DOJ Announces Operation Not Forgotten 2026 Results: 118 Arrests, 25 Child Victims Identified or Located
The U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI on October 20 announced the results of the 2026 personnel surge under Operation Not Forgotten: from April 1 through September 30, the operation produced 118 arrests, 41 individuals charged federally, 25 child victims identified or located and 72 weapons recovered. FBI agents conducted 990 interviews and 232 search operations and worked more than 500 cases.
Compared with 2025, arrests rose 123 percent, subjects charged rose 52 percent and cases worked rose 59 percent. Now in its fourth year, the operation focuses on unresolved cases in Indian Country, with a priority on cases involving violence against women and children, including those who are missing or murdered. At the start of this fiscal year, the FBI's Indian Country program carried approximately 4,100 open investigations, including death investigations, child abuse cases, and domestic violence and adult sexual abuse investigations.
"The Department of Justice will always work to deliver justice for the victims of violent crime in Indian country," said Attorney General Todd Blanche. FBI Director Kash Patel said this year's operation was the FBI's largest commitment to Indian Country in the Bureau's history. The Department also announced cumulative results for the umbrella Operation Steadfast Promise, launched in April: more than 1,200 new FBI investigations opened, 678 people charged, more than 700 arrested, 2,260 weapons seized and 140 drug seizures.
Cases advanced during the surge included, in Montana, Michael Plentybuffalo charged in connection with the death of Shann Nomee and Lance Crookedarm charged in a May 2026 assault and strangulation, as well as multiple cases on the Navajo Nation and at Fort Apache in Arizona.
Patel also said the FBI has 400 agents dedicated to Indian country and 30 Safe Trails Task Forces, and that through its Voices Not Forgotten program the FBI has raised rewards to at least $25,000 for information on homicides, kidnappings and missing persons in Indian country. During the surge, the District of Wyoming federally indicted 18 individuals on the Wind River Indian Reservation, and FBI personnel rotated through twelve field offices: Albuquerque, Billings, Detroit, Denver, Jackson, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Portland, Phoenix and Salt Lake City.
Cases highlighted include 18 indictments arising from the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, progress in the Anna Scott homicide in Nevada, and cases in Minnesota, Montana, and Arizona. In Arizona, at least four cases were charged, including two violent attacks in the Navajo Nation, an arson, and an aggravated sexual abuse case involving a child under 12, plus an assault on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: FBI 局长 Kash Patel 官方肖像。联邦调查局发布，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons 发布／Official portrait of FBI Director Kash Patel. Photo: Federal Bureau of Investigation, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
