Guadalupe Lopez named new leader for Minnesota's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives office

ST. PAUL — Minnesota’s Department of Public Safety’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office has a new director.

Guadalupe Lopez brings more than 25 years of leadership experience in addressing domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking and the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous people to the position, according to a press release from the department’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office, or MMIR. MMIR's inaugural director was Juliet Rudie, who left in 2024, and Ana Negrete served as interim director before Lopez took over the role, according to Catriona Stuart, communications specialist.

“Ending violence and all forms of oppression is more than a job to me,” Lopez said in the release. “It’s about the survival of my people, my children and our collectiv