Ashley Loring Heavyrunner

Ashley Loring Heavyrunner (born November 23, 1996; also known as Ashley Loring Heavy Runner) is a Blackfoot woman who went missing on the week of June 13, 2017, near Babb, Montana, U.S.. The circumstances of Heavyrunner's disappearance, and the resulting investigations by several government agencies, became significant to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement.

Background Heavyrunner was born on November 23, 1996 in Browning, Montana, on the Blackfeet Reservation. She is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Nation, and is a descendant of Chief Heavy Runner, leader of a Piegan Blackfeet band, who was killed during the Marias Massacre. Heavyrunner reconnected with her mother later in life after her mother's struggles with depression and addiction. Heavyrunner was frequently described by her friends and family as smart, "feisty" and as someone who was always interested in helping others. A few months before her disappearance, Heavyrunner expressed interest in raising awareness about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women to her sister and to her professor at Blackfeet Community College.

Heavyrunner was reportedly exploring a career in forestry, and was excelling at Blackfeet Community College, where she was studying environmental science. According Heavyrunner's sister, Heavyrunner was waiting for her sister to return from overseas, as Heavyrunner was planning on moving into her sister's apartment in Missoula in 2017 after being accepted into the University of Montana. This was conceived as a fresh start off the reservation, after Heavyrunner's sister learnt of Heavyrunner's recent drug use. with the FBI officially recording the week of June 13 as the date of disappearance. According to a BLES officer, over a century of injustices against the Blackfoot people by the United States created a culture of distrust against law enforcement. and is believed to be involved in trafficking methamphetamines into the reservation.

Running Crane told police that she and Valenzuela were in Seattle, Washington at the time of Heavyrunner's disappearance, with Washington state court records showing Valenzuela was present in the Seattle area in early June (after being convicted of an illegal firearms charge). However, Valenzuela also told the Washington State Department of Corrections on June 9 that he'd be returning to the Blackfeet Reservation to collect his belongings,

Heavyrunner's family were subject to myriad of conflicting tips about Heavyrunner's fate, which ended up containing little substance. with the BIA stating in 2021 that "the FBI Crime lab did confirm they received evidence and conducted an analysis of it, but because the case is active, we are unable to provide any additional information." The BLES claimed they performed an additional search in the same location as the evidence was collected on July 28, 2017. However, by December 2018 a BLES officer working on the case could not recall a search, and the family did not observe neither the BLES or BIA in further searches. In October 2019, Heavyrunner's family questioned to ABC Nightline why the FBI office investigating Heavyrunner's case (Salt Lake City) took months begin investigating Heavyrunner's case but only weeks to join the search for Mackenzie Lueck, a white University of Utah student, whose body and murderer were found within a month. The BIA and FBI refused to comment on the case. and the police have not named any suspects or pursued any arrests,

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement The disappearance of Heavyrunner is one of the most prominent cases highlighted by the national Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women movement (MMIW), and has been the feature of high-profile media coverage. which former U.S Senator Heidi Heitkamp noted increases the vulnerability of Indigenous communities to outsider violence due to a lack of deterrence and prosecution. Starting in 2018, an annual walk happens every year in Browning, Montana in Heavyrunner's memory (Ashley's Walk), along with other victims associated with MMIW. Then-Montana congressman Greg Gianforte commented on Heavyrunner's case and the MMIW cause at large to MTN News in 2018. A former professor of Heavyrunner's at Blackfeet Community College, Annita Lucchesi, became the founding Director of the Sovereign Bodies Institute, which centralizes data on MMIW cases in the US and Canada.

Senate Committee In December 2018, the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs met to discuss the nationwide crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women, led by Senator Jon Tester and supported by Senator Steve Daines, both from Montana. On December 12, Heavyrunner's sister testified before the Committee about the systemic mishandling of the investigation. In response, President Donald Trump created the Task Force on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives (Operation Lady Justice) in 2019, which was further bolstered in 2021 by President Joe Biden. Additionally, both Savanna's Act and Not Invisible Act were signed into law by 2020, along with the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2022.

Similar disappearances Heavyrunner's family and the Blackfeet Tribal Business Council noted with NBC Montana that disappearances, unsolved murders and a lack of investigations have plagued the Blackfeet Reservation for decades, yet the issue is severely underreported. along with the disappearance of Jermain Charlo from Missoula.