Suspect faces 5 years in unsolved 2021 disappearance of Navajo elder Ella Mae Begay

EDGEWOOD, N.M. (AP) — The only person ever charged in the unsolved 2021 disappearance of Navajo elder Ella Mae Begay, whose case became a symbol of the nationwide crisis of violence against Native Americans, is scheduled to be sentenced Friday in federal court.

Under the conditions of a plea agreement, Preston Henry Tolth, 26, faces a maximum of five years in federal prison with credit for three years of time served. He pleaded guilty to robbing Begay and driving off in her pickup truck.

If U.S. District Judge Douglas Rayes in Phoenix approves the agreement, that will effectively close the government’s yearslong case against Tolth, which has been troubled by a lack of physical evidence and the suppression of a confession from Tolth.

Family members said they’ll urge Rayes to reject the agreement during Friday’s hearing and reiterate they don’t want Tolth released without him leading investigators to Begay.

A beloved grandmother and talented weaver of Navajo-style pictorial rugs, Begay was 62 when she vanished from her home in Sweetwater, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation in June 2021. Tolth’s sentencing comes amid a week of awareness for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples movement, which highlights the disproportionate number of Native Americans who are missing or have been killed.

In the years since Begay went missing, her family members have organized searches, pushed law enforcement for answers and even walked across the country to keep a public spotlight on her case. Advocates have compared Begay’s case to that of Gabby Petito, a young white woman whose disappearance the same summer drew a frenzy of news coverage, social media attention and law enforcement action that ultimately led to the discovery of her remains in Wyoming.

Navajo Nation police and FBI agents identified Tolth as a suspect within days of her disappearance. Tolth, whose father was dating Begay’s sister, initially denied any involvement. In a later interrogation, an FBI agent lied to Tolth, telling him police found Begay’s truck and were processing evidence that would implicate him. In response, Tolth waived his right to remain silent and confessed to stealing Begay’s pickup truck, beating her and leaving her for dead on the side of the road.

It is typically legal for U.S. law enforcement to fabricate evidence during interrogations. But Rayes ruled that in this instance, the FBI agent failed to “scrupulously honor” Tolth’s initial refusal to speak and threw the confession out. A panel of appellate court judges agreed.

In court documents, federal prosecutors acknowledged that this weakened their case against Tolth significantly, prompting them to negotiate a plea agreement rather than take the case to trial.

In an unusual move, Rayes rejected a previous plea agreement that called for Tolth to serve three years of time served, saying it was overly lenient. Begay’s family members had presented anguished testimony and said they would prefer to the case went to trial.

“Accountability is not time served,” Begay’s niece Seraphine Warren told Rayes tearfully during an April hearing. “It’s about truth, and we still don’t have the truth.”

Navajo Nation public safety director Michael Henderson said finding Begay is still a priority for tribal law enforcement.

“One of the hindrances is that the federal investigation is still pending,” Henderson said.

Once it wraps, Henderson said Navajo Nation police may gain access to information that will aid their search.