MESA, AZ — It's been nearly four months since Emily Pike was found murdered outside Globe - and still, investigators are searching for suspects and answers into the 14-year-old's death - and so is Emily's community.
ABC15 recently attended a clean-up event at a memorial created in Emily's honor in Mesa, where volunteers also wanted to raise awareness for missing and murdered indigenous people. Community members say they won't stop until justice is served.
"This little girl spoke to all of us," says Sarah Robe, a volunteer who was out near Main St. and McKellips in Mesa Saturday, along with dozens of others, to help clean up the memorial that's been created for Emily Pike.
The memorial is located not far from the group home she ran away from back in January. Sadly, just a few weeks later, the San Carlos Apache teen's body would be found outside Globe, with still no arrests in this case.
"You can see people weeding and raking around this area," says Jolene Shorty as she shows ABC15 what volunteers have been up to. Shorty is part of a newly created coalition of San Carlos Apache tribal members who are teaming up to not only raise awareness for Emily's case, but also the cases of other missing and murdered indigenous people across our country.
"Emily's death really spoke to a lot of our hearts."
According to data from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, there are currently 4,200 unsolved cases involving tribes from all over the country.
Just last week, ABC15's Ashley Holden obtained body camera video from September 2023 from the Mesa Police Department, where an officer is seen trying to make contact with Emily after she reportedly ran away from her group home. According to reports, she'd go on to run away from the group home two more times that year.
In the video, you can hear Emily crying out for her mother.
For volunteers like Sarah, the pain in Emily's voice is tough to ignore.
"That is a call to all mothers," Sarah says.
There were two main goals for the event: to honor and celebrate Emily's life, and also pass out flyers with the hopes that someone in the area knows something.
"They're open to talking," says Jolene. "They're just waiting for someone to ask them the right questions...We all wanted justice and change for our community, and that's what's driving a lot of us."
"We need more people to care," explains Adorable Moore, a member of the San Carlos Apache tribe who says she's been trying to raise awareness for the plight of missing and murdered indigenous people since she was a teenager. "We are people who aren't really looked at in the first place."
Adorable went on to say she often feels "invisible" in society.
"It makes me feel like if I go missing or something happens to me, nothing would be done about it."
The coalition says they hope to come out to the memorial site once a month to help clean up.
Last week, ABC15 reported that the Gila County Sheriff's Office had served several search warrants in connection to the case and also sent items to the lab to be tested. ABC15 checked back in with GCSO Monday afternoon; we were told the results of those lab tests are not back yet.
There's currently a joint reward of $175,000 for any information leading to an arrest in Emily's case.
