Project Lost and Found – Voices of Gratitude is a nonprofit organization founded and led by Johnathan Buma, a retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent leading high-level criminal and national security investigations. After his retirement he returned back home to Arizona where he completed public school on an Indian reservation. His career included complex, often international casework that required task force coordination across local, federal, and global agencies. After completing his 10 year at the bureau, he is using that expertise to protect those most vulnerable to government overreach and systemic neglect.

This mission extends beyond recovery; it includes honoring the families left behind and preserving Native lands, resources, and cultural heritage.

Project Lost and Found is has forged partnerships and continuing to expand its network of supporters helping to identify the missing and return them home. Our partnership is with tribal elders, grassroots leaders, and federal agencies, including the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Missing and Murdered Unit (MMU). The organization is establishing an investigative task force in Arizona—what Buma calls “ground zero” in the fight against unchecked federal power. This region, marked by military buildup and aggressive immigration enforcement, has become a frontline where vulnerable Indigenous communities and other vulnerable immigrants especially in areas impacted by international border patrol activitities are increasingly at risk.

Our initiative is staffed by a coalition of seasoned investigators, many of them former federal agents, and culturally competent volunteers committed to justice, accountability, and truth. We are actively collaborating with Native nations and law enforcement agencies at all levels—local, state, tribal, and federal—united by a shared commitment to restoring dignity, visibility, and justice for the disappeared.

While our work focuses on finding those who are lost, we are committed to safeguarding Native cultures, defending sacred lands, and amplifying voices that have been silenced by bureaucracy and indifference. Each case we take on is part of a broader mission to uphold human rights, promote systemic reform, and ensure that no life—no voice—is ever forgotten.