In the winter of 2007, a young woman's disappearance from Minneapolis, Minnesota, began a long and painful period of uncertainty for her loved ones. Kateri Marie Mishow, a 22-year-old Native American woman, was last seen on January 5, 2007. At the time of her disappearance, she was described as being between 5'2" and 5'3" tall and weighing around 100 pounds, with brown hair and hazel eyes.
When she was last seen, Kateri was wearing a blue jean jacket and pants, along with an oversized black leather coat that had a fur lining. Her last known address was in the 2200 block of 11th Avenue South in Minneapolis. From that day forward, no one has reported hearing from her.
Kateri was a person with several distinct physical characteristics. She had a tattoo on the back of her shoulder that depicted the cartoon character Tweety Bird with angel wings. Her ears were pierced multiple times, with two or three holes in each, and she also had a nose piercing. Additionally, she had a scar on her right elbow and a skin discoloration on her thigh. Kateri was close with her family, particularly her brother and sister-in-law, with whom she had lived for a time. Her mother, Kathy Mishow, recalls that her daughter would call her father every day, a habit that came to an abrupt end. The realization that Kateri was truly missing began to set in for her mother when Kateri's friends started coming to the family home looking for her. The family officially filed a missing persons report with the Minneapolis Police Department on January 23, 2007.
The years following Kateri's disappearance have been filled with anguish for her family as they continue to search for answers. A painful tip emerged when a friend of Kateri's, who was incarcerated, contacted her mother to say he had overheard two inmates claiming Kateri was in the Mississippi River. This distressing information prompted Kateri's father, Ira, to spend the next two years diligently walking the banks of the river, searching for any sign of his daughter, but his search yielded nothing. The investigation into her disappearance has remained open, though few details about its progress have been made public. The case is a somber reminder of the disproportionately high rates of missing and murdered Indigenous women, a crisis that has gained more attention in recent years. Kateri's family has participated in marches for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives to keep her memory alive and to raise awareness for others who have been lost. The case remains an active investigation with the Minneapolis Police Department, a long and unresolved chapter in the lives of those who love and miss Kateri.Last Seen: Jan 5, 2007
