Editor’s note: This story has been updated and includes comments from the Winnemucca Police Department.
Amelia Schafer
ICT
More than two months after a 19-year-old Fort McDermott Paiute and Shoshone woman died in rural Nevada, a $5,000 reward is being offered for anyone with information that could help solve the case.
Trea Shay Northrup died in Winnemucca, Nevada, on Aug. 2, according to law enforcement.
“The family is under an unimaginable amount of tragedy and they want a full investigation,” said attorney Chase Iron Eyes, who is Oglala Lakota and was retained by advocacy group Not Our Native Daughters, which posted the reward money.
The reward is for credible information leading to an arrest and conviction in Northrup’s death. Information must be provided directly to law enforcement.
The group is specifically asking that anyone who saw Northrup in Winnemucca or communicated with her in the hours leading up to her death please reach out to investigators.
A spokesperson for the Winnemuca Police Department said there is an ongoing investigation into Northrup’s death.
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.”
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.
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.
