Amelia Schafer
ICT
More than two months after 19-year-old Trea Shay Northrup was found dead in rural Nevada, the Fort McDermott Paiute and Shoshone woman’s family is offering a $5,000 reward for anyone with information that could help solve the case.
Northrup was last seen being carried out of a room at the Regency Inn in Winnemucca, Nevada on Aug. 2. According to a 911 call, Northrup appeared to be unconscious and was placed in a truck by an unidentified male. It is unclear if Northrup was deceased at this time, said attorney Chase Iron Eyes, Oglala Lakota, who said no camera footage has been released from the hotel.
It is unclear exactly when Northrup’s body was recovered, but investigators have stated she died on Aug. 2, Iron Eyes said.
Two days after Northrup’s death, Winnemucca Police Department posted to its Facebook page asking for information in an investigation related to a fatal overdose at the Regency Inn on Aug. 2, Iron Eyes said he believes law enforcement was referring to Northrup’s death.
Now, Iron Eyes and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples’ advocacy group Not Our Native Daughters say they’re fighting to make sure Northrup’s death is properly investigated.
Representatives with the Winnemucca Police Department were not immediately available for comment. A spokesperson with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department said the Winnemuca Police Department is the lead agency investigating the case and the sheriff’s department is not investigating at this time.
The Nevada State Police Missing and Murdered Indigenous Person’s Division is currently working to actively clarify what happened in Northrup’s death, said Tribal Liaison David Blackeye. So far there has been no official yes or no on if foul play was involved in Northrup’s death, Blackeye said. The MMIP Division only focuses on cases officially ruled to be homicides, which Northrup’s death has not been classified as.
The Winnemucca Police Department declined the offer of intervention from the State Police MMIP Division, said Blackeye, who is Newe and a citizen of the Duckwater Shoshone Tribe.
“Although we are the Nevada State Police, we can’t assert jurisdiction over a local jurisdiction,” Blackeye said. “So our office can only be involved as much as partners are willing.”
A toxicology report revealed the presence of an illicit substance in Northrup’s blood stream, but it is unclear if an overdose was her cause of death, Iron Eyes said. Family members observed a contusion on her head and several scratches across her face post mortem, Iron Eyes said.
Iron Eyes, an Oglala Lakota attorney, was retained by Not Our Native Daughters to represent the Northrup family.
Iron Eyes said he and others are concerned that if Northrup’s official cause of death is ruled to be an accidental drug overdose, police “might be liable to close the investigation.”
“The family is under an unimaginable amount of tragedy and they want a full investigation,” Iron Eyes said. “Two days, 48 hours after it happened, the Winnemucca Police Department is kind of implying that it’s due to an overdose. … But what are the circumstances surrounding that?”
Even if Northrup’s death was due to an accidental overdose, Iron Eyes said that’s a crime that needs to be investigated.
“Who are the other personalities involved in that fateful day of Aug. 2, because at the very least, in the most benign way, that is contributing to the delinquency of a minor,” Iron Eyes said. “You can’t even give alcohol to anyone under the age of 21.”
Winnemucca is a small desert city with a population under 10,000. The town has a distinct and deep Native presence, sharing land with the neighboring Winnemucca Indian Colony and located 70 miles south of the Fort McDermitt Reservation.
Three years ago, the Thacker Pass Lithium mine began operating 60 miles north of Winnemucca, something Iron Eyes said local Indigenous communities feared could lead to an uptick in cases of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People. A man camp associated with Thacker Pass is located in Winnemucca.
Studies, including a 2019 report from the United States Department of Justice on the Bakken Oil Field, indicate the presence of man camps create a rapid increase in an area’s population, one that can strain community infrastructure such as law enforcement, especially in rural areas. This population increase can also lead to an increase in physical and sexual violence including rape, sexual assault and sex trafficking in affected communities.
“There is a direct correlation between the presence of man camps and the increase in crimes,” Iron Eyes said. “We can’t create a direct demonstrable nexus to that, but just statistically, when man camps come around, bad things are gonna happen in your city.”
While there’s no indication anyone associated with the mine is involved in Northrup’s death, Iron Eyes said he and others have feared for the rates of sexual violence and drug use associated with man camps.
On Aug. 13, ten days after Northrup’s death, a post from the Winnemucca Police Department on Facebook addressed reports of an uptick in reports of sexual violence. The department said since January it received five reports of sexual assault, none of which were associated with a local business.
“Not every crime is a threat to the community at large,” the department said in the post. “Many incidents are isolated, and releasing information about them can sometimes compromise an investigation or unnecessarily expose the privacy of those involved. When there is a danger to the community or when we need the public’s assistance in solving a crime, we will communicate that information.”
Northrup’s family is asking that she not be forgotten, and that anyone close to her who may have information please come forward.
“Whenever something like this happens, Indian Country feels it locally, regionally, and nationally,” Iron Eyes said. “It’s been over two months and the family still doesn’t have answers and they’re going through it. They would like help and [to] shine a light on it.”
Law enforcement and advocates are asking anyone with information regarding Northrup’s death to contact Humboldt County Dispatch at 775-623-6429 and inform agents they’re calling regarding Winnemucca Police Department Case number 26-0832.
