Kriti Mehrotra
As a documentary series that explores the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women, Showtime’s ‘Murder in Big Horn’ can only be described as equal parts haunting and powerful. After all, it charts every aspect of several such cases with the help of not just first-hand accounts of those closest to them but also archival footage to really emphasize the gravity of this situation. Amongst the individuals to thus feature in this original are Henny Scott’s parents — Paula Castro-Stops and Nate Stops — so now, if you wish to learn more about them, we’ve got you covered.
Who are Henny Scott’s Parents?
Although Henny was born on January 9, 2004, to Apolonia “Paula” Castro-Stops and Charles Scott Jr., her stepfather Nathan “Nate” Stops was almost always a very significant part of her life. It hence comes as no surprise the Crow Tribe member only gets referred to as her father/dad, a title he was undeniably proud to hold alongside that of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe member’s then-partner. But alas, their world turned upside down in mid-December 2018 when their 14-year-old daughter suddenly disappeared without a trace left behind while hanging out with some older friends.
“The day Henny went missing… she called from a residence — the name had come up on caller ID, so I knew where she was,” Paula candidly said in the Showtime original. “It’s kind of like a party place, where all the teenagers go to…hang out. There’s no adult supervision. I told her, ‘You need to come back home,’ and that’s the last I heard from Henny.” The fact the teen didn’t return was actually surprising to her friends and family alike since she had agreed to, driving Nate to visit the property with the genuine hope of finding her.
That’s when Paula and Nate learned their little girl had “walked off” into the road on her own long ago, leaving them no choice but to quickly file a missing person’s report with the Sheriff’s Office. However, according to their narrative, the officials treated the duo like criminals instead of searching for Henny before claiming it’s likely she found a boyfriend or is still out partying somewhere. “We thought law enforcement would look for her, but in actuality, they didn’t,” Nate stated. “There was no search, no Amber Alert, no nothing.”
The parents thus decided to conduct their own search with the help of volunteers, just for the FBI to soon show up and find Heeny’s remains mere 100 yards behind the aforementioned home. Her cause of death was subsequently ruled as hypothermia, yet neither Paula nor Nate are convinced because she was allegedly not in her own clothes, no animals had caused disturbance despite her apparently being dead in the open for days, and she had bruises all over. In fact, Nate claims investigators “still don’t tell us [where her injuries came from], why?”
Henny Scott’s Parents Continues to Keep Her Daughter Alive in Their Hearts
Even though it’s been more than four years, Paula and Nate continue to grapple with the enigma of what precisely happened to their little girl, all the while hoping to attain some closure soon. They desperately want a proper investigation into Henny’s case or maybe even a tip regarding how she ended up behind the house in someone else’s clothes if she had left alone to make her way home. They do find some solace in the fact they did (and still do) everything in their power to bring her some true justice, yet it’s not really the same.
Wheather it be initially handing out flyers to find Henny, organizing the volunteer group, holding vigils, or going against their cultural beliefs to have her body exhumed, Paula and Nate have done it all. It hasn’t made a difference yet, but the Lame Deer, Montana residents continue to hope that one day it will — until then (and even beyond), they’re keeping their daughter alive in their hearts.
We should mention that it appears as if Paula, an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) for the Northern Cheyenne Ambulance Service, is no longer involved with Nate. As for the latter, it seems like he’s currently serving a two-year prison sentence for having sexual relations with a minor from the time she was 14 to 16; he pleaded guilty to a single count of abuse in September 2022.
Read More: Where is Luella Brien Now?
