Montana 16-year-old Selena Not Afraid went missing in Big Horn County, Montana on New Year’s Day 2020. After several days of searching, her body was located on January 20th near an Interstate 90 rest area where she was last seen alive.
County 10 first noted her disappearance on January 9th when a report from Montana law enforcement mentioned a vehicle with Wyoming license plates was being sought. Also on January 9th, County 10 highlighted an effort by Wyoming Indian High School to spread awareness about her disappearance and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls movement.
The Billings Gazette reported Sunday that Montana authorities had ruled Not Afraid’s death as accidental.
“She died of hypothermia, and there was no evidence of violence, according to the preliminary autopsy conducted by the state medical examiner,” The Billings Gazette reported.
Not Afraid’s death does remain under review by Montana’s Department of Justice and Division of Criminal Investigation.
Another Big Horn County, MT teen death also remains under investigation. 18-year-old Kaysera Stops Pretty Places was reported missing on August 27th, 2019 and found two days later by a jogger. The investigation into her death is still ongoing as examiners were unable to determine a cause of death.
For more on both of these stories, check out this article from the Billings Gazette.