Hanna Harris Timeline
Hanna Harris was born on May 5, 1992. She was a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and the mother of a young son, Jeremiah. Hanna disappeared during the Independence Day holiday in July 2013 in Lame Deer, Montana.
On July 8, 2013, volunteers searching for Hanna discovered her body near the Lame Deer rodeo grounds. Her murder led to federal prosecutions and inspired her mother, Malinda Harris Limberhand, to advocate for missing and murdered Indigenous women and their families.
May 5, 1992
- Hanna Harris was born. She was a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and later became the mother of a son, Jeremiah. Source
July 3, 2013
- Hanna was with Eugenia Ann Rowland and Garrett Sidney Wadda in Lame Deer, Montana. Their activities became central to the federal investigation into her murder. Source
July 4, 2013
- 1:30 am Surveillance footage from the Cheyenne Depot convenience store in Lame Deer captured Hanna getting into her car and driving away. Eugenia Rowland entered the front passenger seat, and investigators established that Garrett Wadda was alone in the back seat.
- Hanna was killed at the Jefferson property. Rowland and Wadda later provided changing accounts of what occurred there. Wadda maintained that he did not know how Hanna died and denied responsibility for her death. He acknowledged that he, Rowland, and Hanna were the only people at the property that night. Source
- Hanna’s relatives, who had been babysitting her infant while she was out, reported her missing to Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement after she failed to return home. Hanna was still breastfeeding at the time. Authorities initially treated the case as a missing-person investigation. Source
- Evening: Wadda later admitted using a vehicle belonging to Rowland’s son to transport Hanna’s body to the Lame Deer rodeo grounds. Investigators subsequently recovered Hanna’s DNA from the vehicle’s rear seat cushion. Wadda admitted that he moved her body to protect Rowland, destroying evidence and hindering the investigation. Source
July 5, 2013
- Hanna’s family reported her missing. Her mother, Malinda Harris Limberhand, later raised concerns about the initial law enforcement response. Source
July 7, 2013
- Bureau of Indian Affairs officers interviewed Rowland and Wadda several times. Both acknowledged spending the night drinking with Hanna, attending a fireworks display and street dance, and visiting the Jimtown bar before going to Wadda’s aunt’s property on Muddy Creek Road. Source
- Their accounts of what happened at the property changed during successive interviews. Source
July 8, 2013
- Morning: During a search of Wadda’s aunt’s property, investigators found Hanna’s Nike tennis shoe underneath a trailer and the sash she had worn to the July 3 street dance.
- Night: Volunteers searching for Hanna discovered her body near the Lame Deer rodeo grounds. Her death became the subject of a federal murder investigation. Source
March 2014
- A federal grand jury in the District of Montana indicted Wadda on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse. The indictment alleged that Wadda killed Hanna during the commission of aggravated sexual abuse. Rowland was indicted on a separate count of second-degree murder. Source
- Eugenia Ann Rowland and Garrett Sidney Wadda were arrested in connection with Hanna’s murder. Source
- The indictment originally charged Wadda with first-degree murder and aggravated sexual abuse, and Rowland with second-degree murder.
- Wadda ultimately pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact, while Rowland pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Source
October 2014
- Eugenia Ann Rowland pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in federal court. Source
October 30, 2014
-
Federal prosecutors filed an offer of proof outlining the evidence supporting Wadda’s proposed guilty plea to accessory after the fact. The filing detailed Hanna’s final documented movements, the changing statements provided by Rowland and Wadda, evidence recovered from Jefferson’s property, the condition of Hanna’s body and the forensic evidence recovered from the vehicle used to move her remains.
-
Prosecutors stated that Wadda was expected to acknowledge that Rowland was responsible for Hanna’s death, although he did not know how she killed Hanna. He was also expected to admit that he lied to investigators and moved Hanna’s body to protect Rowland, destroying evidence and obstructing the investigation and prosecution. Source
February 12, 2015
- U.S. District Judge Susan Watters sentenced Rowland to 22 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Source
June 4, 2015
- Garrett Sidney Wadda was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to accessory after the fact to murder. Source
May 3, 2017
- The U.S. Senate agreed to a resolution designating May 5 as the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls. Source
May 3, 2019
- Montana Governor Steve Bullock signed House Bill 21, known as Hanna’s Act, into law. Source
October 2014
- Eugenia Ann Rowland pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Source
February 12, 2015
- Rowland was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison and five years of supervised release. Source
June 4, 2015
- Garrett Sidney Wadda was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to accessory after the fact to murder. Source
May 3, 2017
- The U.S. Senate agreed to a resolution recognizing May 5, Hanna’s birthday, as the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls. Source
May 3, 2019
- Montana Governor Steve Bullock signed Hanna’s Act to strengthen coordination and assistance in missing-person investigations. Source
July 1, 2019
- Hanna’s Act took effect in Montana. Source