Indigenous woman, Amy Porter, age 43, was last seen on September 14, 2024, near Lake Elsinore (according to authorities). Weeks later, despite her disappearance, no progress had been made, as the family had been searching consistently with no luck. According to her family, it was apparent that Amy Porter had allegedly been running from an abusive relationship, as her cousin had told the public at the time of her disappearance that she believed he had chased her. 

Throughout this process of searching for this woman, the family expressed frustration and the very apparent absence of care or action from the authorities themselves. The only information the authorities had released about the situation the weekend she went missing was that Porter was the subject of a Feather Alert. 

“Unfortunately, authorities haven’t been as helpful as we would like them to be. We feel like things weren’t taken seriously.” (This was said during an interview with OnScene.)TV) Her cousin Angelina Lyons said. 

As well as, “Unfortunately, we had to be our own advocates and we had to find her under these circumstances, but we are thankful for all the tribal advocates and communities’ help.”

And this was when the family took matters into their own hands and created their own search party to take action and find this woman just the following Sunday.

It is also important to note that, prior to this event, Amy Porter was involved with the Morongo Band of Mission Indians in Riverside County. 

During this family search for Amy Porter, the unfortunate discovery was made of her body, and her death was revealed to the public. The family found her body “in a desert area near the side of Interstate 10 in Yucaipa, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department,” in an apparent car crash scene (according to latimes.com) 

After the family found Porter’s body authorities (the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department) had released a statement addressing the circumstance, “The family of a female, reported missing from Riverside County, were searching the area when they discovered a deceased female,” followed by, Deputies were not aware of the search before receiving the medical aid call and responded promptly.” And even after the body was found the family still believed authorities did not investigate well enough as her cousin Lyon seemed to have found multiple attachments of evidence she had seen in the home like blood on Porters matress followed by even just the fact that she ran away without shoes (to emphasize the assumption of ger family that she was running away from her abuser). 

On the other hand, this boyfriend himself has yet to be convicted but has been questioned and accused based on what the cousins have said and the evidence they have gained. 

To the public, the authorities’ reaction and response to his case were widely criticized as creating a bad environment and an unsafe community.