SPIRIT LAKE RESERVATION -- On March 8, 2024, Isaac James Hunt left his father's St. Michael, North Dakota, residence and vanished without a trace. A year later, his family is still wondering what's being done to find out what happened.

Hunt's cousin, Cherise Robertson, told the Grand Forks Herald it's been a difficult year, as family and friends are largely in the dark about the investigation.

"We keep in contact with the FBI agent who works with us (on the reservation), and it's just nothing new," she said. "Nobody's been brought in, nobody's been questioned yet."

Though Robertson understands that law enforcement has to keep much of that information concealed to protect the investigation, she believes her family would have heard if suspects were taken into custody.

"This is a small reservation," she said. "We just hear about everything that happens here. People like to gossip."

Gossip has been the main reason why, for almost a year after her cousin's disappearance, his family has remained mostly quiet. Hunt, 28, disappeared just two months after Jemini Posey vanished from the same reservation. The two have a connection -- Hunt's brother, D'Angelo Hunt, is the father of Posey's young daughter.

A vigil marking the one-year anniversary of Isaac Hunt's disappearance is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday, March 8, at the Fort Totten Wellness Center. While planning this event, Robertson was appreciative that the community has been supportive.

"We did receive a lot of offerings for help and all that, so that was nice to see, because we weren't shown much compassion all throughout the last year," Robertson said. "(The rumors and harassment were) just a lot to deal with. You know, we're going through the same situation, too. We just didn't understand why it had to be that way. Both of their lives matter."

In light of a Tuesday, March 4, shooting in St. Michael that left two dead and one in critical condition, "our reservation is in need of a lot of healing right now," she said.

Robertson's family is working to heal from another unexpected loss, as within months of Hunt's disappearance, his mother, Melissa "Missy" Desjarlais, died from the cancer she fought for 12 years.

Desjarlais spent her last days questioning what happened to her firstborn son. The family prays she got closure, reuniting with him in her death, according to her obituary.

"My aunt's not here anymore to speak up for him, or be his voice," Robertson said.

So Robertson speaks up for him now.

"Despite the situation, we hope that he's remembered as the outgoing person he was -- especially with his family," she said. "He loved his family. He loved his kids."

She said Hunt was just starting to better himself, largely for the benefit of his four children, and had been working at the casino prior to his disappearance. Robertson doesn't believe he could have left by choice, but admits he had problems with being too trusting of others.

Hunt is 5-foot-9 and Indigenous, with brown eyes and black hair. When he was last seen, he weighed 180 pounds, according to the state missing persons database. The Spirit Lake Missing Persons Facebook page says Hunt has a scar above his lip and tattoos on his neck and arm. He has an ace of spades and Superman tattoos on his neck, and the names "Angelita" and "Adam" tattooed on his arm. When he disappeared, he was wearing dark blue jeans, white Nike shoes, a gray Reebok pullover hoodie, a black jacket, a white Adidas hat and diamond earrings.

Updates regarding searches for Hunt, which are expected to resume with warmer weather, will be posted on the missing persons Facebook page.