KALISPELL — The story of Jermain Charlo -- a 23-year-old mother of two who police say was last seen in 2018 near the Badlander in downtown Missoula -- is being told in a podcast that's bringing to light new information about the case.
"As soon as I heard about Jermain's case, I really wanted to know more. And connecting with her family and connecting with detective Guy Baker, you know, I realized that this is a family that has just been through such anguish over the last 2½ years," explained Connie Walker, an investigative journalist for Gimlet Media.
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The pain that Jermain Charlo's family has felt can be heard in Walker's podcast, Stolen: The Search for Jermain. The podcast focuses on the Dixon Agency resident who was last seen on security footage in Missoula on June 15, 2018.
Walker is a Canadian journalist and saw the similarities between missing and murdered Indigenous women in the United States and Canada. "I definitely do see a lot of parallels between the experiences of Jermain Charlo but other Indigenous women and girls that I've covered as well."
Walker says Jermain’s family has suffered the most with so many unknown questions surrounding her disappearance.
“Losing your loved one, you know, not knowing where they are for 2½ years -- almost three years. Having all of these outstanding questions about what happened that night to Jermain has been agonizing for them,” Walker told MTN News.
Walker says the stories of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women need to be heard, "Jermain is one of, you know, hundreds or thousands of Indigenous women and girls who are missing or murdered in Canada and the United States...all of their stories deserve to be told."
Walker says the eight episodes of Jermain’s story are meant to seek the truth of Charlo’s disappearance.
“This podcast is meant to kind of try to scrutinize some of what people think they know about Jermaine and what they think they know about her disappearance. And really like drill-down and dive deep into the facts and the truth. And get as close to it as we possibly can,” Walker concluded.
You can listen to Stolen: The Search for Jermain on Spotify.
