Going West: True Crime - Jeramy Burt // 288

Episode Date: March 17, 2023

In February of 2007, a 33-year-old Idaho man disappeared on his way to meet up with a friend. After he was last seen, he sent a series of bizarre text messages to his girlfriend claiming he was leaving. When police opened up an investigation, they uncovered a love triangle that resulted in an arrest and the theory that he was killed by a woman who was obsessed with him. This is the story of Jeramy Burt. BONUS EPISODES Apple Subscriptions: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/going-west-true-crime/id1448151398 Patreon: patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCES 1. KTVB: https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/idaho-press/no-answer-15-years-later-regarding-missing-boise-man/277-b12e700f-b31a-41b4-b792-885ea4f87542 2. NBC: https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/cold-case-spotlight/idaho-family-seeks-answers-11-year-search-jeramy-burt-n848676 3. Charley Project: https://charleyproject.org/case/jeramy-carl-burt 4. Idaho State Journal: https://www.idahostatejournal.com/freeaccess/no-answers-15-years-later-for-missing-man-with-local-ties/article_06c33fd5-097c-5e3d-b698-c76a6abdd51a.html 5. NBC: https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/cold-case-spotlight/idaho-family-seeks-answers-11-year-search-jeramy-burt-n848676 6. KTVB: https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/idaho-press/two-boise-men-went-missing-three-years-apart-connections-might-link-their-cold-cases/277-c8898d2f-1c17-45ff-b9c2-d9cc5c126315 7. Kim's Obituary: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/idahostatejournal/name/kimberly-george-obituary?id=8552105 8. The Context of Things: https://thecontextofthings.com/2014/04/14/is-the-disappearance-of-jeramy-carl-burt-tied-to-jeannie-braun-or-jeannie-el-bakri/?fbclid=IwAR17Lv_4ZahBSZK_TRrk4NtyZQ6ynRZsiIT32fKKs8be7_oS7k6FmabNx-s 9. The Idaho Statesman: https://www.newspapers.com/image/692255573/?terms=jeramy%20burt&match=1 10. Idaho State Journal: https://www.idahostatejournal.com/members/american-falls-man-missing-since-2007-mother-believes-he-was-the-victim-of-foul-play/article_72af6916-b64a-11e3-9843-0019bb2963f4.html 11. Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/lj4nav/the_2007_disappearance_of_jeramy_burt_from_boise/ 12. Disappeared: https://www.discoveryplus.com/video/disappeared/doomed-romance 13. The Charley Project: https://charleyproject.org/case/ahren-benjamin-barnard Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One is going on True Crime fans. I'm your host Teehan. And I'm your host Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Hello everybody. Big thanks to Ashlyn for recommending today's case. Heathen, I've just been going crazy diving into this one. I don't know that I've seen you this fascinated by a case in a minute. Yeah, I mean, it's really interesting. There's just so many players involved

in this case and possible connections to other unsolved cases. So yeah, I'm really interested to get into this one today with you guys. Yes, and I also wanted to mention, sorry if you've already seen us talk about this on social media the last couple days, but it seems like some of you are confused about the Apple subscription. So if you are an Apple user, you can subscribe to get two bonus episodes a month in our entire Bat catalog of 85 plus episodes. But you do not need to do that that and our episodes are going to continue to come out for free for going west. As they always have, there's not a paywall behind going west episodes. Those are just for bonus episodes, additional content on top of what you're already getting.

Right, and I also wanted to mention that you will see other episodes in the main feed, but some of those episodes are not gonna be regular, you know, week by week, going west episodes. They're gonna say bonus subscription next to them. That's how you know that is, that it is a bonus episode. So don't be alarmed if you see that, but if you do wanna subscribe, that would be amazing.

Yeah, I mean, we've been doing bonus episodes for almost four years, so we've been doing that forever They just haven't been in the regular Apple feed so they've just been on patreon Which you guys have heard us plug a million times. They're still on patreon if you're not an apple user so Ignore it if you don't want to sign up, but if you do you just get more content That's it. Yeah, this is just essentially a way for Apple users to be able to subscribe to our bonus episodes in an easier way. That is all. Nothing is changing with Going West. Thank you guys so much for checking the bonus episodes out. If you want, if not, just continue listening to Going West and that's all good.

Alright guys, this is episode 288 of Going West, so let's get into it! In February of 2007, a 33-year-old Idaho man disappeared on his way to meet up with a friend. After he was last seen, he sent a series of bizarre text messages to his girlfriend, claiming that he was leaving. When police opened up an investigation, they uncovered a love triangle that resulted in an arrest and the theory that he was killed by a woman who was obsessed with him. This is the story of Jeremy Bert. Jeremy Carl Bert was born on June 28, 1973 to parent Cheryl and Van Bert, and he was the oldest of three siblings, later joined by a sister named Katrina and a brother named Shane.

The family resided in American Falls Idaho, which is about three hours away from the capital city of Boise. As a child, Jeremy was diagnosed with ADHD, and he struggled a bit to pay attention in school, but his family remembers that his energetic spirit really lent itself well to extracurricular activities and he was also apparently a very gifted athlete.

His dad van said quote, he was pretty hyper all the time. He played football and ran track when he was in high school. A very typical Idaho boy, he loved to hunt and fish and cherish the time he spent outdoors. He was described by those who knew him as charming, funny, and a social butterfly, and after graduating from American Falls High School in 1991, Jeremy decided to enlist in the Navy. From 1993 to 1999, while he was about 20 to 26 years old, he served overseas, and he was stationed in the Persian Gulf, Australia, and Japan.

And while he was living in Japan, he met a woman named Rina, who he began dating, and eventually married. When Jeremy left the Navy, he and Rina settled into his native state of Idaho. But the relationship couldn't sustain the massive change of a transcontinental move and ultimately the couple decided to separate. They were framed from getting a divorce officially just yet, although Jeremy claimed that they had both moved on. We're going to move back to Japan and Jeremy stayed in American Falls where he grew up,

and that's where Jeremy met Kim George. Jeremy's mom Cheryl remembers that they fell hard for each other, and they quickly made plans for the future. Friends and family recall a bit of a turbulent relationship between the two because they were apparently very similar, and thus, they fought pretty often. But despite this, they moved over to Boise together and they purchased a house. Jeremy began to work as a rougher and quickly found success, which provided stability for himself and Kim as she was finishing up her college degree.

Now in 2002, Kim found out that she was pregnant and the couple were absolutely elated. Kim remembered that Jeremy had been excited to be a father for as long as she had known him, and that they had big dreams for their future as a family. Jeremy was known to be a very nurturing and warm person, so Kim knew that he'd make a great dad. They decided to get married and make things official, but there was one thing standing in their way. Jeremy needed to divorce his first wife, Reena. So Jeremy sought the help of a local divorce lawyer, and this woman's name was Jeannie Braun.

Now Jeremy and Jeannie's relationship began as purely professional, but as the pair made more and more progress, meeting multiple times per week, Kim began to question the nature of their interactions. But while Jeremy's relationship with his divorce lawyer was morphing into what he called a friendship, Kim and Jeremy sustained a tragic setback in their plans for a family, when Kim suffered a miscarriage. They both reeled from this loss, but Kim remembers that Jeremy was especially affected, even taking to writing poetry and an attempt to express his grief.

So at this point, the couple just decided that they wanted to keep trying for a baby, as Jeremy continued to pursue his divorce with his first wife, and planned the wedding to the woman that he wanted to marry, which was Kim. And six months later, Kim got pregnant again. So Jeremy was just thrilled by this, but Kim said that even the pregnancy and their impending nuptials were not enough to keep him from running off to see his divorce lawyer, Genie. Kim remembers, quote, right before we got married, it started to turn romantic. I didn't know for sure, but in my heart I knew. He changed.

Jeremy was still spending an excessive amount of time with Jeannie, outside of what was normal or appropriate for like a, you know, like a lawyer, client relationship, and far longer than what was normal for typical divorce proceedings. She remembered turning a blind eye for as long as she could, but when it was coming up on a year of Jeremy and Genie's friendship, Kim finally confronted him and questioned the motivation behind it. And Jeremy just kind of brushed off Kim's claims, just telling her that they had simply become good friends and they were bonding over having both served in the military.

But those who knew Jeremy best told a different story. His cousin David, whom Jeremy considered one of his closest friends, called him infatuated with Jeannie. As he and Kim's wedding drew closer, Kim watched as Jeannie whined and dined Jeremy, taking him to expensive dinners and showering him and gifts, including a watch worth more than $500. Shortly before they tied the knot, Kim says she remembers a shift in Jeremy, and she pinpoints this as the point in time when Jeremy and Genie's relationship became romantic. Still, even after all this confusion, Kim and

Jeremy were married on August 24, 2002. Jeremy's brother Shane remembers that Jeremy was kind of having some second thoughts about this union, but that he proceeded anyway, just eager to build a stable home for their daughter. And when their daughter Mackenzie was born a short while later, Jeremy proudly stepped into the role of a father. Kim remembers Jeremy as a present and devoted parent. He doated on Mackenzie and adored being a dad. However, he continued to see Jeannie on the side. So at this point,

with the newborn baby at home, Kim decided that she was no longer going to put up with what she knew was happening between Jeremy and Jeannie. Especially since, you know, not only do they have this baby together, but they're newlyweds. Yeah, I mean, they haven't been married for that long. So she's trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Exactly, so she eventually just confronted him about the nature of their relationship. When Mackenzie was just three weeks old, Kim finally asked Jeremy to move out, and the two were divorced a few months later, after less than a year of marriage. But even after the divorce, Kim remembered Jeremy as an incredible father. They shared custody and Kim said fondly that his

world had revolved around McKenzie. She said, quote, he could not handle being away from her for even a day. And it's likely because of McKenzie that the two began to find their way back to each other. Through the drop-offs and pickups of their daughter, Jeremy and Kim began to repair their relationship. In 2006, when McKenzie was three years old, Kim and Jeremy were kind of on the mend. They were excited at the prospect of getting back together, especially for the sake of their daughter. So in June of that year, again, 2006, Kim moved into the apartment that Jeremy had been sharing with their daughter.

Now Jeremy's dad Van also lived in the building, but it's not clear whether he was in a different unit or if he actually lived with the couple, but he was at least on the premises. And things seemed to be going well for them. You know, they were working on their relationship, they were talking about having more children, and Jeremy had vowed to stay away from Genie. On Sunday, February 11, 2007, Jeremy was headed back home to Boisey with Mackenzie after spending the weekend visiting family and friends in his hometown of American Falls. Again, it's like three hours away.

But before he took off, his mom Cheryl just tried to persuade him to stay over, but Jeremy seemed determined to get back to Boise that night, so he and Mackenzie made the 200 mile or 320 kilometer trip northwest to Boise. After getting home and putting Mackenzie down for bed, Jeremy called Kim, who was actually in Las Vegas for a work conference at this time to say goodnight. They just talked for a bit and she even tried convincing him to drive to Vegas for a night or two to stay with her since it's not that far, I guess. But Jeremy said that he was swarmed at work that week and that he would see her when she

got back. At around 10pm thatm. that evening, Jeremy spoke with his mom Cheryl very briefly just to let her know that they had made it home safely. Jeremy then asked his dad to stay with McKenzie for a bit while he met up with a friend named Greg Reno to go over their schedules for the upcoming hunting season. But Jeremy never made it to his friend's house.

Now according to his dad Van, Jeremy looked like he was dressed for a party that appeared that, you know, he had showered and changed his clothes, so it didn't really seem like he was going to meet his friend. He headed out at about 10.30 pm that night, leaving his apartment on South Hervey Street in Boise headed for Greg's house. He left in Kim's red mercury cougar, and that was the last time that Van saw his son. Now the following morning, when Van and Mackenzie woke up, Jeremy was nowhere to be found. So just assuming that he maybe had some drinks and possibly spent the night at Greg's house or somebody else's house Van didn't really worry all that much and he and his granddaughter went about their Monday

But as the hours ticked by without word from his son Van began to worry Now according to his friends and family Jeremy did have a little bit of a history of this behavior He would sometimes just kind of take off into the wilderness by himself for a few days, you know, to go hunting or fishing, or just to kind of simply reset or spend time by himself. But the fact that he had left McKenzie with no warning was odd, as his days were pretty much typically revolved around her. Later that day in Vegas, Cam was finishing up work when she received a call from Jeremy. When she answered by saying,

hey babe, the call ended. And strangely, when she called him back, the call went straight to voicemail. And she was just kind of thinking that maybe they had just missed each other, so she waited for him to call her again, because that happens a lot. You know, you call me.

You play phone tag. Yeah, and then while I'm calling you, you're calling me so it's going to voicemail like that that happens all the time. So she's thinking that kind of thing is happening. But he didn't call her again and she wasn't able to reach him. So that was pretty odd. But then the next day, which was Tuesday, February 13th, 2007, she received an alarming text from him that said, we need to talk. She had been in the middle of her work day and she couldn't respond right away, and by the time that she did open her phone to respond to Jeremy later, she had 17 unread messages from him. The text became increasingly more erratic as they went on, including a definitive, good-bye

Kim, good luck with your life, and I'm leaving. He addressed Mackenzie by saying, I'll come get Mackenzie later. He also left Kim a message to pass along to his daughter that said, ask Mackenzie how she got so cute. So basically his family later explained that this was kind of like an inside joke in the family and that he would always ask her how she got so cute. And then Mackenzie would respond that she got it from her dad. But to me, this is such a weird text to get,

like amongst these angry texts, like it doesn't fit at all, which is what I meant by erratic because that's such a silly little text amongst I'm leaving goodbye Kim, you know what I mean? Yeah, and it seems like this is just kind of a weird time as well because he and Kim are trying to rekindle their relationship.

And then all of a sudden he's saying I'm leaving and then says, oh, I'll come get Mackenzie later as if she's kind of a second thought, but his family knows that she's his priority. It's just, it's not making any sense. So shocked at this sudden change of heart, Kim broke down into tears reading the messages, just feeling hurt, confused and concerned

for the well-being of her daughter. Right, because not only did these texts come on so suddenly after a normal conversation the night before, but she was out of state at a work conference and she couldn't address the messages, but then also couldn't reach him by phone when she was able to reply, and he's supposed to be watching their daughter.

So she's like, where is Mackenzie? What is going on? Where are you going? Why are you saying these things? It's all just very confusing for her at this point. Absolutely. Well, as the conversation went on, Kim began to suspect that she was not actually talking to Jeremy.

The tone which was blunt and formal didn't really feel like Jeremy, and the sudden change of heart was pretty unlike him as well, especially because McKenzie was involved. So Kim called him again, really just hoping to talk things over on the phone. But call after call continued to go to voicemail. So finally, one of her calls was picked up, but all Kim remembers hearing was an exacerbated sigh before the line went dead. Which is so weird too. Yeah, creepy.

So finally, Kim texted him, is this even you? Knowing what they had been through already, Jeremy's infidelity, a divorce, and a reconciliation, Kim said that he would never have ended things so abruptly. And he certainly wouldn't have left their daughter that way. So with her suspicions growing, Kim called Van who again is Jeremy's father, who was still watching McKenzie back in Boise, and basically just filled him in on the odd text

messages, which Van agreed were out of character. Especially since remember, Jeremy never made it home and Van had wondered where he was. Kim also contacted Jeremy's cousin David, who recalled a detail from that weekend that was similarly strange. The weekend of Jeremy's disappearance, when he and Mackenzie had been visiting American Falls and staying with Jeremy's mom Cheryl, Jeremy and his cousin David had spent much of the weekend together. And on Saturday, the two went out to a bar bar and amidst the, you know, playing pool and

the drinking, Jeremy asked David if he could leave the bar to have a private moment to chat. Now, David was waiting for his girlfriend to meet him there, so he told Jeremy that they could talk about it later, but instead, Jeremy just left and they never got to have this private conversation. But it seems like Jeremy did try because he called David early the next morning as well, but David had missed the call. And that was the last time that he would hear from Jeremy. According to David, he said, quote, there's just no way he would have left like

that. Days had passed since anyone had actually seen Jeremy, and the only evidence of him leaving of his own volition was this eerie string of messages that he sent to Kim. Calls from family, friends, and Kim continued to go unanswered. So when Kim returned to Boise from her business trip in Vegas, she filed a missing persons report. This report was filed on February 17, 2007, but sadly, because he or someone posing as him said he was leaving on his own accord. The police just didn't seem alarmed. Kim also filed a stolen vehicle report for her car, just hoping that that

may kind of help lead police to Jeremy, because remember, her car is gone too. Although with no word from him after the strange string of texts, there wasn't really much that could be done, but Kim remained convinced that something sinister had happened to him. Even if Jeremy had chosen to disappear, he hadn't taken anything with him, and he didn't even explain the situation to his family, he just vanished. Except for what he was wearing when he left that Sunday evening, he hadn't seemed to bring any clothing, shoes, or a coat. Remember, it's winter time. He didn't even bring any fishing supplies or outdoor equipment

to suggest that he was taking a personal trip. Like Heath said that sometimes maybe he would go off into the wilderness for a few days, but... Yeah, but you would imagine he would have brought at least some of his hunting or fishing stuff. Yeah, he needs some gear and he didn't bring any of it with him, so that's, that's odd. So with that information, police started to suspect that there may be something nefarious going on after all, so they conducted a few interviews.

Detectives slowly talk to his friends and family one by one, building out a profile of who Jeremy was to determine whether he would do something like this or not. While a few people admitted he was bad with money and had some debts to settle, unanimously they agreed. This scenario was wholly unlikely for him, and he would not have left his daughter. So Jeremy had disappeared and nobody knew where he had gone. So Kim went to the police again to show them the text messages that she had received and implored them to investigate his disappearance as foul play, vehemently denying that Jeremy sent them.

When detectives asked who may have had reason to wish ill of Jeremy, multiple people gave the name Jeannie Braun, a name which police were already familiar with, given that she had a criminal past of her own. Back in 2002, Jeannie forged the signature of a judge in a child custody case that she was working on. Now Jeannie was caught for this, and the following year she was charged with forgery, as well as destruction of evidence and intimidation of a witness. According to Kim, it was during Jeannie's legal troubles that Jeremy had come to his

senses about the affair and come back to Kim to make amends. Complicating things further was the fact that Jeremy had actually worked to help Jeanne be convicted of her crimes. Jeremy apparently told Kim that he wanted to aid in the investigation and he began recording their private meetings in order to build a case against Jeanne. As far as we can tell, he did this on his own and he was not prompted by police in any way. Cheryl even remembers a restraining order being placed against Genie at this time, saying quote, a restraining order was issued against her, but she ignored

it. She tried to bribe Jeremy not to testify. He recorded all of it. Remember these details. Yes. So on May 19th 2005, Genie pled guilty to forgery and the other charges against her were dropped. But the damage was done. She was disbarred in the state of Idaho and she served a year in prison. When she was released, she called Jeremy, apparently to tell him that she wanted to get back together. But while the pole to Jeannie was strong, he was trying to repair his relationship with Kim and rebuild their family. So it's unclear whether they rekindled their romance at this point or not, but that's probably only known to Jeremy and Jeannie. But according to Kim, it was after her release from prison that he asked Jeannie once and for all to stay away from him.

And just kind of as a recap, it was towards the tail end of Jeannie's prison sentence and just after she was released that Kim and Jeremy rekindled their relationship and Kim moved in with Jeremy because she moved in in June of 2006 and that would have been like weeks after and then he ended up in jail. And then he ended up in jail. And then he ended up in jail. And then he ended up in jail. And then he ended up in jail.

And then he ended up in jail. And then he ended up in jail. And then he ended up in jail. And then he ended up in jail. And then he ended up in jail. And then he ended up in jail. And then he ended up in jail. And then he ended up in jail. And then he ended up in jail. missing. So, then again, this is Jeremy's dad. Remember that this did little to keep Jeanie away.

And that before Jeremy disappeared, she showed up unannounced at Kim and Jeremy's apartment where Jeremy had asked her to leave. And Kim wasn't home at that time, but Jeremy was very honest with her about her having been there and confirmed that he declined to talk to her and told her to stay away, and the two did report the interaction to Genie's parole officer. Jeremy was missing one month when Mackenzie's fourth birthday came around. Hearing nothing from him seemed to confirm what came and Jeremy's family already suspected that he was in some kind of trouble.

Then, on Friday, May 18, 2007, a shocking discovery changed the case forever. In rural O'Yayy County, Idaho, which is about two hours outside of Boise, two ranchers riding on horseback found the charred remains of a car. Burned beyond recognition, there was so much damage done that it was really hard for investigators to glean any identifying information from the vehicle at all.

With most parts either scorched or melted and the license plates also, by the way, had been removed. So that's obviously a very suspicious detail. Yeah, someone's like, definitely very much trying to cover up who this car belongs to. But a more careful scan of the car revealed an intact vehicle identification number,

aka the VIN, which was confirmed to be Kim's. As we know, Jeremy went missing with Kim's car and here it is scorched the license plates are removed and I mean luckily the VIN was Was able to be lifted but otherwise they wouldn't have known whose car this was right and it's out in the deserts and It's too far away right and it appears that somebody tried to hide it. Yeah, this is like so sus And it, two hours away. Right, and it appears that somebody tried to hide it. Yeah, this is like so sus. So Cheryl, again, Jeremy's mother, remembers, quote,

there were cowboys out there riding the range, checking on the cows and found his car, because the car was well hidden. Whoever drove that car into where he was parked and burned damaged the car, getting it there. I would never wish this pain on anyone. Police seemed sure that the car had been burned deliberately, obviously, and had been torched to cover any DNA or evidence.

You know, so their fingerprints couldn't be found or anything that could link to them planting the car there. And of course, Jeremy or Jeremy's body had not been found in the vehicle either. And Jeremy's sister actually agreed with investigator sentiment here, noting that this confirmed to the family what they had suspected all along that Jeremy did not leave on his own volition.

Katrina said, quote, I automatically started freaking out. There's something wrong here. This isn't just somebody who's just run away, because there's no way that he would have left that little girl. The ashes left behind were sifted through, and please hope that they could obtain even one piece of evidence that would direct them toward what happened or toward a guilty party.

The car was forensically examined, and a search of the area in which it was dumped was performed tediously by investigators, on foot, on horseback, and via ATV. With the car in ruins, there seemed to be a higher probability of foul play, and thus, police began investigating it as a disappearance. Looking more closely at Jeremy's activity on the day that he disappeared, they observed that his bank account had not been touched since that Sunday on which he was last seen, which again was February 11. There were two transactions that evening, one near his home in Bo Boise and one at a gas station in Mountain

Home Idaho. Notably, Mountain Home is a 45 minute drive southeast from Boise, but the transactions were made about 90 minutes apart, meaning that he must have stopped somewhere on the way, possibly meeting up with someone or engaging in another activity, if this was in fact him even using this debit card at all. Investigators also obtained his phone records, and as we said earlier in the middle of the night, Jeremy had placed a call to his friend Greg Reno, the guy he was supposed to meet

up with that evening. By then, it was late and Greg had gone to bed and didn't answer, and then the next morning when Greg called Jeremy back bed and didn't answer. And then the next morning when Greg called Jeremy back, he didn't answer. And that was the last time that Jeremy himself was believed to have reached out, but his phone activity continued until the 17th of February. So six days after he was last seen.

And during this time, 36 outgoing calls were made on Jeremy's cell phone. Most of them were to his own voicemail and the rest were under one minute long, such as the call to Kim where Jeremy, or whoever was impersonating him, hung up after Kim answered the phone and said, hey babe, there was only one call with the length of an

actual conversation. And it was a call to a pay phone in Mountain Home Idaho on February 13th, which lasted about seven minutes. So this is two days after he disappears and there's this somewhat longer phone call. I mean, but to a pay phone. Exactly. No, that's pretty weird. And that's in the same town where he had allegedly or at least his ATM card was, or his card was used at an ATM.

Sorry. It almost seems like if somebody had abducted him and killed him, that they would have made this call to a pay phone saying like, hey, the job is done or something like that. Like it almost feels like some sort of hit. Yeah, something is up. And another dead end came around the time

when there was no security camera footage from either the gas station where Jeremy's last transaction was made, nor the payphone booth that his call was made to, which is so frustrating. Like, if one of those or both of those caught on surveillance footage could have helped so much. Yeah, I mean, who would have showed up on this footage? So getting back to the investigation here, police have polygraphed multiple people in the course of the investigation, including Jeannie Braun, who was tested as many as three times.

Now, obviously we know that those are a flawed method of conviction, but they can absolutely aid in an investigation when police think that they have their perpetrator. However, police have declined to divulge those results. So we don't know how these polygraph tests of Genie's Wands or how the interviews went. All we really know is that Genie asserted her innocence, saying that she had nothing to do with Jeremy and the days leading up to his disappearance. But Van says otherwise, that she continued to obsess over him, something that was well known to his family and Kim. According to locals and those who knew and worked with Jeannie, she has a bit of a reputation

for her erratic behavior and inappropriate relationships with married men. One post on a local Boise True Crime Forum called her quote, Black Widow. And another wrote, Jeannie Braun had multiple affairs with married men, including myself. Seems to me all she wanted was money. She definitely got some from me. It appears as though Jeannie has been married multiple times since 2007, when Jeremy disappeared, as she has changed her last name three times.

After getting disbard and having to leave her law practice, she relocated to Southwestern Utah, and her probation ended in 2013. After this, she married another lawyer, but they divorced after a few years and it's reported that he has since passed away from COVID. Well, before you continue, let's stop and talk about that for a second

of why they split up and what happened. Well, Jeannie had met Michael Dean Hughes in December of 2009 on a sugar daddy website because he was around 20 to 30 or more years older than her and was a successful lawyer who's actually known as a prominent St. George attorney. And basically what happened is in June of 2015. So over eight years after Jeremy disappeared by this time, you know, Jeannie is now Jeannie Hughes. She's married to Mike, and they're living in St. George Utah together. And in a quote, middle of the night incident, again in June of 2015, Michael shot at Jeannie

and eventually pleaded guilty to this charge, being sentenced to four weeks in a correctional facility, because the judge considered the fact that he did not have a prior criminal record, they considered his age, which he was 69 at the time, and his illness. And Michael acknowledged that he shot at Genie, and blamed it on suffering from paranoia that was an adverse reaction to the combination of sleeping pills and anxiety medication that he had been prescribed. And it's interesting, Heath and I were able to figure out that this happened to Jeannie, even though in all the articles that discussed this online her name is never

used. But they do mention the fact that she was disbarred in Boise, Idaho and the other charges against her So we were able to piece together that this is him and this is her and I also want to read an interesting quote From this article on the spectrum regarding the fact that Michael had shot at Jeannie It just says quote his wife said quote We always had this unwritten rule between us that our problems stay with us. We don't get outside law enforcement involved.

We'll take care of it in the house. So when he went to the police, I was kind of surprised. This is really weird to me because that's her basically saying that he shot at her, he didn't shoot her, he shot at her he didn't shoot her he shot at her and he's the one who called the police and she was surprised that he called the police when she was the one that was being shot at it's just interesting to me that it seems like she's not interested in having law enforcement involved with anything even something as serious as that. Right, yeah, it almost appears that she does not want any sort of police or investigators or detectives or FBI anywhere near her whatsoever.

Which is really kind of fishy to me. Yeah, I definitely agree. So again, Michael did pass away from COVID in 2021 and now Genie Hughes works as a nutrition coach and she's even penned a book about the subject, which you can find under the title, The Faithful Palette Diet Book. And she also owns a lawn care and gardening company in Utah. She likes to make a lot of videos on nutrition online, and I just want to say, you know, obviously remember she has not been convicted of anything pertaining to Jeremy's disappearance. Obviously, it's heavily believed by his family and others that she's involved, but there is no actual evidence to confirm this theory.

That's why we have to say the word allegedly, but again, you know, I am a person that believes she may be the culprit behind this. I agree as well. I think there's a lot of really strange things stacking up against her just across the board. And it just feels really weird to watch her living a normal life, you know, while Jeremy's family is looking for answers, you know, because I just go back to the fact that Jeremy had apparently recorded their conversations and was trying to work against her in the case that got her disbard. Exactly.

So was this a motivation, like some sort of retaliation? I would say that mixed with the fact that she was seemingly obsessed with Jeremy and she didn't seem to be very happy that he didn't want anything to do with her and that he wanted to get back with Kim instead and live his life with Kim and his daughter. Like to me, those are the reasons that I believe in her involvement personally. But then I also want to read you guys something else about another case that people kind of connect her to.

Yeah, it seems like it gets even deeper. So, in December of 2004, just two years before Jeremy's disappearance, a 35-year-old boy-seed father stopped at a McDonald's to pick up dinner and seemed to vanish into the night. Aaron Bernard had a young son who was in the child's mother's care at the time. And Aaron was supposed to see his son the next day, but he never showed up to retrieve him. So just like in Jeremy's case, Aaron's family say he never would have left his child that way.

Aaron's car was still parked in the driveway, and his dog and cat had been left inside with no one caring for them. He has not been seen or heard from since, and foul play is very much suspected in his case. Here's where it could potentially connect to Jeannie. Another local divorce lawyer named Constance Norris had dated Aaron, and they had even invested in a business together, although Constance later lied about knowing Aaron at all.

She has never been arrested in connection with Aaron's case, but she was interviewed and denied involvement. So similarities were drawn when it was discovered that Constance Norris and Jeannie Braun, again now Genie Hughes, were good friends. So some have come to the conclusion that Constance and Genie were like friends, divorce lawyers, and co-conspirators, and that they possibly killed their former lovers and helped each other

cover it up. But that's all speculation. Yeah, and I did read online that, or somebody mentioned that Jeannie and Constance had taken Aaron and Jeremy to an acquaintance's wedding and that they were both there together. So it's just kind of weird that there may possibly be a connection there. It's just really weird.

Yeah, it's very strange. So after Jeremy's disappearance, his ex-wife Kim George married a man named Jeff Shaw, and she had another daughter. But sadly, in 2016, nine years after Jeremy's disappearance, Kim took her own life in her home in Idaho, leaving behind her new husband and two daughters. Kim's second husband, Jeff, continued to raise them both after she passed away, but Mackenzie was now left without either of her birth parents at the age of 13.

Jeremy's mom Cheryl wrote on Kim's obituary page, quote, "'Kim, I love you and will miss you. Be it peace and thank you for giving me such a wonderful granddaughter.'" Be it peace and thank you for giving me such a wonderful granddaughter. Last year, 15 years after Jeremy's disappearance, the family held a vigil to mark the passage of so much time without answers. Cheryl said, quote, thank you for all the love and support that has been given to us during these long 15 years and for the continued love and support in the future. We will remember Jeremy every day and we will never give up.

The family released lanterns to honor his memory and Cheryl remarked sadly, quote, I sleep with a picture of him under my pillow and I have for 15 years. In August of 2018, a hearing was held to rule on a declaratory judgment to file for a death certificate for Jeremy Burke. Police have now officially confirmed they do believe that he was murdered, though they

have no official suspects. It just couldn't feel any more obvious. So Jeremy Burke would now be 49 years old. At the time of his disappearance, he was 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighed 197 pounds. He was said to have been wearing a dark colored turtleneck and Levi brand jeans. He had brown hair and hazel eyes and had facial hair in a goatee at the time of his disappearance. And he also had a scar on the left side of his chest, as well as one on his knee, and we posted photos of him on our socials if anybody wants to see,

or please share his photos, his missing poster, all that kind of stuff. If you have any information about the whereabouts of Jeremy Burt, please call Crime Stoppers at 208-343-Cops, or leave a tip at 343-Cops.com. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode and on Tuesday we'll have an all new case for you guys to dive into. This is one of those many cases that we cover that is in desperate need of attention. Please, if you guys wouldn't mind, share his picture, share this episode, tell somebody about this. Like, this family needs answers. I think we all kind of have an idea

of who could be behind it, but whoever did it is walking free right now. And Jeremy deserves to be found. His body deserves to be found. Answers deserve to come to his case regarding exactly what happened to him. So please share you of no idea how much it could help. Yeah, you know, this case is so interesting because we've covered a lot of disappearance cases that have less information than this case. The fact that there was, you know, cell phone data and bank account statements and a burned up car and all sorts of things like this just lead me to believe that this case could be solved someday.

Absolutely. You know, and again, as Daphne said, please make sure that you share it's so important. The only way that it's going to get solved is if more people learn about it so that somebody comes forward with something that they know that can help break this case in half. So thank you guys so much in advance. Thank you also for listening to Jeremy's story and we'll see you in a few days. Also, if you guys do want to make sure that you go subscribe over on Apple Podcasts. Again, the subscriptions are only bonus content.

We will still be doing our regular weekly episodes of two episodes a week. So if you want to go over to Apple Podcasts and subscribe. Or if you're not an Apple user and you still want bonus episodes, like we've been doing for almost four years, we have over 80 episodes on Patreon, that's patreon.com slash going west podcast. So check that out otherwise.

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