BEMIDJI, Minnesota — It's 9 a.m. on a Wednesday at Leech Lake Tribal College (LLTC) in Cass Lake, Minn. LaKaylee Kingbird is settling into her first class of the day: Introduction to Criminal Justice.
"When I first met with LaKaylee... I always like to pick brains a little bit and see what the interest in law enforcement is and what they want to do with their degree," said her instructor, Frank Homer, who is the LLTC law enforcement program coordinator. "One of her reasons... what she's been through."
It's been nearly two years since LaKaylee's sister, Nevaeh Kingbird, disappeared. Two years with no answers.
"Life has been hard without her. She's just been like my best friend. Everything in one, you know?" LaKaylee said.
Nevaeh Kingbird disappears
LaKaylee said the year Nevaeh went missing, the 15-year-old had lost her best friend to suicide and then lost another close friend that October.
"Sent her into this downward spiral and then it led her to using alcohol the night she went missing," said LaKaylee, who was away at the time getting treatment for her mental health.
The night of Oct. 21, 2021, Nevaeh told her mom, Teddi Wind, that she was going to the movies with friends. LaKaylee said her sister and her friends got kicked out of a party in Cass Lake and ended up back at Nevaeh's home in Bemidji. When their mom called home while at work, no one answered. When Wind called again, Nevaeh answered.
"She was slurring her words. You could just tell the way she was talking through the phone that she was under the influence," LaKaylee said.
Wind came home and started kicking people out. With the police on their way, Nevaeh ran out the back door with two others. LaKaylee said they stopped at one other home before Nevaeh ended up at another friend's home at Southview Terrace Mobile Home Park. LaKaylee said her sister had climbed through the window to get inside.
"Her friend's stepdad... just got home or something and he was knocking at the door," LaKaylee said. "Nevaeh got scared and she took off... They said that when they looked out the window that she was gone."
Nevaeh was last seen around 2 a.m. on Oct. 22, 2021. She is described as 5'4", weighing 120 lbs. at the time of her disappearance with black hair and blonde highlights. She may have been wearing a red sweatshirt with a Chicago Bulls logo and headdress around it, and jeans.
"They were telling me over the phone that she ran away and I let myself believe that because it wasn't our first time. Me and her both ran away before," LaKaylee said. "But then also I had the negative side where I was like, something doesn't feel right."
Nevaeh's phone was found stuck between the bed and wall of the last place she was seen. She had left behind all her clothes and belongings.
"That's how I knew something was wrong because she wouldn't leave all her stuff. In the past when she ran away, she took all her clothes and then the stuff off her wall," LaKaylee said.
One month passes
LaKaylee said investigators started reaching out to her family and asking questions one month after Nevaeh went missing.
Det. Sgt. Dan Seaberg with the Bemidji Police Department said although Nevaeh was reported as a runaway, it's entered into the system as a missing person. Seaberg said patrol officers went searching for her the night she disappeared but a ground search was not conducted until December after investigators learned she had jumped out the window, and according to witnesses, hit her head. Since then, there have been multiple searches. The latest was a two-day search at the end of September.
"I just know that I want to help people that are going through the same thing I am in my family," LaKaylee said. "So that's kind of why I'm taking the steps that I'm taking is to help people that feel vulnerable or feel like they're alone and don't have help."
LaKaylee pursues a new career path
LaKaylee said it was always her sister's dream for them to attend high school together. LaKaylee had been a Bemidji Area Schools student before going into treatment. When she got out, she attended Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig School to make good on her promise to her sister, even though Nevaeh was missing by then.
She graduated with three scholarships for college and decided to attend LLTC. LaKaylee is now pursuing a law enforcement degree as part of LLTC's two-year program.
"The way her investigation was handled and the way her case is still being handled... I just want to spread awareness for not just my sister but everybody else that didn't get any attention," LaKaylee said.
Bemidji sits in the middle of three large Indian reservations. LaKaylee and Nevaeh are enrolled members of the Red Lake Nation.
"Our people go missing... and not just the women; the guys, too. It's a pandemic for our people," LaKaylee said.
Missing and murdered Indigenous women
While LaKaylee is studying law enforcement, she plans on eventually pursuing law school. Her ultimate goal is to work at Minnesota's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) Office which is housed within the Office of Justice Programs in the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. The legislature established the office in 2021 — a first of its kind in the nation.
According to MMIR, although they make up less than 1% of the population, Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people account for 8% of all murder victims in the state.
Native women face murder rates more than 10 times the national average, according to the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women.
"We're still not doing enough. We're not. It's difficult in your schools to talk about those topics. I'm in higher education so I'm bringing it forward talking about what is decolonization, what is sexual abuse, what is trafficking. What is not okay," said Audrey Thayer, an enrolled member of the White Earth nation and an Arts and Humanities instructor at LLTC.
Thayer said addressing the issue is like opening a Pandora's box.
"They're all interrelated. Economics... we are in poor counties up here. So the tax dollars for schools, and community, housing. Just having food on the table. It's very difficult to deal with," Thayer said.
Two years later
As her sister's disappearance nears the two year mark, LaKaylee wonders what life would be like if her sister were here.
"Like if I were to take these steps still even if she was here or what my life would be like," she said.
LaKaylee plans on graduating from LLTC in 2026. Wind was also taking law enforcement classes at LLTC before her daughter's disappearance. She goes to school part time and hopes to graduate at the same time as LaKaylee.
LaKaylee wears a necklace with Nevaeh's photo inside. On the back, it says, "Bring Nevaeh home. Never give up."
LaKaylee said, "I tell everybody that too. Just never give up... always try to keep hope. Find hope."
This is still an active investigation. Anyone with information that could help this case should contact the Bemidji Police Department at 218-333-9111 or CrimeStoppers Minnesota via the organization's website or by calling 1-800-222-8477.
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