Two charged with child endangerment in connection with missing girl

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    BILLINGS, Montana (Billings Gazette) — Two women have been charged with child endangerment in connection with an eight-year-old girl who has been missing for more than a year.

Mildred Old Crow, 8, was last seen while in the care of her Tribal Court-appointed guardian on the Crow Indian Reservation in March 2019.

A Missing Endangered Person Advisory was issued for the girl in November.

Veronica Tierza Dust, 34, and Roseen Lincoln Old Crow, 34, both face a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a child in Crow Tribal Court, which holds a maximum sentence of 6 months in jail and $2,500 fine.

They were arraigned Tuesday in Big Horn County District Court and did not waive extradition back to Crow Tribal Court. Both posted a $1,000 bond on Wednesday.

According to the complaint filed in Crow Tribal Court, both women were granted informal custodianship over Mildred in March 2017.

On Dec. 6, 2020 a formal petition was filed with the Tribal Court requesting a hearing because the two guardians had “breached their fiduciary duty to the child.”

It is unclear what the relationship is between Mildred and the two women, but Mildred had stayed at their residence.

Following the hearing, an arrest warrant was issued after both “failed to produce the child nor was any proof of life provided” on Dec. 16.

They were arrested in Billings on Dec. 23 as fugitives from justice.

Relatives of Mildred informed the BIA at Crow Agency in November that they had not seen her since July 2018, according to the FBI.

The agency could not comment on where exactly the girl was staying with her guardian when she went missing in 2019.

Mildred, who was last seen when she was 6 years old, is still missing. She has brown hair, brown eyes and stands three feet tall. She goes by “Millie” and may have physical injuries, according to information from the Montana Department of Justice.

Anyone with information about Mildred’s whereabouts can call BIA Law Enforcement at Crow Agency at (406) 638-2631 or the FBI at (801) 579-1400

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