Authorities are concerned for the well-being of missing 23-year-old Jermain Morigeau.
Jermain, who also goes by the name Liz, was last seen in Missoula, Montana between midnight and 1:00 a.m. on June 16, according to Detective Guy Baker with the Missoula Police Department.
“She was last seen with an acquaintance who she knows very well,” Detective Baker told Dateline, although he declined to name the acquaintance to protect the integrity of the investigation. “She and this person had visited three different bars in Missoula that night.”
The person with whom Jermain was last seen told police “he had dropped her off at a location and last saw her walking into the darkness,” according to Detective Baker, who added that “the person claims that’s where she wanted to be dropped off at.”
Detective Baker declined to comment on the specifics of the location where Jermain was last seen, but said it was in the “general vicinity” of where she lives.
Since Jermain disappeared, authorities have conducted five ground searches and questioned about a dozen people, Detective Baker told Dateline, including the person with whom Jermain was last seen. Despite these investigative efforts, none of Jermain’s belongings have been found.
“There’s a couple different investigative aspects we are looking at,” Detective Baker told Dateline. “I believe she is the victim of a criminal act. I don’t know if it’s homicide, sex trafficking, or kidnapping. But aspects of the investigation have led us to believe those are the options.”
Detective Baker told Dateline that Jermain’s social media accounts have shown zero activity since the time she was last seen, which is “an absolute change in her pattern of life.”
“The fact that that’s going on is causing great concern for me -- that she’s either someplace where her freedom is being restricted, or something worse has happened to her,” he said. The lack of activity on Jermain’s social media also lessens the possibility that she walked away willingly, Detective Baker said, because he doesn’t think “her pattern of life would have deviated as quickly and abruptly as it did, if she was just out and about.”
Jermain’s family was unavailable for an interview by Tuesday evening, but her aunt Valenda Morigeau posted to Facebook about their family’s pain.
“They say time heals all wounds. Just not under these circumstances,” the post said. “Wish our family could wake up from this nightmare! We will never give up!!”
Jermain “Liz” Morigeau is a Native American woman who is described as being 5’9” tall and weighing about 130 lbs. She was last seen wearing blue jeans, a white T-shirt with a brown Under Armour sweatshirt and cowboy boots. She was also wearing a baseball cap with three trees on it at the time of her disappearance. If you have any information on Jermain’s whereabouts, please call Detective Guy Baker at 406-396-3217 or the Missoula Police Department at 406-552-6300.
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