Post by hi224 on Feb 14, 2021 3:48:08 GMT
Hello, I am back with another cold case from the Gem State. I was shocked to find that no one had done a write-up on this case in this sub, despite it garnering a decent amount of attention. I felt that this would be a good time to write about it because we have just passed the 14-year-anniversary of his disappearance, and some new info has come trickling in recently.
Background:
Jeramy Carl Burt [DOB: 6/18/1973] was born and raised in the small eastern Idaho town of American Falls. Growing up, he was quite athletic and well-loved. He was diagnosed with ADHD as a child, which made school difficult for him. He graduated from American Falls High School in 1991. After high school, Jeramy went to serve in the U.S. Navy, where he fought in the Gulf War. While serving, he met and married a Japanese woman named Rena. Once Jeramy finished his service, she realized that she did not want to move to the U.S. with him, so they parted ways. Rena returned to Japan, Jeramy to Idaho.
Jeramy then met Kim George. The two hit it off quickly and knew right away that they wanted to get married. They had actually gotten pregnant around this time, which sadly ended in miscarriage. However, there was one big issue that kept them from getting married: Jeramy was still legally married to Rena. And since Rena had left for Japan, he was not able to file for divorce easily. So, he and Kim turned to the phone book and found a Boise divorce lawyer named Jeannie Braun (now Jeannie Harris). Braun was able to finalize the divorce in May 2002, so Jeramy and Kim married in 2003. That same year, their daughter, Mackenzie, was born. Mackenzie was known to be the light of Jeramy's life, and he was more than excited to finally be a dad. But... let's just say that Braun's services didn't end there.
Love Triangle
During this time, Jeannie and Jeramy carried on an affair. While this was happening, Jeramy became privy to some illegal activities that she was involved with. This lead Jeramy to tape-record some conversations she had with him about these activities. It turns out that another person was recording Jeannie. One thing led to another, and soon enough, LE found out. Jeramy, and several others, testified against her in front of a grand jury in 2004. One of these witnesses was a man named Ahren Barnard. Remember his name, as it comes up later. Jeannie was then disbarred, sentenced to one year in the Ada County Jail, and spent 14 years on probation.
Due to the affair, Jeramy and Kim split up. Jeramy moved in with his dad and shared custody of their daughter. Jeramy was working construction at this time and had difficulties managing his money, so money was especially tight at this time.
The Disappearance
Fast-forward to February 2007. Jeramy and Kim were reconciling. Jeramy was still living with his dad, but the couple was talking about getting married again. Mackenzie was around 3-4 years old. Jeannie was long out of prison and serving out her probation. On the night of February 11, 2007, Jeramy left his father's place to go have dinner with a friend of his. This is the last confirmed sighting of Jeramy. Later that night, Kim got a text from him. The text stated that planned to disappear and start a new life. Kim found this odd- not only because of the contents of the message but because the text was not written out in Jeramy's usual way. His credit card also showed some activity at a gas station in Mountain Home, ID, about a half-hour east of Boise (and like... you don't go to MH if you don't have to, trust me). This transaction involves a 6-7 minute phone call that was made on a payphone there. Jeramy never returned home, and was reported as a missing person the following day. I could never find confirmation on which friend Jeramy was planning to meet and if he did so. It should also be noted that Jeramy's phone had activity on it for a solid week after his disappearance.
About three months later, in May 2007, some local ranchers found a burnt-out 2003 Mercury Cougar in the middle of the Owyhee Desert. This desert takes up almost the entire southwest corner of the state and bleeds into southeast Oregon and northwest Nevada. The location of the car was about 45 miles north of NV. LE searched the car, but it was so torched that there was next to no evidence of who was in the car. However, one piece of evidence was left: the VIN#. Police ran the VIN#, and it pulled up as belonging to Kim George. This was the car that Jeramy had been driving that night, but again, the car was so unbelievably burnt out that it was practically a skeleton. There was no evidence of Jeramy on it. This is the last piece of evidence in the case.
Ahren Barnard
Back to Ahren a minute. I am not going to go into great detail about him, because I did a write-up on his case in Dec. 2019, which will be linked below. The tl;dr is that Ahren disappeared on Dec. 4, 2004 after saying that he was going to meet an out-of-town friend for dinner. He was never seen again. Why do I bring Ahren up? For one, he testified against Jeannie Braun during her 2004 trial. About a year prior, Ahren had been dating a woman named Constance Norris Malmin, a lawyer about 20 years his senior. Who was Constance's best friend? Jeannie Braun. Constance is also known to have a bit of a shady track record as a lawyer as well and does not seem to practice anymore. In 2003, Ahren, Constance, Jeramy, and Jeannie attend a wedding together for a mutual acquaintance. It is not known how deep Ahren and Jeramy's relationship goes, or if their disappearances are even connected.
Where are they now?
Just about three months after Jeramy disappeared, Kim married a man named Jeff Shaw. While Kim is not believed to be involved in his disappearance, the rapid pace of the marriage has always raised some eyebrows. Together, they had another daughter, Ellianna. Sadly, Kim died by suicide in 2016, at the age of 41. She is survived by her current husband, Jeff, and their daughters. Mackenzie will be turning 18 at some point this year.
Ahren Barnard is still missing. His mother, Vicky Barnard, and his now-adult daughter, Geneva, continue to search for answers.
Now... let's talk about Jeannie. At the time, Jeannie had remarried to a lawyer several years older than her and was living in St. George, UT. She took on the name Jeannie Harris. The rumor mill has always been churning about this woman. She has a reputation for being a "black widow"- has been rumored to have affairs with multiple married men and is rumored to continue to get with older lawyers to cover for her. The St. George lawyer she was married to filed from divorce from her around 2015-16ish. Sadly, this lawyer passed away last month from COVID. His family left her completely off of his obituary and no word of if he knew anything about Jeramy's case.
This case has a lot of moving parts, and I hope I did it justice. Frankly, I'm starving so I'm going to make some food. If I find anything to add, I will edit later on. If you're into podcasts, u/TraceEvidencePod did an amazing job covering this case. I will link his episodes down below. What do you think happened to Jeramy Burt?
Sources:
Charley Project
Missing Veterans
Idaho State Journal
Trace Evidence Podcast
Previous Idaho Cold Case Write-ups
Sergio Ayala
Ahren Barnard
Rick Bendele
Patrick Beavers
Zackery Brewer
Kevin Bowman
Ruben Felix
Tina Finley
Jed Hall-Part 1 Part 2
Christopher Holverson
Amber Hoopes
Shawnta Pankey
Luis Rodriguez-Hernandez
Roxann Tolson
Twin Falls Jane Doe
Darwin Vest
Background:
Jeramy Carl Burt [DOB: 6/18/1973] was born and raised in the small eastern Idaho town of American Falls. Growing up, he was quite athletic and well-loved. He was diagnosed with ADHD as a child, which made school difficult for him. He graduated from American Falls High School in 1991. After high school, Jeramy went to serve in the U.S. Navy, where he fought in the Gulf War. While serving, he met and married a Japanese woman named Rena. Once Jeramy finished his service, she realized that she did not want to move to the U.S. with him, so they parted ways. Rena returned to Japan, Jeramy to Idaho.
Jeramy then met Kim George. The two hit it off quickly and knew right away that they wanted to get married. They had actually gotten pregnant around this time, which sadly ended in miscarriage. However, there was one big issue that kept them from getting married: Jeramy was still legally married to Rena. And since Rena had left for Japan, he was not able to file for divorce easily. So, he and Kim turned to the phone book and found a Boise divorce lawyer named Jeannie Braun (now Jeannie Harris). Braun was able to finalize the divorce in May 2002, so Jeramy and Kim married in 2003. That same year, their daughter, Mackenzie, was born. Mackenzie was known to be the light of Jeramy's life, and he was more than excited to finally be a dad. But... let's just say that Braun's services didn't end there.
Love Triangle
During this time, Jeannie and Jeramy carried on an affair. While this was happening, Jeramy became privy to some illegal activities that she was involved with. This lead Jeramy to tape-record some conversations she had with him about these activities. It turns out that another person was recording Jeannie. One thing led to another, and soon enough, LE found out. Jeramy, and several others, testified against her in front of a grand jury in 2004. One of these witnesses was a man named Ahren Barnard. Remember his name, as it comes up later. Jeannie was then disbarred, sentenced to one year in the Ada County Jail, and spent 14 years on probation.
Due to the affair, Jeramy and Kim split up. Jeramy moved in with his dad and shared custody of their daughter. Jeramy was working construction at this time and had difficulties managing his money, so money was especially tight at this time.
The Disappearance
Fast-forward to February 2007. Jeramy and Kim were reconciling. Jeramy was still living with his dad, but the couple was talking about getting married again. Mackenzie was around 3-4 years old. Jeannie was long out of prison and serving out her probation. On the night of February 11, 2007, Jeramy left his father's place to go have dinner with a friend of his. This is the last confirmed sighting of Jeramy. Later that night, Kim got a text from him. The text stated that planned to disappear and start a new life. Kim found this odd- not only because of the contents of the message but because the text was not written out in Jeramy's usual way. His credit card also showed some activity at a gas station in Mountain Home, ID, about a half-hour east of Boise (and like... you don't go to MH if you don't have to, trust me). This transaction involves a 6-7 minute phone call that was made on a payphone there. Jeramy never returned home, and was reported as a missing person the following day. I could never find confirmation on which friend Jeramy was planning to meet and if he did so. It should also be noted that Jeramy's phone had activity on it for a solid week after his disappearance.
About three months later, in May 2007, some local ranchers found a burnt-out 2003 Mercury Cougar in the middle of the Owyhee Desert. This desert takes up almost the entire southwest corner of the state and bleeds into southeast Oregon and northwest Nevada. The location of the car was about 45 miles north of NV. LE searched the car, but it was so torched that there was next to no evidence of who was in the car. However, one piece of evidence was left: the VIN#. Police ran the VIN#, and it pulled up as belonging to Kim George. This was the car that Jeramy had been driving that night, but again, the car was so unbelievably burnt out that it was practically a skeleton. There was no evidence of Jeramy on it. This is the last piece of evidence in the case.
Ahren Barnard
Back to Ahren a minute. I am not going to go into great detail about him, because I did a write-up on his case in Dec. 2019, which will be linked below. The tl;dr is that Ahren disappeared on Dec. 4, 2004 after saying that he was going to meet an out-of-town friend for dinner. He was never seen again. Why do I bring Ahren up? For one, he testified against Jeannie Braun during her 2004 trial. About a year prior, Ahren had been dating a woman named Constance Norris Malmin, a lawyer about 20 years his senior. Who was Constance's best friend? Jeannie Braun. Constance is also known to have a bit of a shady track record as a lawyer as well and does not seem to practice anymore. In 2003, Ahren, Constance, Jeramy, and Jeannie attend a wedding together for a mutual acquaintance. It is not known how deep Ahren and Jeramy's relationship goes, or if their disappearances are even connected.
Where are they now?
Just about three months after Jeramy disappeared, Kim married a man named Jeff Shaw. While Kim is not believed to be involved in his disappearance, the rapid pace of the marriage has always raised some eyebrows. Together, they had another daughter, Ellianna. Sadly, Kim died by suicide in 2016, at the age of 41. She is survived by her current husband, Jeff, and their daughters. Mackenzie will be turning 18 at some point this year.
Ahren Barnard is still missing. His mother, Vicky Barnard, and his now-adult daughter, Geneva, continue to search for answers.
Now... let's talk about Jeannie. At the time, Jeannie had remarried to a lawyer several years older than her and was living in St. George, UT. She took on the name Jeannie Harris. The rumor mill has always been churning about this woman. She has a reputation for being a "black widow"- has been rumored to have affairs with multiple married men and is rumored to continue to get with older lawyers to cover for her. The St. George lawyer she was married to filed from divorce from her around 2015-16ish. Sadly, this lawyer passed away last month from COVID. His family left her completely off of his obituary and no word of if he knew anything about Jeramy's case.
This case has a lot of moving parts, and I hope I did it justice. Frankly, I'm starving so I'm going to make some food. If I find anything to add, I will edit later on. If you're into podcasts, u/TraceEvidencePod did an amazing job covering this case. I will link his episodes down below. What do you think happened to Jeramy Burt?
Sources:
Charley Project
Missing Veterans
Idaho State Journal
Trace Evidence Podcast
Previous Idaho Cold Case Write-ups
Sergio Ayala
Ahren Barnard
Rick Bendele
Patrick Beavers
Zackery Brewer
Kevin Bowman
Ruben Felix
Tina Finley
Jed Hall-Part 1 Part 2
Christopher Holverson
Amber Hoopes
Shawnta Pankey
Luis Rodriguez-Hernandez
Roxann Tolson
Twin Falls Jane Doe
Darwin Vest