MISSOULA – It’s been nearly seven weeks since Jermaine Charlo, 23, went missing.
Her friends, family, and a group of volunteers gathered on Saturday to search land near the Great Wolf Peak Casino near Evero Hill. The land around the casino was an area of interest to both the Lifeguard group and law enforcement as the search for the missing mother of two continues.
Law enforcement previously searched the area by vehicle, but Saturday morning the Lifeguard group was back to comb through the land on foot. Crews continue to search based off of intel shared from law enforcement and tips sent directly to them from members of the community.
There have been five-to-10 tips a day coming into the Lifeguard group — some placing her in Seattle, others saying she has been seen in Eastern Montana.
"We will follow every lead. We’re not gonna get frustrated and quit and we will go anywhere and everywhere. Jermaine is out there somewhere and you know somebody knows something. Somebody knows where Jermaine is at. People don’t just disappear they don’t just vanish, said Lifeguard CEO Lowell Hochhacker. "At this point, we’re just looking for somebody brave enough that knows to come forward."
There were about 50 people there to help including friends and family.
" The phrase that says it takes a village could not be any more true than it is in this moment right now for this family. And to see these people come up here today knowing that what they could find knowing what they could possibly stumble across and just showing up here is acknowledging the fact that something has happened that should not of happened," Hochhacker said.
One volunteer said that she and her husband felt coming to the search was the least they could do for the family.
"That’s difficult to wrap your mind around. I was listening to him talk and give the instructions and part of me felt fearful. I did feel afraid. What if I do find something?" Marie Torosian said.
She said that that fear is almost as strong as the fear that she won’t find anything at all, "I’ve always hoped and prayed that we can help find Jermaine alive."
