Emily Pike murder: San Carlos Apache teen laid to rest

PERIDOT, Ariz. — A San Carlos Apache teen was laid to rest in her hometown on Sunday as her death investigation remains a mystery to detectives.

Hundreds of people gathered in the San Carlos High School gymnasium to pay their respects.  

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“Emily, I mean, we loved her. She was an excitement to us,” Pike’s aunt Carolyn Pike Bender said.  “She liked butterflies, she liked anything that sparkled. She liked all the stars, just everything. She was just a girl.”

It’s not lost on Pike’s loved ones that as they say goodbye, justice has not been served.

The teen was violently killed earlier this year after leaving a group home. Pike’s remains were found in a remote area near Globe on Valentine’s Day. 

“We cry because we’re feeling the pain and the grieving process and that’s when everything gets quiet, and you can just feel all of it,” Bender said. 

The pain of losing pike has been deeply felt on San Carlos Apache Reservation. 

“We as Indigenous people and more clearly the Apache people, we’re a family orientated group and we always look out for our own and we take care of our own,” Redrum Motorcycle Club Spiritual Leader Kristopher Dosela said.

Her story has also touched Indigenous tribes across the nation.

“This young girl disappeared for a month and nothing and so there’s the problem in that,” Redrum Motorcycle Club International President Cliff Matias said. “This is an issue, an ongoing issue.”

Pike’s aunts want people to know their niece was soft spoken and kind with a big heart.

“She was a very bright, smart girl,” Bender said.

It’s Pike’s spirit and her smile that family will never forget.

“She would always have a smile on her face,” Pike’s cousin Celena Rustin said. “We’ll always remember her.”

The San Carlos Apache Tribe is offering a $75,000 reward to anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest and conviction in Pike’s case.

Anyone with information should contact the Gila County Sheriff’s Office at 928-200-2352. You can also reach the Bureau of Indian Affairs Special Agent at 505-917-7830 or the San Carlos Apache Tribal Police Detective at 928-475-1755.  

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