Thursday, March 28, 2024

Nation ‘confused, angry’ over death of family

TUBA CITY

Early last week, authorities found the bodies of two young Diné women and three children in a remote area of Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico.

Red Valley chapter location.

Now federal investigators are trying to piece together the final moments of Red Valley, Arizona sisters Vanessa George, 25, and Leticia George, 20, and their children – Zoe Becenti, 4; Chloe Becenti, 1; and Haleigh Toledo, 1 – who were found dead on Pueblo land just days after the Albuquerque Police Department issued an alert that they were missing and might be in danger.

When asked where the bodies were found in Santa Ana Pueblo, FBI spokesman Frank Fisher declined to provide any details Wednesday morning. But the Albuquerque Journal reported that the body of Leticia George was found on Sunday at Jemez Canyon Dam. The next day, the bodies of two children were found nearby. And on Tuesday, the body of Vanessa George and a child were discovered.

Their cause of death is unclear, according to the FBI in Albuquerque. The FBI is currently waiting for preliminary autopsy reports on the five bodies, Fisher told the Navajo Times.

“The George family is still in shock,” said a friend of the family who did not want to be named. “But everything’s under investigation.”

Sources who have attended the family meetings in recent days say that Leticia George was two months pregnant.

Marietta George, the mother and grandmother of the sisters and their children, says she wants to tell stories about her children but cannot find the strength to do so right now.


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About The Author

Krista Allen

Krista Allen is editor of the Navajo Times.

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