by Travis Mateer

If local media persists in using the lens of DIVISION to see the absolute brokenness of the criminal justice system in Montana for EVERYONE, then the only thing that will result is ANGER from everyone, especially as this white guy gets more ink for FAILING to find Jermain Charlo after 5 years.

Don’t worry, indigenous people, this guy with the first name GUY has nearly ALL the puzzle pieces and I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before one of his three scenarios is substantiated by someone coming forward to help poor Detective Guy Baker out. From the link (emphasis mine):

Baker said he has three theories related to Jermain’s disappearance that he’s investigated. One is the possibility that Jermain was sex trafficked; another relates to drug activity; and the third involves someone she previously had a relationship with. Baker maintains a level of ambiguity when talking about Jermain, but repeatedly mentioned missing “puzzle pieces” when he talked about solving her disappearance in an interview this week.

“I’m still hopeful that someone will come forward with the information that will be what we need to get this case to a prosecutor,” he said. “As it stands, I feel like I have most of the puzzle pieces on the table, but not all of them.”

I’ve tried reaching out to the Charlo family AND Connie Walker, who made the Stolen podcast, but I never heard anything back. Some of my concerns were documented in this post from April, 2022, so at least I’m putting out there some additional perspective on WHY I think the “investigation” has so for produced no firm answers, or even a body, to explain what happened to Jermain Charlo 5 years ago.

With the passing of time, the unfortunate reality is MORE families are having similar experiences with a criminal justice system that seems to lack the capacity to do basic things, like call back people who might know something about how a dead body became dead body. I’m still waiting.

Today my plan is to drive to Mineral County for the County Commissioner meeting so that the three Commissioners can hear directly from a Montana citizen about what is NOT happening in their County, and mine. I’ll also be waiting to see if any of my phone calls yesterday to state agencies result in call backs.

I’ll report what I find out in Sunday’s post, which will have a little something different that should provide some fascinating historical context on Missoula’s urban camping problem, so stay tuned.

Also, now is more critical than ever to support a media effort like mine, so please consider helping out Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF), or making a donation at my about page.

Thanks for reading!