A Missing 16-Year-Old Indigenous Girl Was Found Dead, and Police Say She Was Murdered: 'This Goes on Far Too Often' By Liam Quinn

Authorities believe an Indigenous teen who was found dead in Arizona was murdered and are now searching for the killer.

Challistia Colelay, 16, was found dead in Whiteriver, Ariz., which is part of the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, on Nov. 3, the White Mountain Apache Police Department said.

Colelay had been missing since Oct. 27, AZFamily reported.

“She was the baby of the family and she always went by ‘Baby girl’ or ‘Tia girl’ and was always smiling and teasing everyone she came in contact with,” Colelay’s sister wrote in a GoFundMe. “She loved painting, drawing, crafting, going camping, fishing, and just driving the back roads with family, she loved being outdoors.”

AZFamily, FOX 10 and ABC15 reported that the Bureau of Indian Affairs is investigating Colelay’s death as a homicide.

The police department did not say how Colelay was killed or how they discovered her body.

ABC15 reported that the girl’s family said her body was found less than a mile from her home.

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Darlene Gomez, an attorney and activist for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives, spoke to AZFamily about the case.

“It breaks my heart because this goes on far too often and I think when police departments have very good training and strict policies on what to do when they have a child who is a runaway, I think that helps prevent children like Tia who go missing and end up getting murdered,” Gomez told the outlet.

Colelay’s sister wrote that she was one of 12 children and that she was the “outgoing, funny, goofy sister that we all loved.”