Jermain Charlo

Jermain Charlo, a 23-year-old Indigenous woman from the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, vanished in the early hours of June 16, 2018, after leaving The Badlander bar in Missoula, Montana. She was last seen with her ex-boyfriend, Michael DeFrance, who later admitted to discarding her phone in Idaho. DeFrance had a history of domestic violence, including a 2013 conviction for assaulting Charlo. In 2023, he was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for illegal firearm possession but was not named a suspect in Charlo's disappearance. Despite extensive searches and media coverage, Charlo remains missing, and the case highlights concerns about the systemic issues facing Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW).