library card, and potentially her clothing, were found an hour away on a lonely highway near Sweetwater, Arizona—an area with no known connections to her.
  • “It just happened to be my sister’s purse and her library card.”
    — Deandra Reed [12:59]

The Years that Followed: Family’s Struggle & Police Failures

• Loss and Grief:

  • Deandra describes the destructive impact of her sister’s disappearance on her mental health and her family’s shifting focus to care for their mother during her cancer recurrence.
  • Deandra later finds purpose in criminal justice studies and advocacy for MMIP.
  • “I got in trouble for that, and me getting in trouble kind of like, jolted me back into reality.”
    — Deandra Reed [17:01]

• Law Enforcement Inaction and Systemic Issues:

  • Despite tips about Tiffany’s possible sightings, the family received minimal updates and no significant follow-up.
  • Notably, in 2018, a woman using Tiffany’s name was detained during a routine traffic stop. Family member Becky Johnson realized quickly it was not Tiffany, but made a distressing discovery: Tiffany’s name had been purged from the NCIC, apparently during a database transition, and authorities were unaware she was still missing.
  • “My biggest concern now is why isn't she entered in as a missing person?”
    — Becky Johnson [24:29]
  • “All the things that you can imagine going wrong in a case happened with her case.”
    — Deandra Reed [24:52]

• Ongoing Advocacy:

  • After her mother’s passing, Deandra continues the search and becomes active on New Mexico’s MMIP task force and at the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women.

Broader Systemic Problems

• Systemic Bias and Lack of Resources:

  • Tiffany Harone (Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women) and host Josh Mankiewicz discuss how Native families are often met with police skepticism or indifference, with cases presumed to be runaways rather than active disappearances.
  • “There's often a bias about Native American families that is often untrue... it's really unfair to state that a young Native girl... just decided to run away.”
    — Tiffany Harone [29:23]

• Staggering Statistics and New Efforts:

  • Over 80% of Indigenous women experience violence in their lifetime. New Mexico’s new "Turquoise Alert" system, enacted in July 2025, aims to bring faster awareness and action for missing Native Americans.

Deandra’s Perspective: Hope, Regret, and Justice

• Hope and Unanswered Questions:

  • Deandra maintains hope for answers, caught between the possibility Tiffany is alive and the harsh passage of two decades. She dreams of her sister’s possible life and legacy.
  • “Until we find her, you know, good or bad, I'm gonna hang on to that hope that she's still alive.”
    — Deandra Reed [31:19]

• Demand for Accountability:

  • Deandra wants not only justice for whoever is responsible but also institutional accountability from law enforcement.
  • “What I really want is for the criminal investigators office and the Shiprock Police Department to be accountable for their actions and the failures that they have, you know, done with my sister's case.”
    — Deandra Reed [32:10]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Self-Blame and Guilt:
  “Yes, I have, and it's something that I'm trying to work through right now, you know, to. To learn to have compassion for myself and. And let go of that guilt.”
  — Deandra Reed, on skipping the drive to school [05:44]

• On Family’s Relentless Search:
  “We still went out and drove around looking for her, knocking on doors and stuff, like we weren't going to sit back and wait for the police to take the report.”
  — Deandra Reed [09:18]

• On the Emotional Toll:
  “I just have a lot of what if questions and I probably always will have those questions.”
  — Deandra Reed [32:43]

• On Institutional Failures:
  “All the cracks that you could think of for her case to fall through, her case fell through those cracks.”
  — Deandra Reed [25:12]

Important Segment Timestamps

• Tiffany's Disappearance and Early Family Response: [00:49–02:22]
• Family's Recollections & Early Investigations: [02:59–04:50]
• Systemic Failures: Law Enforcement Delays: [07:41–10:13]
• Discovery of Belongings & Search Details: [12:29–15:34]
• Years Without Answers & Family’s Continued Pain: [16:10–18:45]
• Database Blunder and New Leads: [21:58–25:04]
• Advocacy, MMIP Context & Turquoise Alert: [27:29–30:40]
• Deandra’s Ongoing Fight and Reflections: [30:48–33:08]
• How Listeners Can Help: [33:08–34:46]

Resources & Call-to-Action

Tiffany Reed would be 37 years old today.

• Height: 5'3", Weight: 115 lbs at disappearance
• Black hair, brown eyes
• Scar under right eye and on one arm

Anyone with information:
Call the Navajo Nation Police Department, Shiprock district: 505-368-1350

Age-progressed images and more info:
datelinemissinginamerica.com

Episode Tone

This episode is heartfelt, raw, and unflinching. Through Deandra Reed’s voice, listeners feel both the pain of irreparable loss and the determination for justice. The program is empathetic yet urgent, exposing not only a single disappearance but a nationwide crisis of missing Indigenous people and the failing institutions meant to protect them.