ST. PAUL — Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan have helped launch a statewide task force on the plight of missing and murdered indigenous women.

They led a ceremonial bill signing Thursday that brought together advocates, tribal representatives, law enforcement and elected officials for the panel’s first meeting.

The 27-member task force is meant to draw attention to the disproportionate rates of violence experienced by indigenous women and girls. It’s due to issue a final report by Dec. 15, 2020.

An Associated Press investigation last year found that nobody knows precisely how cases of missing and murdered Native American women happen nationwide because many cases go unreported, others aren’t well documented and no government database specifically tracks them.

According to a press release, task force supporters say thousands of cases go unreported, uninvestigated and unsolved.