The heartbreaking story of Emily Pike, a 14-year-old girl whose mutilated body was discovered on an Arizona roadside, has shed light on her previous appeals to authorities regarding her dissatisfaction with the group home from which she vanished. Emily had been reported missing thrice in 2023 from the group home in Mesa, managed by Sacred Journey Inc., prior to her brutal murder in January.
In September 2023, body camera footage captured a visibly upset Emily walking along a canal, begging an officer not to send her back to the group home. She tearfully expressed her wish to be with her mother and live with her grandmother, adamantly stating that the group home was not her home. The footage also depicted Emily voicing her frustration, claiming that no one understood her or was willing to assist her.
Emily’s family lives on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. Each time she disappeared in 2023, she was either returned to the group home or taken to a behavioral health center within a few hours. On the day she vanished in January, a group home employee reported her missing to the police, a behavior she had exhibited previously.
The employee, a veteran of the company for 11 years, informed the police that she had searched the property and found an open gate and a kicked-out window screen. Emily’s remains were later found on the side of a dirt road off US 60. It took authorities several weeks to confirm the identity of the remains, which bore visible signs of facial and head injuries.
The Gila County Sheriff’s Office disclosed that Emily’s head and torso were discovered in large bags, her legs in separate bags, but her arms and hands were not found. In March, three suspects were identified in connection with the gruesome murder, but no arrests have been made.
A task force consisting of the Mesa Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Bureau of Indian Affairs has been established to investigate Emily’s murder. Emily’s mother, Steff Dosela, expressed her sorrow, referring to her daughter as an innocent child.
During a legislative hearing on group home protocol, the Department of Child Safety informed lawmakers that Emily was under the care of Tribal Social Services and had been placed in the Sacred Journey Inc. group home by the tribe. The San Carlos Apache Attorney General, Alex Richie, stated that the group home had notified police and Tribal Social Services about Emily’s disappearance. However, Child Protective Services was not convinced she was missing due to her past behaviors.