Case file
Key facts
- Name: Margaret Ewen
- Age at disappearance: 20
- Last seen: April 1, 2026, on Aurora Avenue, Seattle, Washington (per the Washington State Patrol Missing Indigenous Person Alert and KIRO 7; an earlier WSP missing-person poster listed March 12, 2026 — see note below)
- Description: About 5’8″, 130 lbs, brown hair, brown eyes. She may wear a blonde wig. She does not have a car, and the direction she headed is unknown.
- Status: Still missing as far as the public record shows — no “found” or “located” report has surfaced in any source checked as of October 2026
- Investigating agency: Seattle Police Department; the alert was issued through the Washington State Patrol’s Missing Indigenous Person Alert (MIPA) system. Anyone who sees her should call 911.
An alert on Aurora Avenue
In April 2026, the Washington State Patrol issued a Missing Indigenous Person Alert — MIPA — for 20-year-old Margaret Ewen. The alert, issued on behalf of the Seattle Police Department, said she had last been seen on Aurora Avenue in Seattle on April 1. It was unclear where on Aurora she was spotted, and it was unknown which direction she headed. She does not have a car.
WSP described her as about 5 feet 8 inches tall and 130 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes, noting that she may wear a blonde wig. The public was asked to call 911 with any sightings. KIRO 7 News Seattle published the appeal on April 17, 2026, and national outlets picked up the case the following day.
Two dates, one case
There is a discrepancy in the public record that should be stated plainly rather than smoothed over. The April MIPA alert and the KIRO 7 report give her last-seen date as April 1, 2026. However, an earlier Washington State Patrol missing-person poster for Ewen listed her last-seen date as March 12, 2026.
The direct link to that earlier poster PDF, which circulated in April 2026, no longer resolves — WSP appears to have reorganized its poster URLs — while the WSP Missing Persons hub page remains live. We are not resolving the date conflict here, because no source we checked resolves it; both dates are documented as sourced, and this will be corrected if law enforcement clarifies.
How the Missing Indigenous Person Alert works
Washington created the Missing Indigenous Person Alert in 2022 — the first alert system of its kind in the nation — because Indigenous people, and Indigenous women in particular, go missing at rates far out of proportion to their share of the population. A MIPA is not automatic: the local law enforcement agency handling the case requests it after the missing person has been entered into the national NCIC database, and the Washington State Patrol then distributes the alert to subscribers, media outlets, and partner agencies, with WSP tribal liaisons tracking each alert and working with families on missing-person posters. In Ewen’s case, the Seattle Police Department is the investigating agency and the State Patrol issued the alert on its behalf. That structure is also why the first hours matter: an alert only helps if people in the area where she was last seen — Aurora Avenue in Seattle — are still looking.
A case that matters beyond its coverage
Margaret Ewen’s case drew major-market Seattle television coverage in April 2026 as part of Washington’s Missing Indigenous Person Alert system — a system created specifically because Indigenous people go missing at disproportionate rates — but it did not sustain national attention beyond that initial alert wave. Her public profile rests almost entirely on the MIPA alert itself.
That matters for a simple reason: missing-person cases with thin public profiles are the ones most dependent on the alert remaining visible. Unlike cases with sustained media follow-up, there is no October 2026-dated update on Ewen’s case that we could locate despite targeted searching. What we can say, and say honestly, is that no report of her being found or located exists in any source we checked as of October 18, 2026, and the appeal stands unretracted.
Have information?
If you see Margaret Ewen or have any information about her whereabouts, call 911 immediately. You can also contact the Washington State Patrol Missing and Unidentified Persons Unit at 1-800-543-5678 or email mpu@wsp.wa.gov, or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.
Timeline
- March 12, 2026 — Last-seen date given on the earlier WSP missing-person poster for Margaret Ewen (poster link no longer resolves; date documented as previously reported).
- April 1, 2026 — Last-seen date and location given in the WSP Missing Indigenous Person Alert: Aurora Avenue, Seattle (per KIRO 7).
- April 17, 2026 — KIRO 7 News Seattle publishes “Help Seattle police find woman missing since April 1.”
- April 18, 2026 — National Today covers the case as “Missing Indigenous woman vanishes in Seattle,” noting the alert is classified as at-risk under the MIPA system.
- October 2026 — No October-dated update located; no “found/located” report in any source checked. The appeal stands.
FAQ
Is Margaret Ewen still missing?
As of October 2026, yes, as far as the public record shows. No report of her being found has surfaced. A caveat: no October 2026-dated update on her case was located despite targeted searching, so this confirmation is weaker than for cases with recent media follow-up — it rests on the standing, unretracted alert and the absence of any located report.
Has Margaret Ewen been found?
No. As of October 2026, no report of Margaret Ewen being found, located, or recovered has appeared in any source checked, and the April 2026 alert has never been reported as cancelled or resolved.
Where was Margaret Ewen last seen?
On Aurora Avenue in Seattle, on April 1, 2026, according to the Washington State Patrol Missing Indigenous Person Alert. The alert did not say where on Aurora Avenue she was spotted or which direction she was heading, and she does not have a car.
What does Margaret Ewen look like?
She is about 5’8″ tall and 130 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. She may wear a blonde wig — an important detail, because her hair may not look brown in a sighting.
What is a Missing Indigenous Person Alert (MIPA)?
MIPA is Washington State’s alert system for missing Indigenous people, launched in 2022 as the first system of its kind in the nation and administered through the Washington State Patrol. The investigating agency requests the alert after the person is entered in the national NCIC database, and WSP distributes it to subscribers, media, and partner agencies. Ewen’s alert was issued on behalf of the Seattle Police Department and classified as an at-risk missing-person case.
When was she last seen — March 12 or April 1?
Both dates appear in the public record: the earlier WSP poster listed March 12, 2026, while the April MIPA alert and KIRO 7 report give April 1, 2026, on Aurora Avenue. The discrepancy is unresolved and is documented here rather than reconciled.
What should I do if I see her?
Call 911 immediately. She is 5’8″, 130 lbs, with brown hair and brown eyes, and may wear a blonde wig. She does not have a car.
How can I help?
Share this case file. Cases with limited ongoing coverage depend on visibility — the MIPA alert only works if people are still seeing it.
Sources
- Official / law enforcement: Washington State Patrol, Missing Persons hub (wsp.wa.gov — official state database; the earlier individual Ewen poster PDF no longer resolves after WSP reorganized its poster URLs); the April 2026 Missing Indigenous Person Alert details as reported by KIRO 7 (issued on behalf of the Seattle Police Department; public asked to call 911).
- News: KIRO 7 News Seattle, “Help Seattle police find woman missing since April 1” (April 17, 2026 — includes her photograph); National Today, “Missing Indigenous woman vanishes in Seattle” (April 18, 2026).
- Reference: Washington State Patrol Tribal Liaison Program materials (July 2025) and NPR reporting on the 2022 launch of the Missing Indigenous Person Alert system — used only for how the MIPA system works (agency request after NCIC entry, distribution to subscribers and media, tribal-liaison tracking), not for facts about Ewen herself. No other dedicated case page for Ewen exists; this case’s public record consists of the alert and the news reports above.
Found an error? Tell us via the About page and we will fix it promptly and note the change here. Last verified October 2026.