DETROIT – The family of JoAnn Matouk Romain is urging the Michigan Attorney General’s Office to reopen the investigation into her death.
Background:
JoAnn Matouk Romain was last seen on Jan. 12, 2010, at a prayer service at the Lake Catholic Church in Grosse Pointe Farms. Her car, with her purse, and wallet were found in the church parking lot.
15 years ago: JoAnn Matouk Romain disappears, body later found in Detroit River
Investigators said they followed footprints in the snow from the lot to Lake St. Clair. They searched the waters but did not find her. Then, in March of that year, her body was found by fishermen in a channel of the Detroit River.
Police said they believed she killed herself by walking into Lake St. Clair. Her family believes she was murdered.
Watch: A Conversation With: Daughters of JoAnn Matouk
Call for new investigation
According to a statement from the family’s attorney, a forensic investigation is underway on a vehicle they believe could be linked to JoAnn’s abduction and murder, involving fingerprinting, GPS data analysis and DNA testing on her personal effects.
The family is calling on the Attorney General’s Office to take over the case to ensure a thorough and unbiased review of all evidence, witness testimonies and forensic findings.
“We’ve put in a formal request, per our attorney, Steve Haney, and he’s asked for the Attorney General’s Office to actually reopen this investigation and do a thorough examination of the entire case,” said Michelle Romain, JoAnn’s daughter. “Because, look, this case has never been investigated, right? The police never did their job. We took it on ourselves, with attorneys, investigators, private experts, and we’ve uncovered all these things, but nobody’s actually looked into it.”
They demand an immediate independent examination due to concerns about the current investigation’s handling.
A Formal Request for Investigation has been submitted to the Attorney General’s Office.
Watch: The disappearance of JoAnn Matouk (Full cold case investigation)
The family alleges that JoAnn Matouk Romain was found without water in her lungs, in a location inconsistent with water currents and with bruising that suggests she was grabbed. Police reportedly informed Matauk’s family she was missing before running the license plate of a vehicle that wasn’t even registered to her.
“This is not just about my mom being murdered, this is about what is going on behind the scenes,” said Michelle Romain.
New timeline of events
A document from the family’s attorney lists a timeline of everything that happened on the day she was last seen and alleges significant timeline issues and contradictions.
The timeline claims that police contacted the Coast Guard to report an adult in Lake St. Clair and that the family of JoAnn Matouk Romain had been “frantically looking for her since 5 p.m.” just after 9 p.m., despite the family being informed by police at about 9:30 p.m. that her vehicle was found abandoned.
Additionally, the timeline claims the license plate on the vehicle was ran just before 10 p.m.
The vehicle reportedly belonged to Romain’s daughter and a LEIN check would bring up the daughter’s registration.
“Why would an officer have been at Michelle Romain’s house at 9:24 p.m. looking for someone who has no association to the vehicle?” asked family attorney Steve Haney.
The officer who arrived at the daughter’s home has not been identified by any police department and FOIA requests for the filing of the Missing Persons Report have allegedly been denied.
The family is also questioning why the vehicle was deemed “abandoned” or “suspicious” just two hours after the church service ended and when they didn’t report her missing that day.
An excerpt from the document’s timeline can be read below:
- 9:15 p.m. -- Daughters Michelle Romain and Kellie Romain arrive at home and see their mom JoAnn Matouk Romain has yet to come home. They assume she went out for coffee after church with a friend or relative, which was often something she would do, Therefore her absence is not out of the ordinary;
- 9:24 p.m. -- A Grosse Pointe Woods police officer knocks at the door of the Romain’s home stating that their mother, JoAnn Matouk Romain’s vehicle was found abandoned in St. Paul’s parking lot;
- 9:29 p.m. -- Phone records support that the children, Michelle Romain, Kellie Romain and Michael Romain, began to frantically call JoAnn, but there is no answer. They continue trying to reach JoAnn several times throughout the night and these phone records are important, as they support the recollection of the Officer making contact with them at 9:24 p.m. Oddly, the vehicle “abandoned” at St. Paul’s was not registered to Joann Matouk Romain, so it seemed very strange the Officer was informing the family “Joann’s vehicle was abandoned,” when the vehicle was registered to Michelle Romain;
- 9:30 p.m. -- A U.S. Coast Guard report states “RESPONSE RESOURCE REQUESTED” (It is unclear if this is the initial call or not). The USCG report states the case was opened at 6:05 p.m. (which is translated in their Zulu time on the USCG report). Both time frames are automatically generated into the USCG system. Information provided to the USCG included, but was not limited to: “1 adult in the water, 0 children. JoAnn missing from 5 p.m., her daughter frantically looking for her since 5 p.m., footprints leading in the snow from vehicle in the church parking lot to the lake with none returning, and there is a BIG HOLE in the ice where it appears someone has entered.”
- 9:53 p.m. -- Officer Colombo of Grosse Pointe Farms testifies under oath in a deposition that he found the 2008 Lexus at 9:53 PM and ran a LEIN check at 9:55 p.m., which then sparked a suspicious circumstance of the vehicle, resulting in him commencing his “investigating” at that time. (All LEIN checks are locked in a system through the State of Michigan and cannot be tampered with).
The full timeline can be read in the document released to Local 4 at the bottom of this story.
“Even though it’s been 15 years, the family deserves this to be looked at in the way that it should have been looked at by somebody,” Haney said. “Just the nonsense belief that a woman would commit suicide in the manner that they suggest she did by walking into the water in the middle of the wintertime. I’ve never heard of anybody who’s mentally healthy using that method of committing suicide. It doesn’t exist.”
