Memorial installed honoring Emily Carla Pike in Mesa

Family, tribal leaders, the city of Mesa, mayor and council members, along with advocates, gathered recently to commemorate the permanent memorial installation for Emily Carla Pike at Fitch Park in Mesa.

Pike, from the San Carlos Apache Tribe, was 14 when she went missing in January 2025 from a group home in Mesa. Her remains were found off U.S. Highway 60 North milepost 277 near Globe on Feb. 14 and she was identified on Feb. 27.

The tribute at Fitch Park, 651 N. Center St., includes a Red Push Pistache tree, a granite plaque featuring Pike’s picture and an engraved memorial bench.

The new memorial symbolizes Emily’s connection to childhood at the park, the community where she was last seen, and the love for her family and community, it states in a release.

A temporary memorial at Mesa Drive and McKellips will be dismantled in the next two weeks by the family and transported to her memorial in San Carlos. The family always viewed the corner memorial as a temporary measure and requests that no additional items be placed there after its removal.

The family expresses gratitude to the community for their collective efforts over the past year to raise awareness about Emily and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons crisis across North America.

Pike’s family emphasizes the ongoing need for justice and resolution regarding her case. They remind the community to never forget her and to continue to say her name as a rallying cry for awareness and justice, the release states.