OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson has announced that his office has won a federal grant to support efforts to solve cold cases involving indigenous people.
The Attorney General’s office reports that they won $1.5 million from the Emmett Till Cold Case Investigations and Prosecution federal grant. The grant program supports local, state and tribal law enforcement efforts to investigate and prosecute cold cases dating before 1980 that involve racially-motivated crimes or civil rights violations.
The grant project will support the work of the Attorney General’s new Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People Cold Case Unit. The office also plans to contract with a research expert who specializes in tribal archives and storytelling. This expert will help preserve stories uncovered in research, and ensure that the work is done in a respectful and appropriate manner based on tribal needs and culturally-attuned best practices.
This is the largest-ever grant given since the Department of Justice launched the program in 2020. The Colville, Cowlitz, Puyallup, Spokane and Suquamish tribes all submitted letters of support for this project.
