The death of Isabelle Sam continues to generate questions, heartbreak, and debate across Alaska and beyond. Officially ruled a fentanyl-related death, Isabelle's case has nevertheless become a focal point for advocates, family members, and independent researchers who believe important questions remain unanswered.

In this episode of Beneath the Red Sky, David McClam and LaDonna Humphrey explore the circumstances surrounding Isabelle's death while carefully examining both the official findings and the concerns raised by those who continue seeking additional answers. The discussion focuses on reported injuries, conflicting witness accounts, investigative conclusions, and the larger questions that have fueled years of public scrutiny.

The case also exists within the broader context of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People crisis. For many Indigenous families, historical experiences have created deep concerns about whether investigations involving Native women receive the attention and scrutiny they deserve. Those concerns continue to shape public perception of Isabelle's case and the ongoing calls for transparency.

Throughout the episode, David and LaDonna emphasize the importance of separating documented facts from speculation while recognizing that asking difficult questions is often an essential part of the search for truth. Whether listeners agree with the official conclusions or believe further examination is warranted, one fact remains beyond dispute: Isabelle Sam was a young woman whose life mattered, whose family continues to grieve, and whose story deserves to be remembered.

This episode is not about assigning blame or promoting a particular theory. It is about examining the facts, acknowledging the concerns that persist, and honoring a life that ended far too soon.

• Who was Isabelle Sam?

• The official findings surrounding her death

• Questions raised by family members and advocates

• Reported injuries and public concerns

• Witness statements and conflicting accounts

• The role of social media in keeping the case alive

• The broader Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People crisis

• Trust, transparency, and public confidence in investigations

• Why the case continues to generate debate years later

• Remembering Isabelle beyond the headlines

Hosted by David McClam and LaDonna Humphrey, Beneath the Red Sky examines cases involving missing persons, suspicious deaths, unsolved mysteries, and issues affecting Indigenous communities. Through thoughtful discussion and victim-centered storytelling, the podcast seeks to elevate overlooked voices and encourage meaningful conversations about justice, accountability, and truth.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share the podcast. Your support helps bring attention to important stories that deserve to be remembered.

The crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women is often discussed through statistics, reports, and policy debates. Yet behind every number is a person whose absence continues to be felt by families, communities, and tribal nations across North America.

In this episode of Beneath the Red Sky, David McClam and LaDonna Humphrey step back from a single investigation to examine the broader crisis affecting Indigenous women and girls. They explore the alarming rates of violence experienced by American Indian and Alaska Native women, the systemic challenges families often encounter when seeking help, and the devastating impact of disappearances that remain unresolved for years—or even decades.

The discussion examines how the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) movement emerged from the determination of families who refused to allow their loved ones to be forgotten. From failures in data collection and jurisdictional confusion to disparities in media coverage, the episode explores the barriers that have contributed to a crisis many advocates have been warning about for generations.

David and LaDonna also highlight several individual cases that reflect the broader challenges Indigenous families face, including the disappearance of Emmilee Risling, a Hoopa Valley tribal member who vanished in Northern California in 2021, and Ashley Nicole Collins, who disappeared from the Jicarilla Apache Reservation in New Mexico in 2017. The episode also remembers Brandi Lee Krajewski, who was only two years old when she disappeared in 1982 and has never been found.

Throughout the conversation, the focus remains on the people behind the headlines. These are daughters, mothers, sisters, grandmothers, students, artists, and community members whose lives mattered long before they became statistics. Their families continue searching, organizing, advocating, and demanding answers, often long after public attention has moved on.

This episode is a reminder that the MMIW crisis is not a historical issue. It is an ongoing public safety and human rights issue that continues to affect Indigenous communities today. Until every missing woman is found, every unsolved case receives meaningful attention, and every family receives the answers they deserve, the work remains unfinished.

In This Episode:

• Understanding the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) crisis
• Violence statistics affecting Indigenous women and girls
• The challenges of underreporting and database discrepancies
• Jurisdictional issues involving tribal, local, state, and federal agencies
• The role of advocacy movements and family-led awareness efforts
• The disappearance of Emmilee Risling
• The disappearance of Ashley Nicole Collins
• The case of Brandi Lee Krajewski
• The importance of media coverage and public awareness
• Why Indigenous families continue fighting for visibility and justice
• The human stories behind the statistics

About Beneath the Red Sky

Beneath the Red Sky explores cases involving missing persons, unsolved crimes, Indigenous justice issues, and the families whose lives have been forever changed by tragedy. Through careful research and victim-centered storytelling, the podcast seeks to bring attention to cases that deserve to be remembered.

#BeneathTheRedSky #MMIW #MMIP #MissingAndMurderedIndigenousWomen #IndigenousJustice #EmmileeRisling #AshleyNicoleCollins #BrandiLeeKrajewski #TrueCrimePodcast #DavidMcClam #LaDonnaHumphrey

In this episode of Beneath the Red Sky, hosts LaDonna Humphrey and David McClam examine the heartbreaking and still-unsolved disappearance of Emmilee Risling, a member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe with Yurok and Karuk ancestry who vanished on October 14, 2021.

Emmilee was a mother, daughter, traditional dancer, and beloved member of her community. Before her disappearance, she was reportedly experiencing a severe mental health crisis that her family believes began as postpartum depression and progressed into postpartum psychosis. Her loved ones were actively trying to help her navigate a difficult and frightening chapter of her life.

The last confirmed sighting of Emmilee occurred near Pecwan on the Yurok Reservation, where witnesses reported seeing her walking alone across a bridge spanning the Klamath River. After that sighting, the trail went cold.

Nearly four years later, Emmilee remains missing.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Who Emmilee Risling was beyond the headlines

• The mental health struggles her family says she was facing

• The circumstances surrounding her disappearance

• The challenges of searching in the rugged Klamath River region

• The ongoing fight for answers by her family and community

• The broader Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons crisis

At Beneath the Red Sky, we believe every missing person deserves to be remembered, every family deserves answers, and every case deserves attention.

If you have information regarding the disappearance of Emmilee Risling, please contact the appropriate law enforcement agency or submit a tip through official channels.

Subscribe for more stories focused on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons, unsolved disappearances, cold cases, and the pursuit of justice.

#EmmileeRisling #MMIP #MissingPersons #IndigenousWomen #BeneathTheRedSky #ColdCases #UnsolvedMysteries #MissingAndMurderedIndigenousPersons #TrueCrime #Justice

In this powerful episode of Beneath the Red Sky, hosts LaDonna Humphrey and David McClam examine one of the most disturbing and overlooked realities of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) crisis: the role that highways, transportation corridors, and isolated road systems play in the disappearance and victimization of Indigenous women across North America.

For generations, Indigenous families and advocates have warned about dangerous patterns emerging along rural highways, truck routes, oil field corridors, and remote stretches of road connecting reservations and underserved communities. Long before national media began paying attention, families were sounding the alarm about women who vanished while traveling, hitchhiking, commuting to work, seeking medical care, or simply trying to get home.

This episode explores how geographic isolation, inadequate transportation infrastructure, jurisdictional challenges, and systemic failures have created conditions that predators can exploit. LaDonna and David discuss the vulnerabilities faced by many Indigenous women, the challenges confronting tribal communities, and the ways offenders have historically used mobility, anonymity, and fragmented law enforcement systems to avoid detection.

The conversation also examines the FBI's Highway Serial Killings Initiative, the infamous Highway of Tears in British Columbia, unsolved cases connected to transportation corridors, and the broader public safety implications of these recurring patterns. The hosts discuss why awareness alone is no longer enough and what meaningful reforms are needed to better protect Indigenous communities.

Throughout the episode, listeners are challenged to consider a difficult question: How many warnings were ignored before these patterns became impossible to deny?

This is not simply a story about highways. It is a story about vulnerability, accountability, public safety, and the value society places on Indigenous lives.

Topics Covered:

• The connection between highways and MMIP cases

• Transportation barriers in rural and reservation communities

• The role of hitchhiking as a necessity rather than a choice

• Jurisdictional challenges involving tribal, state, and federal agencies

• The FBI Highway Serial Killings Initiative

• The Highway of Tears and similar transportation corridors

• Patterns observed in disappearances and unsolved murders

• Media disparities in coverage of Indigenous victims

• Structural reforms needed to address the MMIP crisis

Sources Referenced:

• National Institute of Justice – Violence Against American Indian and Alaska Native Women and Men

• Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing and Murdered Unit

• FBI Highway Serial Killings Initiative

• Murder Accountability Project

• Urban Indian Health Institute

• Research materials and source documentation compiled for this episode

Beneath the Red Sky is dedicated to amplifying Indigenous voices, examining systemic issues affecting Native communities, and ensuring that the stories of missing and murdered Indigenous people are never forgotten.

Beneath the Red Sky with LaDonna Humphrey & David McClam

In this episode of Beneath the Red Sky, LaDonna Humphrey and David McClam examine the disappearance of 22-year-old Savannah Standing Bear, a young Lakota woman from Parmelee, South Dakota, who vanished on March 25, 2025.

According to her family, Savannah left to spend time with friends after texting her mother in the early morning hours. While the friends later returned, Savannah did not. Her disappearance immediately raised alarm among loved ones who say her behavior was completely out of character. Savannah was known for maintaining close contact with her family and rarely went without communicating, especially with her mother and sister.

LaDonna and David explore the extensive search efforts that followed, including the work of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, tribal investigators, volunteers, drone teams, horseback riders, search-and-rescue personnel, cadaver dogs, and community advocates who have continued searching for answers.

The episode also examines the broader Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) crisis, including the disproportionate rates of violence experienced by Indigenous women and the systemic challenges that often complicate investigations. Through Savannah's story, the hosts discuss the emotional toll on families, the importance of public awareness, and the urgent need for continued attention to unresolved MMIP cases across the United States.

Savannah Standing Bear remains missing.

Anyone with information regarding her disappearance is urged to contact the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Police Department at (605) 856-2282.

If you would like to help, please share Savannah's flyer, discuss her case, and continue raising awareness. Every share, conversation, and tip has the potential to bring investigators closer to answers.

Beneath the Red Sky is dedicated to amplifying the voices of Indigenous families, honoring victims, and ensuring that missing and murdered Indigenous people are never forgotten.

Sources referenced in this episode include the National Institute of Justice, the Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing and Murdered Unit, the National Congress of American Indians, the Urban Indian Health Institute, and publicly available information regarding the disappearance of Savannah Standing Bear.

In this powerful first episode of a three-part investigative series, LaDonna and David explore the structural, historical, and systemic forces that have made Indigenous women primary targets for serial predators. They expose the blind spots, the institutional failures, and the centuries-old messages that predators continue to exploit.

Chapters:

• The historical roots of violence against Indigenous women
  
  
• How predators “read” systemic bias
  
  
• Why law enforcement responses are slower and less thorough
  
  
• How colonization laid the foundation for modern vulnerability
  
  
• The crisis of uncounted missing Indigenous women
  
  

Why the pattern persists today

Support Indigenous-led MMIP organizations.
Learn the names.
Share the stories.
Break the silence predators rely on.

On a cold night in February 1971, 19-year-old Selina Violet Wallace disappeared from a pier on Quadra Island, British Columbia. Described as tall, beautiful, and full of light, she was last seen talking with friends near Cape Mudge. Despite extensive searches, no trace of her was ever found.
Selina’s story reflects the ongoing crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) — cases that fade from public view but remain etched in the hearts of families and communities.

Contact Information:
If you have any information about Selina Violet Wallace, please contact the Quadra Island RCMP at 250-285-3631 or email canadasmissing-disparuscanada@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

• The loss of Indigenous women in remote communities
  
  
• Generational silence and advocacy
  
  
• The enduring power of remembrance

On a late-summer day in 1996, 42-year-old Gloria Jean King (aka Gloria Jarvison) vanished somewhere along the highway between Albuquerque and Farmington/Gallup, New Mexico. Traveling in separate vehicles with her former husband, the pair stopped near Grants and Milan—and then their stories diverged. Gloria never made it home. Her vehicle was later found at the El Rancho Hotel in Gallup. She has not been seen since.

Gloria Jeans Identifiers

• Height 5’3”–5’5”, ~115 lbs
  
  
• Brown hair, brown eyes
  
  
• Last seen in red/maroon printed shirt
  
  
• Scarred or missing left earlobe
  
  
• Names: Gloria Jean King / Gloria Jarvison
  
  
• Conflicting dates reported: August 9, 1996 and September 9, 1996
  
  If you have information about Gloria Jean King, please contact the New Mexico State Police (Gallup District) at (505) 863-9353. Even small memories can matter—especially from former staff or guests of the El Rancho Hotel in 1996, or travelers who recall vehicles left along the corridor between Albuquerque, Grants, Milan, Gallup, and Farmington.