By Sarah Elmquist Squires
The Ranger
Via- Wyoming News Exchange

RIVERTON —  The Federal Bureau of Investigations Denver Field Office, which oversees FBI work in Wyoming and on the Wind River Reservation, may soon get a boost in visiting workers. 

The U.S. Department of Justice announced last week it would “surge FBI assets across the country” focused on crimes related to missing and murdered Indigenous people. 

“FBI will send 60 personnel, rotating in 90-day temporary duty assignments over a six-month period,” a release from the Justice Department explained of the effort, dubbed Operation Not Forgotten. “This operation is the longest and most intense national deployment of FBI resources to address Indian Country crime to date.” 

The temporary additional FBI personnel will assist the Bureau of Indian Affairs and other local tribal law enforcement agencies. 

“Crime rates in American Indian and Alaska Native communities are unacceptably high,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “By surging FBI resources and collaborating closely with U.S. attorneys and tribal law enforcement to prosecute cases, the Department of Justice will help deliver the accountability that these communities deserve.” 

“The FBI will manhunt violent criminals on all lands – and Operation Not Forgotten ensures a surge in resources to locate violent offenders on tribal lands and find those who have gone missing,” added FBI Director Kash Patel. 

According to the Department of Justice, the FBI’s Indian Country program had approximately 4,300 open investigations at the beginning of fiscal year 2025, including more than 900 death investigations, 1,000 child abuse investigations, and more than 500 domestic violence and adult sexual abuse investigations. 

The operation continues efforts started under President Donald Trump’s first term in office, when he established the Task Force on Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives; this will be the third deployment under Operation Not Forgotten. 

Over the past two years, the supportive deployments netted the recovery of 10 child victims, 52 arrests, and 25 indictments or judicial complaints, according to the Department of Justice. 

In addition to the Denver Field Office, the rotating personnel boost will also enhance operations in Albuquerque, N.M.; Detroit, Mich.; Jackson, Miss.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Portland, Ore.; Seattle, Wash.; and Salt Lake City, Utah.