Family seeks answers 20 years after death of Sisseton woman in Missouri
Investigators suspect the 22-year-old was a victim of sex trafficking, but DNA evidence has failed to identify a perpetrator in the two-decade-old cold case
Twenty years after Lakota Renville was found dead in a vacant lot near Kansas City, her family is still seeking justice, according to ICT. Renville, a 22-year-old Sisseton Wahpeton Dakota woman and 2003 graduate of Crow Creek Tribal Schools, was discovered wrapped in a blanket in Independence, Missouri, in 2005. Police believe she was killed elsewhere and transported to the site.
Investigators said Renville had been a victim of sex trafficking and that DNA collected in the case has not yet identified a suspect. Her family continues to raise awareness through a Facebook page called “Justice for Lakota Renville,” while the Independence Police Department renewed its social media campaign on the 20th anniversary of her death. A candlelight vigil is held each year at the lot where Renville was found.
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