Mary Youngrunningcrane Missing Person Case

Mary Ann Youngrunningcrane was a 47-year-old female, American Indian / Alaska Native woman who was last known to have had contact on November 15, 2021, in Selah, Washington, in Yakima County. She was connected to the Yakima area during a vulnerable period of her life, and available case information indicated that she was believed to be homeless in that area. Her disappearance was documented through NamUs, the national clearinghouse used for missing, unidentified, and unclaimed person cases across the United States, a system designed to help law enforcement, medical examiners, coroners, investigators, and families share information and work toward resolution.

Mary was identified in the case record as Mary Ann Youngrunningcrane, associated with NamUs missing person case MP100778. She was described as 5 feet 7 inches tall and approximately 180 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. One distinctive physical detail noted in the case information was a tattoo of a heart on her left wrist, the kind of personal marker that can matter deeply in a missing person investigation because it helps distinguish a person beyond statistics and basic descriptors. She was also listed as tribally affiliated and enrolled with the Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation of Montana, placing her case within the broader and deeply painful context of missing Indigenous people whose disappearances have too often required sustained attention from families, communities, law enforcement, and public systems.

The timeline of Mary’s case shows that the last contact occurred on November 15, 2021, but she was not reported missing until December 30, 2022. That gap left a long period in which her movements, contacts, and circumstances were not publicly detailed. The investigating agency was the Yakima Police Department, with the case tied to Yakima County and the Selah/Yakima area. Washington State Patrol guidance explains that missing persons are to be reported first to the primary law enforcement agency where the person was last seen before state-level missing-person assistance can proceed, which is consistent with the local law enforcement role reflected in Mary’s case record.

At the time Mary was listed as missing, the public information available about her disappearance was limited. There were no publicly listed clothing details, transportation details, or specific circumstances describing what happened after her last known contact. The case information instead centered on the essentials: her identity, her last known contact date, her last known location in Selah, her believed presence in the Yakima area, and her physical description. In missing-person work, even sparse details can be meaningful; a last known location, a tattoo, a tribal affiliation, and an investigating agency can each become part of the path toward recognition, confirmation, and eventual resolution.

Mary’s case has since been resolved with a case resolution status of Alive, meaning she was found alive and this is no longer an active missing persons case. The exact date she was located is not clear from the available information, so it should be understood only that the resolution occurred after her missing-person record was created and updated. In overview, Mary Ann Youngrunningcrane’s case began with a last known contact on November 15, 2021, in Selah, Washington, involved a 47-year-old Indigenous woman believed to have been in the Yakima area while experiencing homelessness, was investigated through the Yakima Police Department and documented in NamUs, and ultimately ended with the most hopeful kind of resolution: she was found alive, even though the public record remains limited about the circumstances and timing of that outcome.
Last Seen: Nov 15, 2021