On February 4, 1974, 12-year-old Delema Sits Poor, an Oglala/Mniconju Lakota girl, vanished from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. That day, Delema and a friend left the Seventh Day Adventist School and began walking along a backroad toward Manderson. The weather conditions were harsh, with temperatures dipping below zero accompanied by high winds and heavy snow.
During their journey, Delema's friend developed frostbite and decided to turn back, seeking shelter at the nearby Red Cloud Indian School. Delema, however, continued on her own and was never seen again. At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing a white, down-filled jacket with two brown stripes on each sleeve, brown bell-bottom pants, and sneakers.
Delema, who was also known by the nickname "Babe," was a student at the Seventh Day Adventist School located between Oglala and Pine Ridge. The morning after she was last seen, once the snowstorm had passed, her family traveled to Pine Ridge to report her missing. Her father filed a police report, and her cousin contacted the National Guard to initiate a search. In the days that followed, both ground and air searches were conducted in the rugged and remote Calico community area where it was believed Delema might have walked. Despite these efforts, the search for Delema was reportedly called off after about a week.
Authorities believe that Delema Sits Poor is deceased, but her remains have never been located, and the specific circumstances of what happened to her remain unclear. Her case is listed with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children under case number 2015999. The disappearance of Delema Sits Poor occurred during a period of significant tension and violence on the Pine Ridge Reservation in the 1970s, a time when many homicides and other serious crimes went unsolved. The Oglala Sioux Tribe has since accused the FBI of not adequately investigating numerous deaths of its members during that era. Delema's case is one of many that has left a lasting impact on the community, with her poster displayed at the Oglala Sioux Tribe Victim Services building as a reminder of her unresolved case. The Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety and the Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing and Murdered Unit continue to seek information that might lead to answers in her disappearance.Last Seen: Feb 4, 1974
