Five Years Later: Search for Arden Pepion Continues

Arden Pepion was only 3 years old when she vanished from Browning, Montana, on April 22, 2021. She has now been missing for five years, and her disappearance has left a lasting impact on her family and community.  

As the search for Arden continues, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is releasing a new age progression image showing what she may look like today at 8 years old. 

Arden age progressed from 3 to 8 years old. (Courtesy of NCMEC)

Before she disappeared, Arden was under the care of her aunt and uncle who lived near the Two Medicine River. According to her uncle, at some point Arden walked away from the home while he was elsewhere on the property. After searching the surrounding area and nearby town for several hours, he reported Arden missing to law enforcement.

Arden’s disappearance prompted an immediate response from the Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services (BLES) and the Blackfeet Reservation community. Diana Burd, a member of the community, still remembers that night clearly.

“I had never met Arden or her family before she went missing, but I woke up to a call from my neighbor at 1 a.m. asking for our help,” Diana said.

Diana and her husband joined the late-night search for Arden, which turned into a large-scale effort that continued for the next 10 days. Eventually, more than 150 members of the Blackfeet community volunteered, searching on foot, horseback and four-wheelers across land and water.

The Blackfeet community’s search in the days following Arden’s disappearance. (Courtesy of Diana Burd)

Despite extensive efforts, Arden was never located. The only clues discovered were footprints believed to be hers and one of her boots near the river. With limited evidence and no recovery, authorities say the circumstances of her disappearance remain unclear, and the investigation is ongoing.

Following Arden’s disappearance, her parents, Aaron and Arbana Pepion, grew close with Diana and her husband, who were at the forefront of every search. Tragically, Arbana passed away in 2022. Aaron continues to hold onto their shared hope that Arden will be found.

“Whenever I can, I go down to the river,” Aaron said. “And I tell Arden, ‘I’ll never stop searching for you. We all love and miss you and will always be here for you.’”

Arden prior to her disappearance. (Courtesy of NCMEC)

Before her death, Arbana asked Diana and her husband to serve as Arden’s godparents.

In July 2021, Diana co-founded Holding Hope SAR, named by Arbana, to continue the search for Arden. “Arbana said, 'We will help others because of Arden someday,’ and we did,” Diana shared.

In January 2025, they became officially recognized as the first Indigenous-led mounted equine search and rescue team in Montana, now assisting on cases of missing Indigenous individuals across the state.

Due to conditions such as reduced water levels, large-scale searches are scheduled to take place in July.

If you have any information about Arden or her disappearance, please call NCMEC at 1-800-843-5678 or the Blackfeet Tribal Police Department (Montana) at 1-406-338-4000.  

You can view Arden’s missing poster here: https://www.missingkids.org/poster/NCMC/1418709/1. 

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To learn more about how NCMEC assists Native, Indigenous, and Tribal communities, take a look at our Native, Indigenous and Tribal Communities page.  

Resources NCMEC provides can be found on our website at Resources and Technical Assistance for Native American Communities and Indian Country.