Olivia Lone Bear was an Indigenous woman from North Dakota who went missing in October of 2017. Her remains were found a few months later inside of her car at the bottom of a lake. Olivia’s case is still unsolved.
Olivia Lone Bear was born on October 11, 1985. She was apart of the Three Affiliated Tribes Indigenous community in New Town, North Dakota, and was also a mother of 5 children. Olivia was known to her community for being a vibrant woman who often enjoyed many activities that include: playing poker, golfing, going to concerts, and most importantly, spending time with her children.
On October 24, 2017, Olivia spent the evening at a local bar enjoying recreational time with some friends. She was last seen leaving the bar in a truck she borrowed from a friend.
Olivia’s father Harley became worried after not hearing from his daughter in 2 days, prompting him to contact law enforcement. A search quickly began for the young mother, with law enforcement and tribal council leaders searching for answers to her disappearance. On October 26, Olivia’s brother Matthew posted a Facebook status stating that they could not find Olivia and it wasn’t in her nature to just suddenly disappear like that.
As the search for Olivia continued into December, a Dateline episode with an interview with Matthew and his theory of what happened to Olivia was released. Matthew stated that he believes Olivia returned home after leaving the bar because her phone, wallet, and money, as well as the clothes she was last wearing, were found at her home after the search for her began.
Law enforcement searched the million acres of the Fort Berthold Reservation, suspecting that Olivia could possibly be there. On July 27, 2018, a group of volunteers on a fishing boat discovered a truck submerged in Lake Sakakawea. The truck, which was in more than 20 feet of water and 400 feet from the shore, was removed from the water and a body was recovered. On July 31, 2018, it was publicly confirmed that the truck found in the lake was the one Olivia was driving and the remains of the 32 year old mother were found inside. She was found less than a mile and a half away from her home.
Strangely, Olivia’s body was found strapped into the passengers seat of the truck, not the driver’s seat. Her autopsy revealed that there were no obvious injuries on her body, but Olivia’s cause of death was undetermined.
Olivia’s case is still open, and her community and family continue to search for answers of what happened to her. Tribal leaders and law enforcement do as much as they can to investigate her case, however, with their limited authority of criminal jurisdiction, tribal police are limited to what they can do in the investigation. Olivia’s case is one of thousands of cases of Indigenous women disappearing or being murdered, and the case going unsolved. A lot of these cases aren’t known because of the limits set on tribal authority across the U.S. Changes must be made within this system and the cases of these Indigenous women must be taken more seriously because Olivia and the victims of cases like hers deserve justice.
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