Jared Huffman
50:15 - 51:00
"earlier this year, the committee heard testimony that OJS remains severely understaffed, and this leaves families waiting sometimes months to receive responses from the Missing and Murdered Unit, the MMU. So Director Attington, do you believe that allowing families to wait months for any contact from the MMU is appropriate or acceptable?"
“earlier this year, the committee heard testimony that OJS remains severely understaffed, and this leaves families waiting sometimes months to receive responses from the Missing and Murdered Unit, the MMU. So Director Attington, do you believe that allowing families to wait months for any contact from the MMU is appropriate or acceptable?”
- Speaker
- Jared Huffman
- Timestamp
- 50:15 – 51:00
- Community
- Alaska News
- Captured at
- July 14, 2026
From the transcript
And earlier this year, the committee heard testimony that OJS remains severely understaffed, and this leaves families waiting sometimes months to receive responses from the Missing and Murdered Unit, the MMU. So Director Attington, do you believe that allowing families to wait months for any contact from the MMU is appropriate or acceptable? Well, thank you for that question. It's very important to me that we respond immediately, whether it's whatever unit is within Office of Justice Services, and we're working very diligently to make sure we're filling positions within the organization. Do you consider the current level of response and the current wait times acceptable?
Related Coverage
The federal unit handling Alaska's MMIP cases can't return a family's calls
A Crow Nation professor told a House subcommittee Tuesday that her family has gone 10 months without a response from the federal Missing and Murdered Unit on her niece's 2019 murder, while the primary agent on the case was reassigned and then resigned. BIA's top law enforcement official defended new task force structures and AI tools but acknowledged the unit can always do better.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read