Sahela “Toka Win” Sangrait, who was Mnicoujou Lakota, was killed in 2024, allegedly on an Air Force base in South Dakota – but her friends and family are still fighting for justice. As part of South Dakota Searchlight and ICT’s ongoing series on missing and murdered Indigenous people, which is supported by the Fund, Amelia Schafer probed Sangrait’s case. Friends and family tried to report her missing on Aug. 11, 2024, and again in January 2025, but police did not report her missing until Feb. 10, 2025. Meanwhile, the Air Force member who has since been charged with her murder came to work on Aug. 12, 2024, with scratches on his face – and has a history of serious complaints against him. On the night of the murder, police responded to calls of a disturbance at the airman’s on-base residence, but they left without entering his home. DNA from two men and a woman was found on Sangrait’s body, but only the airman and an alleged female accomplice have been charged. Schafer reported that the community is pressing the government for more transparency in the case, including an explanation for why the second man hasn’t been charged.
Murder of Lakota woman is spotlighted in grantee’s ongoing series on missing and murdered Indigenous people
