by Travis Mateer

UPDATE BELOW

Today’s post has some information about the Barsotti case I’ll be getting into, hopefully, in today’s podcast episode of Zoom Chron. I was on the phone yesterday and will be making some calls today to better understand the status of the investigation.

One of the more confusing aspects of this case is the jurisdictional relationship between Mineral County, where the investigation originated, and Missoula County. This ABC article at the end of September offers some insight into those dynamics:

Barsotti was last seen on July 20 at approximately 2:15 p.m. at the Town Pump in Superior. She was reported missing on July 21, and an extensive search with aid from four counties and Two Bear Air began.

According to a release from the Mineral County Office of the Sheriff-Coroner, Barsotti’s vehicle and some personal items were located at MM 71 by the Clark Fork River near Alberton and crews began to search the area.

All other leads were investigated by the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office Detective Division, and have now been exhausted.

“The search for Rebekah Barsotti has been extensive; the most extensive in recent Mineral County history in terms of resources and hours,” Sheriff Mike Toth said. “I’m thankful for the support of our neighboring law enforcement agencies, especially Missoula County Sheriff’s Office. Mineral County Sheriff’s Office is compassionate to the Barsotti family and their search for their loved one. We will continue to work with the Barsotti family and the case will remain an active Missing Persons case and any credible leads will be investigated.”

Wow, FOUR counties helped with this investigation AND Two Bear Air? The Barsotti family should be UNCRITICALLY HAPPY about that, especially regarding the help they got from Montana’s Batman, the billionaire Mike Goguen.

Sure, Mike Goguen himself may be under suspicion of sex trafficking, but that shouldn’t detract from the glowing coverage he got in 2017 giving him the superhero moniker:

So far, the combined power of this stripper-fucking Batman and the four counties referenced by Sheriff Toth haven’t been able to locate Rebekah, alive OR deceased. And the official narrative is STILL that Rebekah went into the water to save her distressed German Shepherd Belgian Mallinois, then drowned.

On November 26th, the day after Thanksgiving, Rebekah’s parents and supporters addressed concerns about how this investigation has been conducted at a Mineral County Commissioners meeting. Sheriff Toth was also present at this meeting, and responded to those clearly stated concerns.

The meeting was recorded and posted on Youtube. Rebekah’s mom starts about 30 minutes in:

After watching this video, here are some of the questions you might have about this case: if this was a river accident, why are Rebekah’s parents now receiving death threats? How well does Sheriff Toth know Rebekah’s estranged husband, David Barsotti? Why did it take Missoula County so long to process potential evidence, like the Rebekah’s car? And why would Sheriff Toth refuse FREE help from an organization like Crime Stoppers?

Those are just SOME of the questions I have about this case. I have others as well, but those questions will have to wait, for now.

Thanks for reading.

UPDATE: I incorrectly referred to Rebekah’s dog, Cerberus, as a German Shepherd. It is NOT. Cerberus was an 11 month old Belgian Mallinois in good health, a fact confirmed independently by Rebekah’s mother, Angela, with the Veterinarian.