PARMELEE, S.D. — There are rumors.

About what’s known and who knows it. About why what’s known has never moved out of the realm of rumor and into the investigatory record.

Savannah Standing Bear’s family and friends have plenty of rumors, but not many answers. It’s been eight months since she disappeared from the Parmelee community on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, and the only thing that feels certain, they say, is the feeling that someone knows something.

There’s also a nagging suspicion that something either won’t be shared with authorities, or won’t bring resolution if and when it’s reported.

“The feeling around here is you can murder a Native woman and get away with it,” said Hollis Flowers, a family friend who’s helped lead the push to keep Savannah’s story in the publi

See Full Page