Kylie Lowe (0:01)

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Amanda Knox (0:51)

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Kylie Lowe (1:31)

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Kylie Lowe (2:31)

Hi Dark Down Easters. It's Kylie. This week is an off week for the show, but I didn't want to leave your feed empty, especially when there are so many unsolved cases that need attention. The most recent episode of Dark down east covered a well known missing persons case out of Vermont that of Breanna Maitland. There's another unsolved missing persons case out of Vermont that I want you to know about too. It's a story I covered back in 2023. Ralph Jean Marie, or Riz as he liked to be called, disappeared from Barry, Vermont in April of 2020. As the five year mark approaches, there are still no clear answers as to what happened after he supposedly walked out of a motel room, never to return. Riz is a black man, 5ft 10 inches tall, about 140 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. He was last seen wearing gray pajama pants, a gray Carhartt jacket, Adidas shoes and a hat with the word King on it. If you have information about the disappearance of Ralph Jean Marie in Barry, Vermont on April 13, 2020, please contact Barry Police at 802-476-6613. When 38 year old Ralph Riz Jean Marie was reported missing from a motel where he was living in Barrie, Vermont, the story was that he up and left after an argument, leaving behind his personal belongings and everything you'd think someone might take with them if they were going to start a new life for themselves somewhere or even just taking off to get some space for a few days. But from day one of the investigation, law enforcement had reason to believe the initial narrative of Ralph's disappearance wasn't anchored in the whole truth. Ralph didn't just walk off, never to be seen again. Someone or multiple someones had a hand in his disappearance, but getting answers as to what really happened proved a challenge for local authorities. Family members and activists alike have been critical of law enforcement's response to Ralph's disaster disappearance and they continue to speak out today about the lack of progress in the three year long investigation. This case has layers from a secret inquest to demonstrations and protests, from local activists to the prosecution of a journalist. It all stems from the biggest and most important question at the center of the case. Where is Ralph Jean Marie? I'm Kylie Lowe and this is Dark Down East. On the night of April 15, 2020, around 9pm Barre City Police in Barrie, Vermont received a report of a missing person. According to reporting by Alan J. Keys for the Valley news, friends of 38 year old Ralph Jean Marie, who also went by the name Riz, reported him missing that Wednesday, though no one had actually seen Riz since the early morning hours of Monday, April 13th. Around 1:00am on April 13th, 2020, Ralph Jean Marie allegedly walked out of the room where he'd been living at the Hollow Inn on South Main street in Barry, Vermont. He'd supposedly gotten into some sort of dispute with his significant other and just left. Ralph took nothing with him when he walked away. All of his essential medications, his glasses, his wallet and his ID were left behind in the room. He was wearing only pajama pants, a jacket, a hat with the word King on it and sneakers. According to a redacted Investigative timeline for Case 20 BA 003033 shared by the Berry City Police Department on their official Facebook page, law enforcement took action and began searching for Ralph Jean Marie the same day he was reported missing. Their initial search entailed the immediate area near the motel and area hospitals. The timeline notes that on April 17, 2020, the Vermont Intelligence center released a missing person flyer for Roth Jean Marie. It would have been the first media alert of his disappearance. Over the next several days, both local and state officials conducted follow up interviews and searched the woods near the motel with a K9 unit, as well as the Riverbank and Falls area and Rotary Park. Interviews with persons of interest were ongoing. And on April 21, the timeline notes that detectives took steps to preserve potential evidence. Detectives continued searching quarries in the area. They checked an abandoned house as well as a sand pit. They followed up on reported sightings of Ralph. But in the words of the timeline, all are a dead end. The investigative activities over the next two months between April 30 and the end of June 2020 were more of the same, searching wooded areas and waterways, talking to witnesses and re interviewing persons of interest and securing evidence. Two months after his reported disappearance, the media finally picked up the story, but they had nothing to report. There had been no sign of Ralph. The reported sightings didn't pan out. He hadn't contacted any of his family members in Vermont or New York or Massachusetts, and the fact that he left behind essential medications and other personal belongings didn't bode well. Berry Police Chief Tim Bombardier evaluated the possibilities of what happened to Ralph, telling the Rutland Daily Herald, quote, I've seen people just walk out the door and disappear for long periods of time. I've seen people walk out the door as a result of someone else doing them harm and it taking long periods of time to find that out. And then we've seen people who just don't want to be found. And I don't know what the case is here. I mean right now on face value, I believe somebody has harmed him. End quote. According to an Associated Press report in the Burlington Free Press, by late summer of 2020, the investigation so far led Barrie police to believe that one or more people were responsible for Ralph's disappearance and that people not directly involved knew exactly what happened to him. Although the interviews were ongoing, investigators needed to shake out more details and they hoped that a financial benefit would do the trick. In August of 2020, Berry Police announced a $5,000 reward for information about Ralph Jean Marie's disappearance. A month later, investigators elevated the stakes even further by implementing an uncommon and covert investigative approach. In September of 2020, after nearly five months with no sign of Ralph Jean Marie, the State's attorney of Washington county decided to use a rare and secretive investigative tool to drum up new information in the case. According to Valley News writer Alan J. Keys, State's Attorney Rory Tybalt initiated an inquest. In an inquest, witnesses are compelled to provide testimony or evidence under oath before a judge. The benefit of this procedure is that instead of police approaching someone on the street or bringing them into the station for an interview where the witness can refuse to speak to law enforcement, a witness is compelled to testify by a judge if subpoenaed for an inquest and there are penalties for refusing to testify. However, a witness can invoke their fifth amendment right against self incrimination. Anything gathered during an inquest is kept confidential until the investigation concludes. Because of the secretive nature of the inquest, Tybalt was tight lipped about what sort of information investigators were seeking. But he did reveal, I believe there are witnesses who know more than what they have revealed to investigators, end quote. The investigation was active in the five months since Ralph was reported missing. Police had collected physical evidence, executed search warrants and looked in areas where people thought Ralph's body might be found. Chief Bombardier told wcax, quote, we have dive teams, drones, canine teams, people on foot, end quote. But no matter the ongoing efforts to find Ralph In September of 2020, one of the biggest issues that plagued the investigation from the very beginning was the nearly three day delay between the day Ralph actually disappeared and when his disappearance was reported. Quote, 68 hours is a lot of time to take care of getting rid of things, etc. Cleaning things up, end quote. The five thousand dollar reward was still out there waiting for someone to find the courage and share what they knew with police. Meanwhile, Ralph Jean Marie's family was growing more and more frustrated with the lack of progress. They began to take matters into their own hands and speak up a little louder about their frustrations in public. With that, a clearer picture of Ralph's life at the time of his disappearance and the people in it started to come together is your child struggling with a specific subject or need help with homework. IXL Learning is an online learning program for kids. It covers math, language arts, science and social studies. If your child is struggling, this is the smartest investment you can make. A single hour of tutoring costs more than a month of IXL. IXL is used in 96 of the top 100 school districts in the U.S. watching my daughter learn new things is the best part of the toddler age and no doubt that will continue as she grows up. I want to give her the tools she needs to feel confident in school. And an online program like IXL Learning is not only more affordable than traditional tutoring and more accessible, it's effective. Studies have found that IXL schools score as much as 15 percentile points higher in math and 17 percentile points higher in language arts on state assessments. Make an impact on your child's learning. Get IXL now and Dark Downy's listeners can get an exclusive 20% off IXL membership when they sign up today at ixl.com downeast Visit ixl.com downeast to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price. In October of 2020, Ben Burke reported for the Brockton Enterprise that Ralph's cousin Fabiola Williams, along with another family member had visited Berry from their home in Brockton, Massachusetts to speak with friends and people who knew Ralph themselves, including a woman they identified as Ralph's girlfriend, Bridget Huckins. Fabiola was transparent with the reporter, saying that Ralph's relationship with Bridget Huckins was troubled. The pair had met in Brockton, where Ralph lived at times throughout his life since he was a child. Ralph and Bridget had kids together, but Fabiola shared that they'd lost custody of the children. Bridget Huckins appears to have a long history with police. Court documents obtained by the Brockton Enterprise showed that in 2014, Bridget was convicted of assaulting Ralph and stabbing an acquaintance and their dog when the acquaintance tried to step in and stop the assault against Ralph. As the investigation into Ralph's disappearance trudged forward, Bridget's history with police got even longer. In August of 2020, Bridget Huckins and a man named Thomas Partlow were arrested and charged in connection to a fatal drug overdose in Orange, Vermont. According to Eric Ramsdell's reporting for the Rutland Daily Herald, the grandmother of 29 year old Jeffrey Cameron found Jeffrey unresponsive on the morning of June 5, 2020. She called 911 and suggested to first responders that he'd overdosed as he was Known to use heroin. He was pronounced dead, the apparent victim of an overdose due to heroin containing fentanyl. The investigation into the man's death spanned several months. When Vermont state police searched Jeffrey's cell phone, they found text messages between Jeffrey and a contact who identified themselves as Bridget Rose. They messaged back and forth about acquiring heroin, and Bridget Rose told Jeffrey to go to Smith street in Barrie, where she lived. State police executed a search warrant at the Smith street home and took the sister of Thomas Partlow into custody. She disclosed to police that the heroin which caused Jeffrey Cameron's overdose came from her brother. But either Thomas or Bridget might have been the one to actually sell it or provide it to Jeffrey. When state police located Bridget Huckins, she told them that Thomas Partlow had driven her to Williamstown, Vermont, to pick up the heroin, and she herself was given two free doses for arranging a sale to Jeffrey Cameron. Bridget Huckins and Thomas Partlow were arrested on charges of selling or dispensing a regulated drug, with death resulting. Bridget pleaded not guilty to the charges. A conviction would mean a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. She was held at the correctional facility in south Burlington on $15,000 bail. When asked about Ralph's girlfriend in connection to his case, Barry police wouldn't confirm or deny any details. In all of the source material I've found up until this point, investigators themselves don't mention Bridget Huckins by name, and they don't really get more specific beyond the term significant other. It would be about a year and a half before Bridget Huckins faced criminal court on the charges against her. She remained on pretrial detention, Though, perhaps due to the coronavirus pandemic permeating the northeast in late 2020, she was eventually transferred to home confinement as she awaited trial that year and a half. In addition to COVID 19 impacting every aspect of life across the globe, it was also a time of civil unrest. People across the country were taking action for racial justice, triggered by the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, as activists took to the streets in protest of systemic racism and police violence. Activists in Vermont were also taking action in support of Ralph Jean Marie. In April of 2021, after nearly a year had passed with no sign of Ralph Jean Marie, a group of activists and documentary filmmakers decided to make it their mission to bring more attention to Ralph's story. They didn't know Ralph personally, but they knew that stories like Ralph's were far too common. A black man disappears under suspicious circumstances, and he doesn't receive the media attention that someone else, a white woman for example, might receive. This was still months before the case of Gabby Petito raised even more criticism of how missing persons cases are covered depending on race and gender. Tiana Langevin and Anthony Marquez were among the original group working on a four part documentary covering Ralph's story titled Silent City. Teanna and Anthony spoke with WCAX reporter Ike Bendavid ahead of the approaching one year anniversary of Ralph's disappearance. Tiana said that the goal of the project was to raise awareness and seek justice. The further we can get this story to reach, the more eyes and ears we can get on it. I don't know the man. I know the man as a statistic, but I don't know him as a human. So through this documentary we want to show him as a human and not just another statistic. Meanwhile, other activists planned a demonstration at Burlington's Battery park around the one year anniversary. Among the organizers of the demonstration was Lee Morrigan, who told Ellie French of Vermont Digger that they and other activists spoke with hundreds of people in Barrie, asking around at gas stations and restaurants and other public places. If anyone had heard of Ralph, Jean Marie Lee hadn't encountered a single person who knew his name or his story. Lee suggested that since Barry didn't experience many homicides or missing persons cases, maybe the local authorities were ill equipped to handle the investigation. It was a sentiment shared by many of the activists supporting his case, as well as Ralph's family members. But Barry police and the State's Attorney's office actively worked to prove this criticism wrong. Chief Bombardier told Eric Blaisdell for the Times Argus that police had searched close to 30 different locations at that point and conducted over 56 interviews as part of the year long investigation. Police had previously announced a $5,000 reward for information, but Chief Bombardier said he was collaborating with other agencies to see if that number could increase as further incentive for those keeping secrets to finally speak up. Though Barrie police continued to assure the public that Ralph's case was getting the investigative effort it needed, friends and activists were increasingly critical of the Barry Police Department's response and didn't think police were doing enough to find him. According to the Times, Argus activists demanded that Chief Bombardier bring in the FBI to assist in the investigation. Chief Bombardier stated that he had been in contact with the FBI and the FBI would step in when needed, and other federal, state and local agencies were also actively assisting the case. As State's Attorney Rory Tybalt told the Rutland Daily Herald, they weren't any closer to solving the case in April of 2021 than they were on day one. But it wasn't because the investigation was lacking resources. Quote, it's easy to say that it's indicative of a lack of effort or a lack of resolve on the part of law enforcement to find answers. From my perspective as the state's attorney, I think nothing could be further from the truth. No single case has had more resources devoted to it by Barry City than the disappearance of Mr. Jean Marie. End quote. Tybalt believed that the challenges lay in the fact that Ralph was reported missing 60 hours after he actually disappeared. There wasn't a crime scene to survey. There was no body, no evidence that a weapon was used to harm him. And as reported by Eric Blaisdell, police had no suspect that had a motive to do Ralph any harm. On the one year anniversary of Ralph Jean Marie's disappearance, Barry police held a press conference at the Hollow Inn in Barrie to reignite attention on the case. Activists were among members of the media as Chief Bombardier spoke about the ongoing efforts to find Ralph. Activist Lee Morrigan was in the crowd and they confronted the chief about the department's investigation. Lee said they had two sources that said there was security footage of the night of Ralph's disappearance from the motel. Lee wanted the chief to confirm the footage existed. According to a statement from Lee Morgan shared on the Black Perspective Facebook page following the interaction at the press conference, Chief Bombardier would not confirm or deny that police had security footage from the Hollow Inn or any other nearby business. We talked in circles and that was about it, end quote. A week later, Chief Bombardier spoke with Colin Flanders for seven days Vermont saying, if we had any information, video, photo or a hard piece of evidence that releasing to the public would bring closure to this case, we would have already released it. In that same seven Days Vermont piece, Flanders reported that he knocked on the doors of homes near the Hallow Inn and asked residents if they'd ever been interviewed by police about the night over a year prior when Ralph Jean Marie disappeared. None of the people that Flanders spoke with that day reported ever speaking to detectives about the case. No one had come knocking over that past year. When asked why Barry police didn't interview any neighbors, Chief Bombardier told the reporter, quote, that had not been brought to my attention until today, end quote. Later, clearly frustrated with Flanders questions regarding the investigative efforts and perceived oversights, Bombardier said, quote, I'm not going to second guess where they put their priorities. We could play what ifs all day, adding, it's great that you have. I Guess exposed a flaw in the investigation, end quote. Activist Lee Morgan was infuriated by this information. Lee told the 7 Days Vermont reporter, quote, that's why I don't trust them to handle this case. They can't even do the bare f cking minimum, end quote. Within hours of that quote being published in the Seven Days Vermont article, Lee says two Barre City detectives were on their doorstep. According to Lee Morgan's statement on the Black Perspective Facebook page, the two Barry police detectives standing on their doorstep wanted to know who told Lee about surveillance video from the Hollow Inn Motel. They implored Lee to reveal their source, but Lee refused. Lee said they would only speak in an official capacity on the record. So the following Monday, Lee Morrigan received a subpoena. They were called into a Washington county courtroom as part of the ongoing inquest for Ralph's case. Lee says in their statement that the judge compelled them to disclose the source, but Lee repeatedly refused. They told the judge and State's Attorney Tybalt that they had personally never seen the footage, but they knew police had it. And so why were authorities so adamant about knowing Lee's sources? According to reporting by Eric Blaisdell for the Times Argus, Tybalt said that investigators wanted to know if there were other sources of information out there that police weren't aware of. After meeting with a public defender, Lee returned to the courtroom and again refused to share their source. Finally, after repeated refusals, the judge charged Lee Morrigan with contempt. According to reporting by Grace Elliston for Vermont Digger, Washington County State's Attorney Rory Tybalt was seeking one to two days in jail and a $500 fine for the contempt charge. It wasn't about Lee revealing the source anymore. This was about showing others what happens when you violate a court process order. Tybalt is quoted in Vermont Digger saying, there are others that we are actively subpoenaing under subpoena or intended to be subpoenaed in this process. And the state believes it would have a chilling effect on the appearance or candor of these individuals to watch, as there's no repercussion for refusal to cooperate, end quote. Lee said they didn't want to reveal their sources and fear of retaliation by Barrie police against that source. When asked why they were so adamant about police disclosing the existence of the surveillance video, Lee said, quote, the whole point of this is questioning what is so dangerous about this video, end quote. The video, if it existed, if it contained relevant information, and if it was released, could potentially be detrimental to uncovering the truth about what happened to Ralph Jean Marie and who might be responsible. State's Attorney Rory Tybalt said that making any such evidence or info public would jeopardize the ongoing work of investigators. If they let the public in on everything they were learning any evidence they might have, it could harm the case and future prosecution if a suspect was ever brought to trial. The contempt charge against Lee Morgan threatened to become a distraction from the most important issue at hand. Ralph Jean Marie was still missing. As Lee awaited their day in court, the investigation of Ralph's disappearance continued. 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Go to quince.com downeast for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com downeast to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com downeast In June of 2021, investigators again returned to the water in the greater Barrie area with submersible drones. Tips continued to direct police to quarries and waterways in search of evidence or possibly Ralph Jean Marie's body. Berry police worked in collaboration with a Minnesota company called Crossman Consulting who provided the underwater drones for the search. According to reporting in the Rutland Daily Herald by Eric Blaisdell, the documentary crew that had taken up Ralph's story had actually found Crossman Consulting and brought their services to police to further the search effort. The film crew, headed by Anthony Marquez, was becoming part of the ongoing investigation. The group of activists and documentarians that was once critical of how Barry Police were handling the case was now working in collaboration with detectives, and had created at least two videos for Berry police as of July 2021. The first video featured detectives explaining parts of the ongoing investigation, and the second, according to the Rutland Daily Herald, covered details of the underwater search. The Barrie police linked these videos in their official news releases, though when I follow those links today, I land on a YouTube page that says video unavailable. This video is private. TV news coverage in 2021, however, appears to use clips from the videos when talking about the underwater search. The search of quarries in Graniteville, Vermont spanned five days between June 20th and 25th, 2021. Despite the time, effort and finances expended on the underwater searches, Chief Bombardier shared with ABC Local 22 news that the searches had not uncovered anything of evidentiary value. The search was not altogether pointless, though. Ruling out the quarries as a possible location of evidence or of Ralph's body further narrowed the investigation and served to dispel the rumors that continued to circulate. Rumors that, according to Eric Blaisdell's reporting, police were beginning to suspect were intentionally crafted as misdirection from the truth. State's Attorney Rory Tibble told Seven Days Vermont that his office was aware of videos and photos sent to Barre City Police claiming to show Ralph being killed. The evidence was not credible. Actually, Seven Days Vermont reports that one of the videos was a scene from a movie, and the quarry theory, Chief Bombardier said, was a common one when someone disappears in central Vermont. Whether those theories and rumors were based on credible information remains to be seen. With that, Barre City Police had no intention of returning to the quarries for more searches with the underwater drones until or unless the department received specific credible information regarding a search location. The expense was just too great to be out conducting random searches. While investigators chased down rumors and activists continue to hold the Berry City Police Department accountable for their efforts in Ralph Jean Marie's case, activist Lee Morrigan's attorney worked to get the contempt charges against Lee thrown out. Eric Blaisdell reported in July of 2021 for the Times Argus that Lee Morgan's attorney, Avi Springer, filed paperwork to have the contempt charges dismissed under Vermont's Shield Law. The shield law protects journalists from having to disclose their sources in court. Since Lee Morgan was working with the documentary crew covering Ralph Jean Marie's story at the time they appeared in court as part of the inquest, Lee could be considered a journalist protected by this law. Interestingly, according to court documents, Lee Morrigan explained that they were no longer working with the documentary team and that they had a falling out with one of the primary people on that team, Anthony Marquez, in April of 2021. That falling out was around the same time Lee was charged with contempt. However, court documents show that Lee Morgan had evidence they were at one point actively involved in the production of the documentary and operating in the role of a journalist. Ten exhibits submitted as evidence in the case contained text messages between Lee and subjects of the documentary, as well as between Lee and Anthony Marquez, who was identified in court documents as the documentary's producer. Exhibit 10 included text messages between Anthony Marquez and Lee Morrigan as recent as April 7, 2021. In Judge Mary L. Morrissey's decision, she writes, based on the existing record, the court concludes that the information sought by the state, specifically relating to the alleged existence of a video taken at the scene of Mr. Jean Marie's disappearance, was received by defendant while they were engaged in journalism. The State is barred from compelling disclosure of this information from defendant and contempt proceedings cannot be grounded on the failure of defendant to disclose otherwise privileged information. Accordingly, the contempt proceeding filed against defendant must be dismissed. Following the dismissed charge, Lee told the Times Argus quote, law enforcement does not get to act with impunity. I feel like this has really strengthened my resolve in that, strengthened my conviction to stand up for what I believe in and to call out inappropriate and insufficient behavior by law enforcement. This whole thing grew out of accusations that police had security footage from the Hallowinn Motel where Ralph Jean Marie was reportedly last seen alive and they were unwilling or unable to release it to the public after this several months long diversion in Court Barre City police still would not confirm or deny that any such evidence exists. In February of 2022, another conclusion to lingering charges finally came when Bridget Huckins was convicted on a felony count of selling a regulated drug with death resulting. Eric Blaisdell reported that huckins received a 30 month sentence but received credit for time served following a year and four months of home confinement while she awaited charges. She was also placed on 10 years probation. The mother of Jeffrey Cameron, the man who died as a result of the fentanyl laced heroin he purchased from Bridget Huckins, spoke at the sentencing hearing. She told Bridget of the pain that she felt as a mother, knowing that she'll never get to wish her son a happy birthday or tell him how much she loved being his mom. She also hoped that Bridget would take this as a wake up call and an opportunity to turn her life around. Bridget was also given an opportunity to give a statement. In the statement, she accepted responsibility for her actions saying I understand that nothing I can say will bring him back. I never meant for him to get hurt or die. I, in fact, was trying to do what I thought was right and make him feel better. I myself know as a recovering addict what the excruciating pain of detoxing off opiates feels like. I honestly and truly wish I could trade places with him. End quote. I want to say, for the avoidance of doubt, that at this point in the investigation, Bridget Huckins has never been publicly named a suspect by investigators in the disappearance of Ralph Jean Marie. However, the lead Barre City police detective did identify Ralph Jean Marie's girlfriend at the time of his disappearance as a person of interest. Family members have identified Bridget Huckins in the press as the person Ralph was dating when he disappeared. In reporting by Seven Days Vermont, published in 2021, it's noted that it was Bridget Huckins who told police about the dispute between herself and Ralph at the hotel. And it was Bridget who said he walked off, took nothing with him and never came back. In the same article, Chief bombardier references Bridget Huckins report saying, does her story make sense to you? That he left all those things behind? End quote. Does it make sense? Does any piece of the story surrounding the night of Ralph Jean Marie's disappearance make sense? If it did, perhaps Ralph's family, friends and supporters wouldn't still be waiting for answers. But as another year passed, the case was no closer to a conclusion. One month before the two year anniversary of Ralph's disappearance, a change in leadership within Barre City Police meant the case was about to change hands too. A new Barre City police chief took over from Tim Bombardier in March of 2022. Braden Brad Vail told the Times Argus that he received the rather large case file for Ralph Jean Marie's disappearance and he wanted to, quote, reinvigorate the case. In an interview with reporter Eric Blaisdell, Chief Vail said, as I peruse through the files, I'm going to be asking a lot of questions and I'm going to have the detectives following up on anything that I can find to include possibly re interviewing witnesses, re interviewing the folks that have given tips before because there are times where I've found that there could be something that seems meaningless to somebody that just pops into someone's mind and says, oh yeah, by the way, I forgot to mention when we were talking there was, you know, whatever. That's my hope anyway, end quote. The public attention on Ralph's story had tapered off in the previous year, but sporadic tips and leads still came in. Chief Vail noted that his department had received at least two new leads since he'd taken over, but nothing that led investigators to Ralph or his body or any evidence that progressed the case forward. But in May of 2022, State's Attorney Rory Tybalt released a new detail to the public. It was the biggest development in the case in the previous year, and it potentially further narrowed the timeline of Ralph's disappearance. But it also raised more questions about the reported timeline, too. According to a news report by Zuri Hoffman for NBC 5 News, around 2pm on April 13, roughly 13 hours after the reported time of Ralph's disappearance, a call came in to an out of state medical provider. The unknown caller requested a refill of a prescription in Ralph's name. The refill was never picked up. Two days later, Ralph was reported missing. Who called in that refill? Was it Ralph? Someone else? It almost feels relevant to ask what the prescription was for too, since Ralph reportedly left all of his medications behind behind at the motel when he left. If police have any of that information about the phone call or prescription today, it must not be enough to clinch the case or confirm any of the myriad theories that continue to surround the investigation. A year later, in 2023, another somber anniversary came and went for Ralph's disappearance. Chief Vail told the Times Argus that although he was eager to reinvigorate the case when he took over a year before, the investigative efforts he mentioned, like re interviewing witnesses, hadn't happened yet. He also had not been in touch with Ralph's family in the year since he took over, and he admitted his fault there. Chief Vail did say, however, that in the past year, detectives recovered a piece of evidence in the case. The evidence was a cell phone that was believed to belong to Ralph at one time, but it had been left behind at another motel in Barrie, and it didn't appear to contain anything that might further their ongoing search efforts. There was still a $5,000 reward for information leading to the location of Ralph, Jean Marie and those responsible for his disappearance. But I guess it wasn't a big enough carrot for anyone still sitting on crucial details. Ralph's supporters had continued their own independent efforts to investigate his disappearance too. Chief Vail, as well as the new State's Attorney, Michelle Donnelly, told the Times Argus that they understood why the group wanted to continue searching for answers on their own. And while they were in support of the independent efforts, they cautioned that anything the group learned or found had to be carefully reported and handled. A case built on evidence gathered by anyone other than law enforcement simply wouldn't hold up in Court. On April 15, 2023, those supporters and activists now organized under a group called justice for Ralph, gathered outside the City of Barrie police station to speak to the media about the still unsolved case and again raised their concerns about the treatment that Ralph's case had received from day one, treatment that supporters said was based on race and socioeconomic status, the fact that Ralph was a black man living in a hotel on a state voucher. A friend of Ralph's, Dylan Riley, spoke to WCAX on the three year anniversary, saying of Ralph, he made a family, he made a life for himself. People get placed in a category and once that happens, it's like no matter what happens to that person, they're not going to be important enough for someone to pull together. Resources, end quote the justice for Ralph group, which included Anthony Marquez, Trayvon Groves and Muhammad Abdi from the Silent City documentary team, also spoke to the media and they again raised their concerns about this contentious security camera footage from the Hollow Inn Motel. They pressured police to release the footage. Though he was not in attendance that day, Berry City Police Chief Brad Vail did address the security camera footage that had long been at the center of a major debate in the case, though the previous chief, Timothy Bombardier, never confirmed or denied the tape's existence in the past, Chief Vail more or less confirmed there was footage he said that the police department did not have a copy of it, but told WCAX reporter Rachel Mann that an investigator had reviewed the footage on the scene. A little over a month later, on May 25, 2023, the documentary team of Mohammed Abdi, Traven, Groves and Anthony Marquez appeared on Town Meeting TV, a local government access television station in Burlington, Vermont. In their interview with host Megan O'Rourke, Traven, Anthony and Mohamed addressed the still lingering issues after over three years of an investigation into Ralph's disappearance. They leveled several claims against investigators and mentioned details about the case and evidence they knew about that. At this point, I haven't been able to verify in other sources. I'll link the video in the source material of this episode@darkdowneast.com if you want to hear the full interview for yourself, though. At the end of the interview, Town Meeting TV aired what appeared to be a trailer or teaser of the documentary that the justice for Ralph team had been working on over the past three years. The video featured interviews with former Barre City Police Chief Timothy Bombardier and Detective Corporal Joel Pierce about the early days of the investigation and the search and investigative efforts that began, according to Tim Bombardier, the same day that Ralph was reported missing. Police searched the woods with K9 units, interviewed the individuals connected to the missing persons report, and within days sent out press releases to local media about Ralph Jean Marie's disappearance. Or rather, they tried to send out press releases. From the beginning, activists and supporters were critical of the delay between Ralph's reported disappearance and when the public learned about it. About a month passed before Ralph's name and photo were on the news. Both Detective Pierce and former Barre City chief Bombardier explained in the video that the initial press releases bounced back. The email addresses they sent them to were bad and they didn't realize the tech glitch until a few days later, detective Pierce said. They sent out the press release again via fax to ensure it landed on the assignment desks in local newsrooms. However, they didn't receive a response. Bombardier chalked up the media's lack of interest in Ralph's story to COVID 19, dominating the news cycle. Remember, this was happening in April of 2020. The media appeared to finally pick up the story when Barry City Police called the news stations to ask for coverage on Ralph's story. And again with the announcement of the $5,000 reward. At the end of the video, which is about 13 minutes long, the focus shifts. We hear the voice of Ralph G. Murray's son. He shares his gratitude and appreciation for everyone who's helped him cope with the challenges of his father's disappearance. He says, quote, I just really appreciate everyone that's helping me and just taking this into consideration. Even though everyone has their problems in life, he continues, cause this helps me and my mental health. End quote.