McKINLEYVILLE, Calif. — In Indian Country, everybody seems to know somebody who's gone missing or been murdered. But one case hit particularly close to home for Greg O'Rourke.
As the police chief for the Yurok Tribe along California's North Coast, O'Rourke is responsible for investigating the disappearance of Emmilee Risling, a 32-year-old mother of two who was last seen in mid-October 2021 in a densely forested area along the Klamath River, not far from the Oregon border.
O'Rourke, 49, knows Risling's family well. She used to babysit his kids about 10 years ago, including his foster daughter, Charlene Juan. O'Rourke took Charlene in after her own mother disappeared.
