Missing: Ida Mae Beard

29-year-old Ida Beard, a mother of four and member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, decided to take a short walk in El Reno, Oklahoma. She told her blind mother she was heading to a friend’s house just down the street. Spoiler alert: she never came back. 

Now, in a town where everyone knows everyone else’s business, you’d think a missing mother would cause a stir. But it took a casual two weeks before the police even accepted a missing persons report. Because, apparently, urgency is overrated. Now, I know what you’re thinking: police back in the day were horrible, but no—Ida went missing on June 30, 2015.

Ida wasn’t just any woman; she was the kind who volunteered at Sunday school and helped prepare fellowship dinners. Always smiling, hair in French braids, and a habit of rolling up her pant legs—she was a fixture in her community. Yet, when she vanished, the response was a collective shrug.

Fast forward to years later, and the case remains cold. The El Reno Police Department, after their initial nap, interviewed Ida’s mother and a friend. Groundbreaking detective work, right?

In a twist of irony, Ida’s disappearance led to the creation of “Ida’s Law” in Oklahoma, signed in April 2021. This legislation aims to address the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous people by establishing a liaison office. Because nothing says “we care” like waiting six years to pass a law after ignoring a crisis for decades.

Studies show that Native women are ten times more likely to disappear than their peers. But hey, let’s drag our feet on reports and investigations; if you could even call this an investigation.  Details are so few and far between it makes me question if they even did one.

Ida’s family continues to seek answers, clinging to hope in a system that has repeatedly failed them. If you have any information about Ida Beard’s disappearance, please contact the El Reno Police Department at (405) 262-2121. Let’s hope they might actually listen this time.