EMILY PIKE: Previously missing 14-year-old found dismembered on side of highway in Arizona

Homicide investigation underway after girl missing from Mesa was found dead near Globe

A homicide investigation is underway after the remains of a missing girl were found earlier this month, according to the Gila County Sheriff's Office.

www.abc15.com

Homicide investigation underway after girl missing from Mesa was found dead near Globe​

A homicide investigation is underway after the remains of a missing girl were found earlier this month, according to the Gila County Sheriff's Office.

On February 14, the remains of an unidentified female were located off Highway 60 near milepost 277, northeast of Globe.

On Thursday, GCSO said the remains were identified as a girl from the San Carlos Apache Tribe missing out of Mesa.

Officials confirmed Friday that the remains were that of 14-year-old Emily Pike.

Mesa Police Department said Pike was last seen after leaving a residence near Mesa Drive and McKellips Road on January 27.

The incident is being investigated as a homicide.

Anyone with any information regarding this case is asked to contact the Gila County Sheriff's Office detective at 928-200-2352, the Bureau of Indian Affairs special agent at 505-917-7830, or the San Carlos Apache Tribal Police detective at 928-475-1755.

GRAPHIC: Body of missing 14-year-old girl found dismembered off highway, authorities say

Arizona authorities confirmed a missing teen has been found dead off an area highway.

www.kktv.com

GRAPHIC: Body of missing 14-year-old girl found dismembered off highway, authorities say​

The Gila County Sheriff’s Office said on Thursday that the body that was found in the woods belonged to a missing Native American girl.

According to the Gila County Sheriff’s Office, the girl was identified as 14-year-old Emily Pike, who was last seen on Jan. 27 near Mesa Drive and McKellips Road.

Deputies said Emily was from the San Carlos Apache Tribe, and the Gila County Sheriff’s Office is leading the homicide investigation.

Authorities called the scene disturbing where they discovered the teen’s body off the U.S. 60, a few miles away from the Jackson Butte Recreation area on Feb. 14.

The sheriff’s office said detectives found a head and torso in large contractor trash bags with the girl’s legs in separate bags.

However, they couldn’t find her arms and hands.

The preliminary autopsy results found the girl had visible face and head trauma.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Emily Pike: Family reflects on unsolved murder at site where teen was found dismembered | Special Report

Emily Pike's family says her brutal murder could have been prevented. The 14-year-old tribal member's death exposes systemic failures in a heartbreaking case of jurisdictional confusion and a search for justice.

www.fox10phoenix.com

Emily Pike: Family reflects on unsolved murder at site where teen was found dismembered | Special Report​

Fourteen-year-old Emily Pike was brutally murdered earlier this year, but long before that, Emily was allegedly sexually assaulted.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs conducted an investigation but closed her case due to "insufficient evidence." Family members believe she would still be alive if the case had been prosecuted.

The backstory:

"Emily, Emily, Emily. Can you please stop for me so I can talk to you?" a Mesa Police officer was heard saying on body camera footage.

It was the night of Sept. 20, 2023, the second time she had run away from a group home owned by Sacred Journey, Inc.

"Let’s talk, OK?" the officer said.

"No ... I just wanna see my mom. Get off of me." she replied.

Far from home, 120 miles away from the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, Emily was talking with an officer.

"No one’s helping me. Stay the (expletive) away from me. No one’s gonna (expletive) help me," Emily said.

Those words hit harder knowing what the family knows now.

"I really don’t want to put you in handcuffs, young lady, OK?" the officer said. Emily replied, "I just wanna go home."

A month later, Emily ran away again on Halloween 2023. By January 2025, she would sneak out for the last time.

Emily was in the custody of her tribe and ultimately placed in a Mesa group home licensed by the Department of Child Safety. But before that, she reported being sexually assaulted on the San Carlos Apache Reservation.

In May 2025, San Carlos Apache Police Department Chief, Elliot Sneezy, spoke to Arizona lawmakers during a joint legislative oversight committee on the Department of Child Safety about the strain his officers face covering 1.8 million acres of land where 17,000 tribal members live.

Emily’s 911 call was transferred to the Game and Fish Department.

"Part of the reason why that call was given to the Game and Fish Department to locate her was because it was in a rural area, a very desolate area, and Game and Fish are the experts on locating people in those types of areas. Now, do we respond to some of those areas? Yes. However, looking at calls, we were also busy. As I mentioned, we cover a lot of area. And I think at the time, we only had about 22 police officers," Chief Sneezy explained.

No one has been charged in Emily’s assault.

"And ultimately, the path to her leading to a group home almost seemed like she was punished for being victimized. And I find that absolutely abhorrent," said State Sen. Carine Werner, a Republican representing District 4.

Dig deeper:

Even after Emily ran away from Sacred Journey multiple times, DCS indicated the agency had no record of her.

"When a child is living on tribal lands and either eligible for enrollment or enrolled in a tribe, the tribe has exclusive jurisdiction. The state can't come in and tell them what to do with their children," said Kathryn Ptak, two weeks after being confirmed director of the Department of Child Safety.

Jurisdiction is the key term and what leads to a disconnect, according to Arizona lawmakers and tribal leaders.

When she ran away on Jan. 27, 2025, the group home staff notified her tribe’s social services but did not call the DCS hotline to report her as a runaway. Since then, DCS officials have ordered the group home to use the hotline regardless of the entity that placed a child in the home.

"Emily ran away from Sacred Journey exiting her room's window. The alarm on the window had been disabled," said Terry Rambler, chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe.

One hundred miles away from where Emily was last seen in Mesa, two memorials have grown off U.S. 60 near milepost 277.

On Valentine’s Day 2025, authorities found Emily’s remains dismembered in trash bags.

"You take her life. But why? Why go as far as taking her body apart? Why... do this to her?" said Carolyn Bender, Emily's aunt.

Emily’s cause of death was "homicidal violence with blunt head trauma."

"This is a tough place to come to because my brother’s baby was dumped here like a piece of trash, like she didn’t matter, and it hurts that somebody hated her, disliked her that much to do what they did to her," said Emily's uncle, Allred Pike.

The Gila County Sheriff’s Office is leading the multi-agency investigation into Emily’s murder, and no suspects have been identified.

"Yes, I feel that her murder could have been prevented, and it all starts down to her assault," Bender said when asked if she feels Emily's death could have been prevented.

 

[Tresir]

Chief Sneezy? These officers failed her. I don't understand why they can't seem to do a proper investigation. Was their any DNA on her body or on the bag?

 

[Guess Who]

Emily Pike: Family reflects on unsolved murder at site where teen was found dismembered | Special Report

Emily Pike's family says her brutal murder could have been prevented. The 14-year-old tribal member's death exposes systemic failures in a heartbreaking case of jurisdictional confusion and a search for justice.

www.fox10phoenix.com

Emily Pike: Family reflects on unsolved murder at site where teen was found dismembered | Special Report​

Fourteen-year-old Emily Pike was brutally murdered earlier this year, but long before that, Emily was allegedly sexually assaulted.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs conducted an investigation but closed her case due to "insufficient evidence." Family members believe she would still be alive if the case had been prosecuted.

The backstory:

"Emily, Emily, Emily. Can you please stop for me so I can talk to you?" a Mesa Police officer was heard saying on body camera footage.

It was the night of Sept. 20, 2023, the second time she had run away from a group home owned by Sacred Journey, Inc.

"Let’s talk, OK?" the officer said.

"No ... I just wanna see my mom. Get off of me." she replied.

Far from home, 120 miles away from the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, Emily was talking with an officer.

"No one’s helping me. Stay the (expletive) away from me. No one’s gonna (expletive) help me," Emily said.

Those words hit harder knowing what the family knows now.

"I really don’t want to put you in handcuffs, young lady, OK?" the officer said. Emily replied, "I just wanna go home."

A month later, Emily ran away again on Halloween 2023. By January 2025, she would sneak out for the last time.

Emily was in the custody of her tribe and ultimately placed in a Mesa group home licensed by the Department of Child Safety. But before that, she reported being sexually assaulted on the San Carlos Apache Reservation.

In May 2025, San Carlos Apache Police Department Chief, Elliot Sneezy, spoke to Arizona lawmakers during a joint legislative oversight committee on the Department of Child Safety about the strain his officers face covering 1.8 million acres of land where 17,000 tribal members live.

Emily’s 911 call was transferred to the Game and Fish Department.

"Part of the reason why that call was given to the Game and Fish Department to locate her was because it was in a rural area, a very desolate area, and Game and Fish are the experts on locating people in those types of areas. Now, do we respond to some of those areas? Yes. However, looking at calls, we were also busy. As I mentioned, we cover a lot of area. And I think at the time, we only had about 22 police officers," Chief Sneezy explained.

No one has been charged in Emily’s assault.

"And ultimately, the path to her leading to a group home almost seemed like she was punished for being victimized. And I find that absolutely abhorrent," said State Sen. Carine Werner, a Republican representing District 4.

Dig deeper:

Even after Emily ran away from Sacred Journey multiple times, DCS indicated the agency had no record of her.

"When a child is living on tribal lands and either eligible for enrollment or enrolled in a tribe, the tribe has exclusive jurisdiction. The state can't come in and tell them what to do with their children," said Kathryn Ptak, two weeks after being confirmed director of the Department of Child Safety.

Jurisdiction is the key term and what leads to a disconnect, according to Arizona lawmakers and tribal leaders.

When she ran away on Jan. 27, 2025, the group home staff notified her tribe’s social services but did not call the DCS hotline to report her as a runaway. Since then, DCS officials have ordered the group home to use the hotline regardless of the entity that placed a child in the home.

"Emily ran away from Sacred Journey exiting her room's window. The alarm on the window had been disabled," said Terry Rambler, chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe.

One hundred miles away from where Emily was last seen in Mesa, two memorials have grown off U.S. 60 near milepost 277.

On Valentine’s Day 2025, authorities found Emily’s remains dismembered in trash bags.

"You take her life. But why? Why go as far as taking her body apart? Why... do this to her?" said Carolyn Bender, Emily's aunt.

Emily’s cause of death was "homicidal violence with blunt head trauma."

"This is a tough place to come to because my brother’s baby was dumped here like a piece of trash, like she didn’t matter, and it hurts that somebody hated her, disliked her that much to do what they did to her," said Emily's uncle, Allred Pike.

The Gila County Sheriff’s Office is leading the multi-agency investigation into Emily’s murder, and no suspects have been identified.

"Yes, I feel that her murder could have been prevented, and it all starts down to her assault," Bender said when asked if she feels Emily's death could have been prevented.

So how did the alarm get disabled? If the patients can disable it, that defeats the purpose of having one and if staff disabled it, that's negligence on the staff.

 

[Tresir]

So she ran away multiple times. On the previous occasions, who was she with when they found her and returned her to the home? I may have missed that info, if it is known.

 

[GrandmaBear]

So she ran away multiple times. On the previous occasions, who was she with when they found her and returned her to the home? I may have missed that info, if it is known.

I don't think we know. I think one time a younger girl was with her but dnn't quote me, I could have my cases mixed up, but I think so.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Mesa group home blames Emily Pike’s parents, San Carlos Apache Tribe in reply to lawsuit

Sacred Journey is demanding a jury trial to settle the matter. The company contends that they’re not at fault for the 14-year-old’s murder, but blame many others.

www.kjzz.org

Mesa group home blames Emily Pike’s parents, San Carlos Apache Tribe in reply to lawsuit​

San Carlos Apache teen Emily Pike was found slain in February after disappearing from a group home in Mesa. Her father recently filed a lawsuit alleging negligence by the home led to Emily’s death. The facility has since responded in an Oct. 15 filing before Maricopa County Superior Court.

Sacred Journey is demanding a jury trial to settle the matter.

The company contends that they’re not at fault for the 14-year-old’s murder, but blame many others. Sacred Journey claims Emily’s parents — Jensen Pike and Stephanie Dosela — were “unfit, unresponsive and neglectful,” hence why she was in the San Carlos Apache Tribe’s custody to begin with.

Even the tribe faces scrutiny from the facility, saying their professionals placed Emily into a “non-secure, voluntary residential home.” When asked, the San Carlos Apache Tribe did not comment on the group home's legal reply.

Sacred Journey also says Emily “left of her own free will.”

Her murderer is still unknown and remains at large eight months after her dismembered body was discovered inside the Tonto National Forest more than 100 miles from where she was last seen in the Valley.

 

[GrandmaBear]

I agree mostly. If I recall, this is the case where her father is in prison. Her parents most definitely were not there for her, especially him, and directly affected her and are responsible for her upbringing. How can he parent when he is not there at all! While the facility is not necessarily blameless, this argument by them has merit. He has no leg to stand on if y ou ask me and the tribal justice system did little where her claim of SA was concerned.

I wonder what sleazy lawyer took dad's case--one that will just be happy with a settlement out of court is my guess so he can take his cut.