Podcast Sheds New Light on Missing Indigenous Woman's Case

It’s been two-and-a-half years since Jermain Charlo went missing after a night out in downtown Missoula. She was last seen at 1 a.m., walking on Higgins Ave after leaving the Badlander bar alone. Her movements were caught on a security camera owned by the Missoula Housing Authority. Her disappearance sparked activists and every day citizens to become more involved in the plight of Native American women, 84 percent of whom have experienced physical, sexual or psychological violence in their lifetime.

Charlo’s case has puzzled her family, detectives, and the public. Billboards with her heart-shaped face, almond eyes, and direct gaze appear around town sometimes, including the most recent one that went up at the junction of South, Brooks, and Russell streets. And a new podcast, hosted by investigative journalist Connie Walker will hopefully shed new light and bring national attention to Charlo’s disappearance.

According to Vanity Fair, “Walker, who is Cree from Okanese First Nation in Canada, previously reported and hosted the Missing & Murdered podcast, which focused on unsolved murders and disappearances of Indigenous women in Canada.”

Montana has an extraordinarily high number of missing Native Americans, a statistic that has attracted the attention of lawmakers, advocates, and the Department of Justice. Native Americans are 4 times more likely to go missing in the state of Montana than any other state.

Stolen: The Search for Jermain will premiere on March 1 and was produced by Gimlet Studios and Spotify.