Rhonda, a mother in the White Mountains region of Apache County, has publicly pressed for answers and accountability after her daughter began showing behavioral changes she and her family initially attributed to grief following the sudden death of the girl’s father. Those changes were later linked by the family to alleged abuse by former Round Valley Police Department officer Ismael Amaya-Molina, who graduated from the Northern Arizona Law Enforcement Training Academy in 2022 and served as a local officer thereafter.

The White Mountain Independent published an update on October 23, 2025, detailing Rhonda’s campaign and the local response, which has been marked by anger and calls for justice from neighbors and community members. The story adds a personal, victim-centered dimension to broader concerns about law enforcement oversight in the area and arrives amid recent state-level scrutiny of the Round Valley department.

In August 2025 the Arizona Department of Public Safety opened an investigation into the Round Valley Police Department, placing Chief Dayson Merrill and Lt. Shane Bevington on administrative leave while examining allegations of misconduct and potential delays in how cases were handled. By September 2025 the DPS wrapped up its inquiry and referred two criminal cases to the Arizona Attorney General for review. Those developments have fueled questions about whether administrative shortcomings or internal delays contributed to the handling of complaints in the community, though a direct connection to the Apache County Sheriff’s Office has not been confirmed.

Key elements of the alleged abuse — including a specific date, the full scope of the allegations, and whether any criminal charges have been filed against Amaya-Molina — remain unverified in public records. The lack of publicly available charging information and the absence of a confirmed timeline for the alleged incident complicate efforts to assess accountability and the status of any criminal or civil proceedings.

For residents of Eagar, Springerville and surrounding White Mountains communities, the case underscores longstanding concerns about policing in small, rural and tribal-adjacent jurisdictions where personal relationships and limited resources can shape community trust. Local residents rely on close working relationships with officers for public safety and reporting; allegations involving a local officer and questions about departmental oversight threaten to erode that trust and could make victims less likely to come forward.

The DPS referrals to the Attorney General mean the outcomes of those reviews will be a critical next milestone for the public, as will any court filings or official statements from the Round Valley Police Department and the Apache County Sheriff’s Office. Reporters and residents seeking clarity are advised to monitor Attorney General filings and local court records for updates, and to follow reporting from the White Mountain Independent and official agency notices.

Rhonda’s campaign has brought the issue into the open and made visible the fractures between community expectations and institutional response. The case highlights the need for transparent investigations, clear communication from law enforcement agencies, and culturally sensitive support for victims in Apache County’s tightly knit communities.