Name: Perry Ray Robinson Jr.
Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: April 25, 1973
Location Last Seen: Wounded Knee, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota
Date of Birth: September 12, 1937
Age: 35 years old
Race: Black
Gender: Male
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 200 lbs.
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Brown
Nickname/Alias: Ray
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Beard
Dentals: Unavailable
Fingerprints: Unavailable
DNA: Unavailable
Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown
Ray Robinson disappeared around the end of April 1973 at the American Indian Movement (AIM) takeover of the Pine Ridge reservation village of Wounded Knee. Ray had deep ties to the civil rights movement and participated with many groups, which is what led him to South Dakota.
Robinson traveled to South Dakota from Alabama in April 1973. This was during the 71-day occupation of Wounded Knee by AIM members and supporters that included the exchange of gunfire with federal agents who surrounded the village.
His wife, Cheryl Robinson said she filed a missing person's report with the FBI, traveled to Rapid City in October 1974, and then to AIM headquarters in St. Paul, MN but was unable to get information about her husband. She believes Ray was killed between April 20-23, 1973. She reports that reliable sources told her that Ray had been shot, killed, and buried at Wounded Knee. Other people who were present inside Wounded Knee during the time say Ray was shot in the leg.
Two Native Americans were confirmed to have died and rumors of other deaths persist. It is reported that FBI documents that are now public suggest people were buried at Wounded Knee during this time. This includes a memo from May 17,1973 which records an Interior Department official "observed several fresh graves" at Wounded Knee.
In 2014, the FBI confirmed that Ray Robison was killed during the 1973 occupation at Wounded Knee.
In 2018, the DOJ released a letter stating that "it was alleged that militant members of AIM committed his murder. The FBI exhausted all evidentiary avenues and no information was provided as to the location of Ray Robinson's body. The FBI presented the case to the US Attorney's Office, District of SD who declined prosecution based on insufficient evidence. On July 10, 2013, the FBI closed the investigation."
Agency Name: FBI - Minneapolis Field Office
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 763-569-8000
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 198A-MP-58339
NamUs Case Number: 24046
NCIC Case Number: Unknown
NamUs
Wikipedia
CBS News
Justice for Perry Ray Robinson Jr FB Page
Added: Prior to 2011; Last Updated: 11-13-2021 - By: Htmlcnvtr
Questions or comments? Please contact appropriate member of the Area Team
** Listed information is from the time of disappearance.
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