Case file
Key facts
- Name: Brittany Starr Waconda
- Age at disappearance: 39 (born July 16, 1986, per the New Mexico DPS missing-person listing)
- Last seen: May 18, 2026, in Laguna, New Mexico (Laguna Pueblo)
- Incident: The same night she was last seen, her trailer caught fire — first responders found no body in the burned debris
- Description: American Indian/Alaska Native female, red/auburn hair, brown eyes, 5’2″, 200 lbs; unspecified tattoo on left arm
- Known ties: Acoma Pueblo, Grants, Cubero, and Albuquerque, New Mexico; Denver, Colorado
- Status: Still missing — the Bureau of Indian Affairs is the lead agency; a $5,000 reward is active
- Also missing: Her boyfriend, Joel Wade Scott, 27, missing from Laguna since May 10, 2026
- Investigating agencies: Laguna Tribal Police Department, (505) 552-6685; NM DPS Missing Person Hotline, 1-800-457-3463; BIA Missing & Murdered Unit tip line, 1-833-560-2065
The night the trailer burned
On May 18, 2026, Brittany Starr Waconda spent the day at her father’s property in Seama, on the Laguna Pueblo west of Albuquerque. Village officials reported seeing Brittany there during the day — and seeing her boyfriend, Joel Wade Scott, too.
Around 11:30 that night, Brittany’s aunt was driving home from Grants when she saw flames: Brittany’s trailer was on fire. The fire department was called. Family members began frantically trying to reach Brittany.
When first responders put out the blaze and searched the charred debris, Brittany was nowhere to be found. No body was recovered from the trailer. She had not been inside when it burned — or she had gotten out. Either way, she vanished into the night, and she has not been seen or heard from since.
What started the fire has never been publicly established. The Cibola Citizen, which has covered the case since the week she disappeared, has noted it has not independently confirmed the cause of the fire, and no agency has released a cause in the coverage checked for this file. That unanswered question — a home burning the same night its owner vanished, with no body inside — sits at the center of the case.
The next morning, her older sister Autumn texted her: “Hey, are you okay? What happened?” The message was never opened. Brittany’s phone went off and stayed off. She never appeared on social media again. She never called her father — and that, her family says, is the detail that breaks the case open, because Brittany and her dad were exceptionally close. “She calls my dad for everything,” Autumn said. “By now she would have needed money. She would have called my dad. She’s not around.”
Two disappearances
Brittany is not the only person missing from Laguna. Joel Wade Scott, 27 — Brittany’s boyfriend — is listed by the New Mexico Department of Public Safety as a missing endangered person with a date missing of May 10, 2026, eight days before Brittany was last seen. The DPS listing notes he was last seen wearing jail clothes. Tips about Scott go to a different Laguna Tribal Police number than tips about Brittany: (505) 552-6666 for Scott, versus (505) 552-6685 for Brittany — or the NM DPS Missing Person Hotline, 1-800-457-3463, for either.
The family believes the two disappearances may be connected. Village officials reported seeing both Brittany and Scott on the day she vanished. Juan Escobar, a lawyer and advocate assisting the Waconda family, said the family’s immediate goal is to have federal authorities reassess the case with what the family believes is a fuller picture — one that includes Scott.
“Our biggest [goal] is just to have FBI reassess the case with information that we have,” Escobar said. The family believes the FBI was not initially aware Scott was also missing. Autumn has been direct about what she wants: “I really, really want the FBI to just take it over. So there’s no conflict of interest, and at least people will hopefully take it serious.”
A family pushing for answers
Autumn wants people to know who Brittany is beyond a missing-person poster: a sister, a daughter, an auntie who always asks about her nephews and nieces, a Denver Broncos fan, and a self-described daddy’s girl who, in Autumn’s words, “always has a smile on her face and makes friends wherever she goes.” That is the woman the family is looking for.
Autumn Waconda has refused to let her sister’s case go quiet. She helped put up a billboard, spoke with advocates and media, and built public pages to keep Brittany’s name and face in circulation. “I just don’t want people to forget about her,” she said.
Her frustration is with the pace and transparency of the investigation. She has said the family met with Laguna police to ask whether the case had been presented to the FBI, and questioned whether tips, phone records, and outside resources were pursued quickly enough. The Cibola Citizen, which investigated the case in September 2026, reported that its own attempts to get information from the Laguna Police Department — calls over several weeks — produced no substantive response.
On September 4, 2026, FBI Albuquerque confirmed to the Cibola Citizen that the case is an ongoing investigation and identified the Bureau of Indian Affairs as the lead agency. The BIA is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to Brittany’s location. Acoma Pueblo’s Department of Public Safety confirmed it has assisted Laguna with searches on Acoma land, roads, and waterways. On October 8, 2026, a true-crime podcast devoted an episode to the case, describing Brittany as an “ACTIVE MISSING PERSON” — five months after the fire.
Part of a larger crisis
Brittany’s family and advocates follow her case as part of the broader Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives crisis — MMIW/MMIWR — in which Native people go missing and are killed at disproportionate rates, often with slower and thinner investigative responses. New Mexico created a Turquoise Alert system in 2026 specifically to speed public notification when a Native person goes missing; an FBI list counts 199 Native people missing from New Mexico and the Navajo Nation.
Autumn has connected with other families living the same nightmare. “It’s just so heartbreaking that there are other families going through this,” she said. “Brittany is loved. She is missed. And she should not be forgotten.”
Have information?
Contact the Laguna Tribal Police Department at (505) 552-6685, the NM DPS Missing Person Hotline at 1-800-457-3463, or the BIA Missing & Murdered Unit tip line at 1-833-560-2065 (tips can also be emailed to OJS_MMU@bia.gov or texted by sending BIAMMU to 847411). In an emergency, dial 911.
Timeline
- May 10, 2026 — Joel Wade Scott, 27, last seen in Laguna, NM (NM DPS missing endangered listing).
- May 18, 2026 (daytime) — Brittany Waconda seen at her father’s property in Seama; village officials report seeing Brittany and Scott.
- May 18, 2026 (~11:30 p.m.) — Brittany’s aunt, returning from Grants, sees Brittany’s trailer on fire; fire department called.
- May 19, 2026 — Fire extinguished; no body found in the debris. Family tries to reach Brittany — no response. Autumn’s morning text is never opened.
- Summer 2026 — BIA issues a $5,000 reward; KOB4 covers the reward; family billboard goes up.
- September 2026 — Cibola Citizen publishes in-depth investigation; FBI Albuquerque (Sept 4) confirms “ongoing investigation,” names BIA as lead agency; Acoma DPS confirms search assistance.
- October 8, 2026 — Podcast episode “Vanished at Laguna Pueblo: The Search for Brittany Starr Waconda” describes her as an active missing person.
- October 2026 — Still missing; no recovery reported.
FAQ
Is Brittany Waconda still missing?
Yes. As of October 2026, Brittany Starr Waconda has been missing for five months. The FBI confirmed in September 2026 that the case is an ongoing investigation, and an October 2026 podcast episode describes her as an active missing person.
What happened the night she disappeared?
On the night of May 18, 2026, hours after she was seen at her father’s property in Seama, Brittany’s trailer on the Laguna Pueblo caught fire. First responders found no body in the burned debris. Her phone went off that night and she has not been heard from since.
Was Brittany Waconda inside the trailer when it burned?
No body was found in the debris, which is why investigators and her family treat this as a disappearance, not a confirmed fire death. She was either not inside when it burned or got out — no source checked for this file reports remains being recovered from the trailer.
What caused the trailer fire?
No cause has been publicly released in the coverage checked for this file, and the Cibola Citizen has noted it has not independently confirmed the cause. Whether the fire is being investigated as connected to her disappearance is one of the questions the family has pressed authorities to answer.
Who is Joel Wade Scott?
Brittany’s boyfriend, 27, who has been listed as a missing endangered person from Laguna since May 10, 2026 — eight days before Brittany vanished. Village officials reported seeing both of them on May 18. The family believes the disappearances may be connected. Tips about Scott: Laguna Tribal Police at (505) 552-6666 (a different number from Brittany’s tip line) or the NM DPS hotline at 1-800-457-3463.
Is there a reward?
Yes. The Bureau of Indian Affairs is offering $5,000 for information leading to Brittany’s location: 1-833-560-2065.
Who is investigating, and how can I help?
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is the lead agency. Contact Laguna Tribal Police at (505) 552-6685, the NM DPS hotline at 1-800-457-3463, or the BIA tip line at 1-833-560-2065. Share this case file — and if you are in Cibola County, keep her poster up.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Laguna Tribal Police Department (tips: (505) 552-6685); NM Department of Public Safety Missing Person Hotline (1-800-457-3463); Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing & Murdered Unit (tip line 1-833-560-2065; OJS_MMU@bia.gov; text BIAMMU to 847411); $5,000 BIA reward; FBI Albuquerque (Sept 4, 2026: “ongoing investigation,” BIA lead agency); NM DPS missing-person listing for “Brittany Star Waconda”; Acoma Pueblo Department of Public Safety (search assistance confirmed Sept 2026).
- News: Cibola Citizen, “Family Searches for Answers Months After Brittany Waconda Disappeared from Laguna” (Sept 2026) — https://www.cibolacitizen.com/news/family-searches-answers-months-after-brittany-waconda-disappeared-laguna; KOB4, “BIA Offers $5K Reward For Missing Laguna Woman” (2026).
- Other: “Ep63: Vanished at Laguna Pueblo: The Search for Brittany Starr Waconda,” Hands Off My Podcast (Oct 8, 2026; case referred by Attorney Darlene Gomez; lists Brittany as an active missing person and carries the BIA $5,000 reward and all three tip lines) — https://rss.com/podcasts/handsoffmypodcast-true-crime/3213097/.
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.