MESA, AZ — Newly released body camera video from the Mesa Police Department provides more details about the night Emily Pike disappeared from her Valley group home.
ABC15 obtained videos from two separate times the San Carlos Apache teen was reported missing from the group home.
Those videos also show the teen wanted to go home and talk to her mom, instead of living at her Mesa group home.
Emily was reported missing from the home, operated by Sacred Journey Inc., three times in 2023, and then a fourth time in January 2025. She was found dead weeks later, off the U.S. 60, northeast of Globe.
In each of the 2023 cases, Pike was returned to the home or was taken to a behavioral health center within hours of employees alerting police.
SEPTEMBER 20, 2023
In video from this date, a police officer spots the teen walking along a canal.
When he calls her name and identifies her, Emily at first denies that's her name.
"Emily, relax," says the officer. "Okay. I need to get you back where you need to go."
Eventually, Emily insists she does not want to go back to the group home.
"I just want to see my mom," said Emily.
The teen said the group home is not her home. At one point, Emily is heard saying she would rather stay with her grandma instead.
The then-13-year-old repeats that she wants to speak to her mom. At one point, she tells the officers no one understands her or is going to help her.
"I'm not going to go to that f****** group home," said Emily. "I hate it there."
Eventually, Emily does get into the car with police.
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JANUARY 27, 2025
A police officer receives a call from the group home and takes the report over the phone. The body camera doesn't pick up the first few seconds of the call, but the officer can be heard asking if Emily had disappeared before.
"Yeah, she had a while back," said the group home staff member.
The body camera is time-stamped on January 27, 2025 at close to 8:30 p.m.
"She's got a pink and gray striped long-sleeved shirt," said the staff member to the officer. "That's what one of the girls here at the group home said she had."
The officer asks for information that would help identify Emily and also asks the staff member if they have looked around the home.
"I looked under the bed and the closet," said the staff member. "I looked outside. The gate was open. The screen door, the screen window was kicked out."
The staff member said she's been with the company for 11 years and said she would have to alert the San Carlos Apache Tribe.
"We'll get her in as a missing person," says the officer. "And then if we get in contact with her, obviously we'll notify you right away that we found her."
LEGISLATIVE HEARING
This body camera is being released on the heels of a legislative hearing last month that focused on Emily's case and group home protocol.
Sacred Journey Inc. did not show up at the hearing. State lawmakers said it was due to potential civil litigation that was being filed.
The Department of Child Safety told lawmakers Emily was in the care of Tribal Social Services and was placed at Sacred Journey Inc. by the tribe. But, as ABC15 has reported, the group home does have a contract with the state.
San Carlos Apache Attorney General Alex Richie said the group home alerted police and Tribal Social Services.
"But our CPS worker wasn't convinced based on what they were saying that the child was actually missing, and that's because of the child's past behaviors," said AG Richie.
DCS launched a licensing inquiry into the group home, and we are working to learn where they are in that investigation.
In March, a spokesperson for DCS said, "At this time, the department does not believe any action taken, or not taken, by the group home caused the terrible outcome in this case. We have opened a licensing inquiry to determine whether appropriate steps were taken by the group home during this incident."
INVESTIGATION INTO EMILY'S CASE
The Gila County Sheriff's Office is leading the investigation into the death of Emily Pike. There is a task force working on her case, which includes additional agencies like the FBI, BIA, and the Mesa Police Department.
There have been multiple parties who have donated a reward amount, including the FBI and the San Carlos Apache Tribe.
The current reward in the teen's case is $175,000.
ABC15 has reached out multiple times in May and June for an official update from GCSO, but we have not received one in weeks.
