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ROSEBUD, S.D. (KELO) — Jasmine Big Crow was a good person and a responsible mother according to her family.
The 29-year-old mother of two was often independent and you might not hear from her for a day or two, but she would always check back in.
“A couple of days goes by, you don’t see her and then you start to get worried. You start calling her, start messaging her on Facebook,” Jasmine’s cousin Ted Burning Breast said. “You know it’s pretty odd when you don’t get a text back or, ‘I’m okay,’ from her.”
That’s why Jasmine’s friends called her sister Jewel on March 27, 2020, when nobody had heard from her in two days.
“She had close friends worried about her and the first person they decided to contact was me because I was basically, like, her person she went to when things didn’t feel right or when she needed somebody,” Jewel Big Crow said.
Jasmine’s body was eventually found. According to Jewel, her sister was found in a valley near a housing development in Rosebud.
Jewel and Jasmine’s uncle was the last to see Jasmine alive when she left their house, walking toward town, Jewel said.
“She was found hanging on her knees,” Jewel said. “She must have had a bag with her because all her belongings were scattered all over. She had bruises on her body.”
Jewel was not able to see her sister’s body; instead, police confirmed her identity through tattoos Jewel described. Due to how long her body had been outside, they sent it away for an autopsy, which Jewel would not see until a year after her sister’s death.
The autopsy ruled the death a suicide.
Jazzmine Jackson: Do you think it was a suicide?
Jewel Big Crow: No.
Jasmine left behind two young daughters who are now nine and eleven-years-old. Jewel has custody of the oldest daughter while her other niece is in the care of another relative.
Jasmine’s loss has been tough for her family, including her cousin, who are still seeking answers in what happened to the young mother.
“That one still hurts, you know it’s tough, it’s been tough,” Burning Breast said. “But long story short, it’s another tragedy. Another missing person that was found the wrong way. It hurts. Jasmine’s a good person, I’m gonna miss her.”
Jewel is trying to keep her sister’s memory alive through her daughters and a tattoo on her arm that shows her sister’s name over a red hand print to symbolize Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.
“Basically, just telling our memories to her girls,” Jewel said.
Because the case is closed with tribal law enforcement, Jewel isn’t hopeful that she will ever have answers in her sister’s case but would like some in order to help her heal.
