RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The murders of two Alaskan Native women, Kathleen Jo Henry and Veronica Abouchuk, at the hands of serial killer Brian Steven Smith, are centered in ID's Lost Women of Alaska .
The three-part series narrated and executive produced by Octavia Spencer lays out the vulnerabilities that allowed Smith, who is serving a 226-year sentence for the killings, to prey upon Henry, Abouchuk and countless other native women he and other men are suspected of harming, from remote terrain to racism and biases against sex workers.
"Amplifying these stories is our duty," said Spencer, who's nominated for an Emmy for best narrator for her work on the series, during a taping of THR Presents powered by Investigation Discovery. "These women had lives, they have loved ones, and they are human. We are human." Related Stories TV Nicholas Hoult Boards 'Harry Potter' Season 2 as Gilderoy Lockhart Movies Brad Pitt Says He's Drinking Again After 7 Years of Sobriety
Right from the beginning, the series lays out the disproportionate number of missing persons in Alaska — roughly 1,300, with only 100 being actively worked on. Were you aware of the situation in Alaska prior to this project?
As a Black woman, I know that our stories here are not prioritized. So it was not shocking, sadly, to me, that these indigenous women were going missing at alarming rates. It's a systemic failure within our culture to disregard people who are Black and brown.
The end of the third episode notes that Brian Steven Smith is still being investigated for possibly committing more crimes in Alaska and his native South Africa. Are there any new developments?
Without having concrete evidence, these aren't his first victims. He was too good at it and had his modus operandi. He went to Alaska because it was a broader playing field, of that I am sure. But the same way that they weren't vigorously investigating the indigenous women, I can almost assure you that his victims [in South Africa] were Black and aren't being as rigorously investigated either.
True crime, as a genre, has been critiqued as sensational. What sets Lost Women apart?
We don't see this as entertainment. I don't watch true crime for entertainment. I watch it to gain knowledge, and if I've seen something, I want to be responsible and report it. Lost Women , for us, is one about being restorative of lives and voices and bringing some resolution, hopefully, to families. It's not that we glamorize crime against women. I find it abhorrent. Lost Women is about empowering all women and young girls to be a part of a community that helps each other, that we see each other, that we report, and that we fight for laws that protect us. This is a passion of mine, but not for entertainment, for justice for these victims.
This is your second narration Emmy nomination, both of which were for the Lost Women series. What does that mean to you?
It's wonderful because it amplifies the story of the Lost Women of Alaska . I always joke and say, "Is my voice the right one to be narrating their stories?" But visibility is something that I can give with my name. And the voice — I'm compelled to use it for good and to tell these women's stories because they can no longer tell their own stories. So it's very, very humbling. And it's not for me. I see this as a nomination for The Lost Women of Alaska .
Watch the full Q&A with Spencer in the video above.
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