Published 3 days ago • loading... • Updated 3 days ago

Family still searches for answers 20 years after death of South Dakota woman

On Oct. 15, 2005, Lakota Renville was found dead in an empty lot in Independence, Missouri less than 10 hours later, and in 2025 the Renville family still has no answers or suspects.
After meeting a man on MySpace, Lakota Renville moved to Kansas City, where investigators say she was lured, isolated and sex trafficked, with a last noted interaction around 3:30 a.m.
Forensic work shows her body was wrapped in a blue-ish gray wool western blanket with a large steer skull and a rape kit entered into the FBI Combined DNA Index System has no match.
The Independence Police Department planned a social media push and the Kansas City suburb pledged $100,000 t in early 2025, prompting Waynette Renville to drive 500 miles to seek answers.
The case underscores wider MMIP data gaps as the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People reporting project highlights research gaps on Native women’s sex trafficking, while local advocates say training and tribal communication remain inadequate despite Savannah's Act and DOJ involvement.

Insights by Ground AI

18 Articles

Post Bulletin

+17 Reposted by 17 other sources

Center

Family still searches for answers 20 years after death of South Dakota woman

SISSETON, S.D. — Waynette Renville remembers clearly the last time she and her three younger sisters had a conversation together. The four Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota women, all in different cities, arranged a group phone call on the night of Oct. 15, 2005. Cozied up in her pajamas, Waynette caught up with her siblings about their days until eventually it was just her and her youngest sister, Lakota. Not long after, Lakota abruptly got distracted a…

3 days ago·Cherokee County, United States

Read Full Article

Think freely.Subscribe and get full access to Ground NewsSubscriptions start at $9.99/year