Always: The Last Word from Ashley Loring HeavyRunner
A Disappearance That Changed Everything
In June of 2017, Ashley Loring HeavyRunner, a 20-year-old college student from the Blackfeet Reservation in northern Montana, vanished without a trace. One night she was at a party, laughing with friends, sending her sister a quick message — “Always”. It was the last word her family would ever hear from her.
At first, no one panicked. Ashley was independent, social, and sometimes lost touch for a few days. But when she missed visiting her father in the hospital — something she would never have done — her family’s unease turned to fear. Within weeks, they reported her missing.
A Family Left to Search Alone
The Blackfeet Reservation stretches across 1.5 million acres — larger than the entire state of Delaware — yet in 2017, it was patrolled by fewer than twenty officers. Jurisdictional confusion between Tribal Police, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the FBI delayed a proper investigation for months. In that crucial early window, tips went cold and potential evidence slipped away.
Ashley’s family couldn’t sit back and wait. They became the search team. They combed forests and fields, often alone, braving bears, harsh terrain, and their own grief. They found items — a sweater, a pair of boots, a stained piece of carpet — and turned them over to authorities. But time and again, those items were misplaced, ignored, or left without answers.
Her sister, Kimberly, became the driving force of the search. She organized search parties, testified before Congress, and spoke publicly about the failures in her sister’s case. “If we didn’t search for Ashley,” she once said, “I don’t think anybody would.”
Who Ashley Was
Ashley wasn’t just another missing person. She was a daughter, a sister, a student with big dreams. She studied environmental science and planned to transfer to the University of Montana. She loved her family fiercely, could chop wood in the freezing Montana winters, and could light up a room with her laugh. Friends described her as smart, feisty, and endlessly caring.
Her disappearance left a hole that no amount of searching has filled.
Eight Years Later
It has now been over eight years since Ashley disappeared. Her case remains open, but no one has been charged, and no resolution has come. Her family continues to search and to hope, even as the years pass and the silence grows heavier.
Ashley’s story has become both personal and symbolic — personal because of the immense love her family still holds for her, symbolic because it highlights how Indigenous women too often go missing with little urgency from those tasked to protect them.
Listen to Ashley’s Story
This episode of Vanished Voices — “Always: The Last Word from Ashley Loring HeavyRunner” — walks through the days surrounding Ashley’s disappearance, the heartbreak of her family’s search, and the years of unanswered questions that followed.
🎧 Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
How You Can Help
If you have any information about the disappearance of Ashley Loring HeavyRunner, please contact the FBI’s Salt Lake City Field Office at (801) 579-1400, or the Blackfeet Tribal Police at (406) 338-4000. Tips can also be submitted online at tips.fbi.gov. Even the smallest piece of information could be the one that brings Ashley home.
“If we didn’t search for Ashley, I don’t think anybody would.”
— Kimberly Loring HeavyRunner
“The not knowing is the worst part. We are holding on to hope, and we will bring her home.”
— Kimberly Loring HeavyRunner
Have thoughts on this story or other cases you’d like to see highlighted? Share them with us in the comments or connect with us on social media. Together, we can ensure that stories like this one are never forgotten.
Don’t forget to follow us on social media, @VanishedVoicesPod, share your thoughts, and let us know what you’d like to hear about in future episodes. If you have any true crime stories of your own, send them our way Vanishedvoicespodcast@gmail.com to be featured on a future episode! And as always, Refuse to let these voices vanish. See you in the next episode of Vanished Voices!
Sources
- Kate Hodal, The Guardian – “A young woman vanishes. The police can’t help. Her desperate family won’t give up” (Feb 25, 2019)
- Sara Kettler, A&E True Crime – “How Ashley Loring HeavyRunner’s Disappearance Illustrates Issues With Investigating Crimes Against Indigenous Women” (Jan 11, 2022)
- ABC News – “No answers 2 years after 20-year-old student vanishes – a single case in an epidemic in Native communities” (Oct 8, 2019)
- NBC Montana – “Vanished in Montana: Ashley HeavyRunner’s family without closure nearly 8 years later”(May 29, 2025)
- Marie Claire (via murkowski.senate.gov) – “The Invisible Victims” (June 10, 2019)
- KRTV News – “Suspect arrested by FBI in Great Falls has been identified” (Aug 14, 2023)krtv.com
- FBI Missing Person Poster – Ashley Loring HeavyRunner (updated) fbi.gov
