MESA, AZ — The CEO of the group home that cared for Emily Pike tells ABC15 she is confident that authorities will locate the murderer of the runaway.
"I'm confident this case is not going to go cold, and I am confident they will find who did this," said Elizabeth Morales, CEO of Sacred Journey, Inc.
Emily Pike, 14, ran away from the group foster home in Mesa on January 27. She had previously run away from the same home three times, but each time, she returned within hours. This time, she didn't come back.
Partial remains were found by hikers northeast of Globe on February 14 and were later identified as Emily's. Law enforcement and volunteers spent several days this week searching for additional human remains in rural Gila County.
A San Carlos Apache tribal member, Jolene Shorty, is leading a grassroots effort to add billboards in Superior, Miami, and Globe and to distribute fliers to solicit information leading to an arrest.
After Emily was discovered dead, some social media posters turned their outrage toward Sacred Journey's group homes, and Morales said that has impacted the foster children and their care teams.
"The kids need to sleep at night, the staff needs to feel safe coming to work," she said.
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Morales told ABC15 she's operated group homes for more than two decades.
"We go above and beyond. We're raising children and not just housing children. We're parenting children," Morales said. "I'm going to really take the time and energy to make sure that child is wrapped in services."
Those services can include doctors, therapists, lawyers, relatives, and mentors.
Emily's disappearance has turned regulators' attention to the quality of care for foster kids. The Arizona Department of Child Safety opened a licensing investigation of Sacred Journey last month, and a state legislator is now calling for a bipartisan hearing on group home regulations.
Last month, a spokesperson for DCS said, "At this time, the department does not believe any action taken, or not taken, by the group home caused the terrible outcome in this case. We have opened a licensing inquiry to determine whether appropriate steps were taken by the group home during this incident."
There is a $75,000 reward to find who killed Emily. If you have any information, you can call the Gila County Sheriff's Office or leave an online tip here.
