23-year-old Zachariah Juwaun Shorty came from a loving family and his passion was to make music. On July 21st of 2020 Zach and his friends were at the Journey Inn in Farmington NM spending time with each other and listening to music. His mother Vangie even dropped off pizzas that day, but at some point, Zach was taken from the Inn and was nowhere to be found. Four days later on July 25th, Zach’s body was found on a dirt pathway in a field in Nenahnezad, New Mexico, the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds and his killer, or killers, have yet to be identified or captured.

Since his death, Zach’s mother Vangie has been advocating for her son as well as other families of MMIWR (Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Relatives). During this new journey, she’s learned that she sadly is not the only one going through this. When Zach went missing, she didn’t know what to do. There were no resources that she was aware of, so her and her family put together their own search party. When Zach’s body was eventually found, Vangie was not informed of the location or what had happened until she received the death certificate and OMI report.

For the last four years, Vangie has been fighting with jurisdiction over the investigation due to a lack of communication from the FBI and the Navajo Nation as her son’s murder is still an unsolved case. Alongside attorney Darlene Gomez, she has been working to bring families together to teach them to advocate for themselves and loved ones.