by Travis Mateer
It’s no one’s job to guard the rivers in Montana from the “accidents” that can occur. When someone dies, like Joey Thompson did last year, the only thing to be done is determine the cause and manner of death, which was supposedly done in the Thompson case. So why am I reminding these LifeGuards about the Thompson case?
Maybe because I’ve NEVER been satisfied with the narrative that Joey ended up in the river by “accident” after he went missing on April 11th, 2023. So, what do I know about this case that I have NOT written about yet? You’re about to find out.
Before we get to that, let’s take a look at the LifeGuard Group’s response to the Missoulian article that sparked my I TOLD YOU SO tour. Since I’m blocked by the LifeGuard Group on social media, it took me a bit to get the response. Here it is:
Let me repeat that last part so you’ll fully appreciate what comes next: “Despite the seriousness of these accusations, we have NOT RECEIVED ANY COMMUNICATION from law enforcement agencies regarding them.“
Since Lowell Hochhalter is a many-hat-wearing kind of guy, it needs to be pointed out that not only is Lowell INSIDE the Sheriff’s Office, as the Chaplain, but he has ALSO publicly joked about BEING law enforcement, as my transcription of his comment on NBC Montana clearly indicates:
“We work right alongside law enforcement, we’re not the cops, and we don’t pretend to be th–well, sometimes we pretend to be the cops, but we know our limitations…”
Does Lowell REALLY understand limitations, like the limitation of CONFIDENTIAL criminal justice information? No, I don’t think he does, and that’s where his alleged conversation with a member of Joey Thompson’s family comes into play–something I was told about last year by this family member.
What was I told? Well, according to the family member, Lowell told them he thought a woman’s kid was involved in Joey’s death, and that the kid’s mom helped him cover up what happened. Since I’ve heard MORE stories about how this woman may have taken advantage of her position working with vulnerable people at the Transitional Safe Outdoor Space, I’m going to name her AND her kid, who I believe is technically an adult now.
Here’s my question for these two people who I would consider suspects if I were officially investigating this case: was April Seat or her son, Dylan, ever questioned by law enforcement about what happened on the night of April 11th, 2023, at the party with the bonfire down Deep Creek? Because I think they should be.
I already named another person of interest last June who allegedly was at the party on April 11th with Dylan, Joey and other youngsters drinking around a bonfire. That young man’s name is Kasen Konop, and I heard he fled to Superior after Joey went missing last year. I’ve also heard he sells teens illegal guns.
Why would the Sheriff’s Office be so reluctant to actually INVESTIGATE this case? Is it because there’s a nexus of corruption that exists between some local churches and our local badges? I think that is DEFINITELY a factor in this case, and one church I’m interested in is River of Life. Why? Because that’s the church where Jason Johnson goes, and Jason is friends with Dylan on Facebook AND a former undersheriff when T.J. McDermott was tarnishing the badge. Isn’t that interesting?
Jason must be a busy guy because he works at the Montana Department of Justice AND is on the staff at River of Life. Here’s the bio from RoL’s website:
Since Jason works at the Department of Justice, I wonder if he knows Andy Yedinak? Why am I asking this question? Well, Andy was quoted in the article about Lowell’s “non-profit”, and I just happen to know that Andy has MUCH MORE information than what made it into this Missoulian article. From the link (emphasis mine):
In an August 2023 email, Montana Department of Justice Agent Andrew Yedinak informed colleagues that he had “received a concerning call” from an organization in Missoula. Yedinak detailed a “traumatic experience” that allegedly unfolded after a survivor and her daughter arrived at the organization’s safe house, known as the LifeHouse at Crooked Tree Ranch.
The survivor contacted the LifeGuard Group, met them at the Missoula airport and was taken to the LifeHouse, according to the email.
“Once at their ranch, the S (survivor) claims that she was told that they (the Lifeguard Group) needed to conduct a strip search of her and her daughter as well as a cavity search of their pelvic regions which would be conducted by Tami Hochhalter,” Yedinak wrote. “The S advised she resisted from these requests and eventually was able to get her daughter and leave the property.”
What does Andy know that he’s not telling the Missoulian? Maybe someone should ask Gwen Jones or Susan Hay Patrick, because I’m pretty sure they both know what Andy knows, and they knew it last year, and as far as I can tell, they didn’t do shit about it.
A week ago I was cautiously optimistic that the Missoulian article would mean a wider understanding locally that what I’ve been raising the alarm about is real and dire and must be dealt with NOW, not tomorrow or sometime after stupid votes for compromised politicians are cast. Well, after texting Michael Burks, who for someone reason still responds to me, I’m MUCH LESS optimistic.
Who is Michael Burks? He’s a do-gooder Christian man who ran for political office after a former Missoula County Sheriff Deputy made a short documentary about his “Angel Flights”. Does Burks know what I’ve written about him? Because if he had, I seriously doubt I’d be getting text responses from this dude. Here are the relevant posts:
HD 97 Candidate Michael Burks And The Missoula Media (November 14th, 2021)
Oblivious Candidate Michael Burks And The Monumental Failure Of Public Protectors And Non-Profit Helpers (May 29th, 2022)
BREAKING: A Unique Perspective From A Private Business Man Who Sought Political Office (October 5th, 2022)
A Christian Piñata By The Name Of Michael Burks And His Connection To The Missoula County Sheriff’s Office (October 12th, 2022)
Considering all this context, I didn’t expect a response when I texted Michael, but the response I got helped me understand how short a reach the Missoulian now has after years of hollowing out its reporting capacity and trying to adapt to the technological shifts in information dissemination.
Isn’t this fascinating? Also, a little depressing, because it appears these information silos we choose to exist in have become hermetically sealed from news that challenges our assumptions, assumptions like our lawmen aren’t a bunch of law-cucks.
Someone asked me recently if I have concern for my safety, considering how clearly I’ve identified my shit-talking echo-location strategy, and my response is this: I don’t have any. In fact, my recent steps to expose these fuckers is an overt dare to them to try and stop me from sharing what I know, because my voice isn’t limited by my ability to breathe, that’s the benefit of being a kick-ass poet with a collection of poems that would become VERY well-known if something tragic happened to me.
If I thought this was my only life and nothing existed beyond our mortal expiration date, maybe I’d allow fear to turn me into the kind of cowards I see everywhere around me, cowards who KNOW it’s getting undeniably fucked out there, but they still go about their little routines like ANY of this is actually sustainable.
Well, it is not, and I’ll keep pointing out the local examples of shit ever-more-rapidly hitting the fan as spring makes us all a little nuts, a seasonal phenomenon I’ve been trying to understand for awhile, as this 2011 post (written as “lizard”) from 4&20 Blackbirds shows.
If you’d like to help my 2024 reporting, Travis’ Impact Fund‘ (TIF) hasn’t seen a donation in over two weeks, so what are you waiting for?
Thanks for reading!