Bessie Renee Walker, 27, of Auberry, California, was last seen on either August 4 or August 5, 2021, near the Mono Wind Casino in Auberry, wearing a pink dress and sandals. Walker, an enrolled member of the Big Sandy Rancheria of Western Mono Indians and a mother of three, had been in Fresno on July 30, 2021, after being released from Fresno County Jail on a warrant related to being an accessory to a crime; family members reported she was seen back at Big Sandy Rancheria in the days that followed. She had no reported cell phone or social media activity after her disappearance.
Family filed a missing person report with the Fresno County Sheriff's Office on August 8, 2021. On the night of August 21, 2021, family and friends who had organized their own search party discovered a body on private property in the 37000 block of Auberry Mission Road, roughly 25–50 yards from her mother's home on Big Sandy Rancheria. Deputies and the Crime Scene Unit responded, and the body was identified as Walker.
The Fresno County Sheriff's Office is the lead investigating agency, with the Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing & Murdered Unit (BIA MMU) also involved. An autopsy by the Fresno County Coroner's Office found the cause of death undetermined; detectives have characterized the death as suspicious, and the case remains open with no arrests as of the most recent public reporting. Agency case identifiers: NCOUC Case Number 20210804-Walker-Bessie-Renee; Fresno County Sheriff's Office case number BO22030381. A combined reward of up to $15,000 is available ($10,000 via Valley Crime Stoppers, $5,000 via BIA MMU). Tips: Valley Crime Stoppers, (559) 498-7867; BIA MMU, 1-833-560-2065 or text "BIAMMU" to 847411 or email ojs_mmu@bia.gov.
