Jermain Charlo

📍 Location

📝 Description

Jermain Charlo is a Montana mother and member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes who vanished in Missoula in the early hours of June 16, 2018. The last known activity appears to be surveillance footage from downtown Missoula showing Charlo in an alley behind The Badlander bar, walking with a man who has been identified as her ex-boyfriend, Michael DeFrance. DeFrance initially claimed he dropped Charlo near the Orange Street Food Farm, but later provided a different location; no charges have been filed in Charlo’s disappearance and the case remains open. In 2024, Missoula police released never-before-seen video to CBS’s 48 Hours to solicit leads, and in 2025 Oxygen’s Cold Justice announced a fresh push in the case. Separately, a December 2024 Ninth Circuit decision reversed DeFrance’s federal firearms conviction related to the Charlo case, vacated his sentence, and remanded for resentencing, with prosecutors indicating a retrial could occur. Charlo’s case continues to draw attention via billboards, media coverage, and MMIW advocacy, and she remains connected to the Flathead Reservation through her tribal affiliation and ties to Evaro Hill.

🔍 Circumstances

On the night of June 15–16, 2018, Charlo was out with friends in downtown Missoula and was last seen in the alley behind The Badlander bar. Surveillance footage shows a man behind and with Charlo as they move away from the area; she has not been seen or heard from since. Investigators have pursued multiple leads, interviewed witnesses, and explored competing statements from DeFrance regarding where he dropped her. The case is treated as an active missing-person investigation with ongoing public appeals for information.

👤 Physical Description

Height approximately 5'9" (sources range 5'8"–5'9"), weight about 130 lbs, brown hair. Tattoos: flower on chest; deer tattoo on left shoulder blade. At the time she was last seen, Charlo was wearing blue jeans, a white shirt, a brown Under Armour sweatshirt, and a tan baseball cap.

ℹ️ Additional Details

Charlo is enrolled with the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation. The case has been featured by national outlets (e.g., 48 Hours) and subject to ongoing advocacy and media coverage. A federal firearms case against her ex-boyfriend Michael DeFrance related to the incident occurred in 2023 and was partially reversed by the Ninth Circuit in December 2024, with the sentence vacated and remanded for resentencing; prosecutors have indicated a possible retrial. NAMUS case MP51201 exists for Jermain Charlo. 2025 coverage includes Cold Justice revisiting the case. The disappearance is often discussed in the context of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) issues.

🔗 Sources (7)

👥 Community Contributions

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