Fourteen-year-old Emily Pike left a Mesa group home on Jan. 27, 2025, and was not seen alive again. Her dismembered remains were found on Feb. 14, 2025, about 100 miles away near the San Carlos Apache Reservation; an autopsy cited homicidal blunt head trauma and noted her arms and hands were missing. Authorities have not identified a suspect or determined how she was moved to the remote site. In response, Arizona passed "Emily's Law" to create an alert system for endangered people, and family members continue to press for tips and answers.
Who Killed Emily Pike? One Year Later, Arizona Teen's Dismemberment Remains Unsolved
A tribute to slain Native American teen Emily Pike adorns a fence near a vigil in her honor in Mesa, Ariz., Thursday, March 6, 2025AP Photo/Samantha Chow
On the evening of Jan. 27, 2025, 14-year-old Emily Pike slipped out of a bedroom window at a group home in Mesa, Arizona. Two weeks later, on Feb. 14, searchers discovered her dismembered remains in two large trash bags on state land near Forest Road 355, roughly 100 miles from the group home and close to the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, according to an FBI press release issued in May.
Key Details
Investigators were unable to recover Emily’s arms and hands. An autopsy concluded the San Carlos Apache Tribe member died of "homicidal violence with blunt head trauma," ABC15 reported. Beyond those forensic findings, major questions remain: how she traveled from Mesa to the remote site, who transported her, and who is responsible for her death.
Circumstances Surrounding Her Disappearance
On the night she vanished, a staff member called 911 at about 8:30 p.m. to report the home’s gate open and a kicked-out window screen, ABC15 reported. A staffer said one of the girls at the home believed Emily was wearing a pink-and-gray striped long-sleeve shirt when she left.
Emily PikeGoFundMe
A former roommate told AZ Family she believed Emily left to visit a boy she had met at guitar lessons and that a visiting church group that evening may have distracted staff. The roommate said Emily likely slipped out through a window or back door while others were occupied.
Background: Runaways And Family Concerns
Records show Emily had left that group home before. ABC15 reported she ran away three times in 2023. In one September 2023 incident, police found her walking along a canal after she had been reported missing. Body-worn camera footage obtained by ABC15 captured Emily telling an officer, "I just want to see my mom," and expressing a desire to stay with her grandmother. She also told the officer, "I'm not going to go to that f---ing group home," though she ultimately agreed to return that night.
Family Reaction And Legislative Change
"What happened to her and the way it happened is heartbreaking. It's a nightmare. It's a horror movie, and it doesn't feel real," Emily's aunt, Carolyn Pike-Bender, told PEOPLE.
Pike-Bender and other family members describe Emily as a girl who loved pink and sparkly things, shopping, art and her cat. They say she intended to return to her mother and siblings, not to run away for other reasons.
Emily PikeMesa Police Department
In the wake of Emily’s killing, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs signed legislation informally known as "Emily’s Law," creating an alert system for endangered individuals and extending protections to tribal members under 65 who disappear under suspicious circumstances, Fox 10 reported.
Ongoing Investigation
Law enforcement has not announced any suspects and continues to seek information about Emily’s movements after she left the group home. Family members and advocates hope that keeping the case in the public eye will generate new leads and underscore the need to protect vulnerable Indigenous youth.
Anyone with information is urged to contact investigators.
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