Lost Women of Alaska investigates the crisis of missing indigenous women

The land is vast, beautiful, and wild, offering everything outdoor enthusiasts could want when trekking up here to Alaska. It is the lure of the untamed frontier that beckons people to make Alaska their home. But for Native women, Alaska has become a dangerous frontier as many vanish or are murdered at disproportionate rates, and is the subject of ‘Lost Women of Alaska,’ a new investigation from ID/HBO Max, debuting on February 25.

‘Lost Women of Alaska’ is a three-hour documentary series executive produced by Oscar Winner Octavia Spencer for Investigation Discovery (ID) and HBO Max. The series investigates the murders of Alaska Native women, specifically focusing on the cases of Veronica Abouchuk and Kathleen Jo Henry, killed in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

They join a cacophony of Indigenous voices seemingly lost without trace in the remote Alaskan landscape, but through the courage of some unlikely heroes, the twisted crimes of a potential serial killer come to light.

The show confronts the high rates of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) in Alaska, where, despite a small population, Anchorage has been identified as having one of the highest numbers of such cases in the nation.

In 2016, there were over 5,700 reports of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls, yet the federal missing persons database (NamUs) logged only 116 of those cases.

“’Lost Women of Alaska’ confronts the devastating intersection of race and systemic failures that perpetuate violence against Indigenous women,” said Executive Producer Octavia Spencer.

“Octavia brings a level of care to every story she touches,” said Jason Sarlanis, President of ID. “’Lost Women of Alaska’ helps expose a crisis impacting Indigenous women with sensitivity and cinematic power. We’re proud to continue building prestige true-crime storytelling together.”

The show airs over three episodes, bringing to viewers an intimate and unflinching portrait of the disturbing impact of a predator who turns a community into a personal hunting ground, as well as exposing a chilling pattern of disappearances and murders of Native women near Anchorage.

“Lost Women of Alaska” premieres on Wednesday, February 25 from 4-7 p.m. AST on ID and can be streamed the next day on the HBO Max app.