A quick warning, there are curse words that are unbeaped in today's episode of the show.

If you prefer a beeped version, you can find that at our website, thisamericanlife.org.

Sarah Crane Murdoch's been on our show before. She reports on indigenous communities out west.

Back in 2023, she got a call from a man in Montana, Kevin Howard. He said his daughter,

Micah, had been killed in a hit and run. Local police were dragging their feet. He thought the

driver might get away with it. The driver was white. Michael was native, a citizen of the Blackfeet

Nation. Lots of native people are killed in hidden runs.

And the drivers are rarely brought to justice.

And Sierra thought she might be able to document why by diving into Micah's case,

because Micah's parents had recordings of nearly all their interactions with law enforcement.

Mike's parents did some other things, too.

They were very strategic. It did some extraordinary

things other families had not tried to make sure Micah's case was one that the authorities

could not ignore. That story and how it unfolded. And what it's like to be a couple making

that happen. That's going to be a host show today. From WBEZ Chicago,

since American life, I'm Ira Glass. And with that, I handed over to Sierra.

Micah's family lives on the Flathead Indian Reservation. It's in a valley, surrounded by

big toothy mountains. Micah was 22 years old the night she was killed. She'd been out

with her younger brother.

They'd gone to a bar to buy cigarettes.

On their way home, Micah couldn't find her phone and thought she'd left it at the bar.

She told her brother to let her out of the car.

...