The Dunn County Sheriff’s Office in North Dakota has identified Darlene Billie as the woman whose remains were found earlier this month.
The Sheriff’s Office said in a press release that Billie was reported missing from the Flathead Reservation in October 2017. The remains were found in the northwest region of Dunn County on September 3rd.
Billie, 55 years old, was originally from Mississippi but had been living in St. Ignatius since 2010. Billie’s daughter told MTN News in January that Billie had left to visit family on the Montana-North Dakota border in September 2017.
The Sheriff’s Office said that family members have been notified.
No other details have been released at this point, and authorities are continuing to investigate.
We will update you if we get more details.
(JANUARY 30, 2018) The family of a St. Ignatius woman missing for weeks continues their search for her. A missing person’s report was filed for 55-year-old Darlene Billie in December, but her daughter says that haven’t heard from her since late October. Billie is originally from Mississippi but has lived in St. Ignatius since 2010. She had gone to visit her husband on the Montana-North Dakota border in September.
Billie’s daughter, Jaylen Carpentier, talked to her mom in October to tell her that she should come home for the birth of her grandson. Carpentier has not heard from her mom since. She says it is unlike her mother to fall out of contact for this long.
“Her grandkids mean everything to her. She wouldn’t miss the birth of my son for anything,” Carpentier said. “It’s just weird for her not to be in contact because my daughter was like her world. She cared so much about her.”
She says tribal law enforcement agencies are now working on the case. The case has also caught the attention of groups that advocate for missing and murdered indigenous women in the United States.
Darlene is 5 foot 7 inches tall and about 160 pounds. She has either black or grey hair when it hasn’t been dyed. She was last seen on the border of Montana and North Dakota. If you have any information you are asked to contact the CSKT Tribal Police at 406-675-4700.
