It was 14 years ago today that JoAnn Matouk Romain disappeared after attending an evening prayer service at the Lake Catholic Church in Grosse Pointe Farms. Her body was found on the Canadian side of the Detroit River, 30 miles from the church, 70 days later.
Her death was ruled a suicide, a determination her family has always questioned. The family is offering a $200,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest.
I didn’t know much at all about this case until I watched an Unsolved Mysteries show, “Lady in the Lake,” which aired in October 2020. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12924500/. There has been a lot written about JoAnn’s case, and a lot of media coverage. To get a relatively full picture of the basis for suspecting foul play in this case, check the links in the clickondetroit write up. Especially the link to this TikTok video. https://www.tiktok.com/@justiceforjoann/video/7187882554496699691 .
I didn’t know a witness, Paul Hawk, had come forward, gave a statement under oath and that police ignored him. https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/2014/07/17/new-witness-drops-bombshell-in-joann-matouk-romain-death-investigation/ . It is alleged that this man was then harassed by local police for 12 years. I immediately thought of “Sebastian,” who was seriously harassed by Berkley police officers after he came forward as a kid about what he saw at the 7-11 the afternoon Kristine Mihelich was abducted in January 1976. This harassment continued for decades. His story is told in J. Reuben Appelman’s book The Kill Jar: Obsession, Descent, and a Hunt for Detroit’s Most Notorious Serial Killer.
I’ve always believed Sebastian’s story, so don’t even try to tell me police don’t harass witnesses, especially when a cop might be involved. Oh yeah, and Paul Hawk? Unexpectedly passed away at age 55, on December 8, 2021. https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/grosse-pointe-woods-mi/paul-hawk-10481236 .
I know, I know–just a coincidence.
If you have information you are withholding in this case you’ve lived 14 years without doing the right thing, so I doubt even $200,000 would motivate you. But good on the family for trying to get answers. A very sad and frustrating case.
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I don’t think it’s any coincidence that her brother in-law who is also a police officer, was working with Patterson at the beginning of this. I’ve seen his name on docs.
Law enforcement (including assistant prosecutors and the judiciary) in Southeastern Michigan is incredibly incestuous and interrelated.
I’ll also add that the police chief that was in charge of this investigation (from Grosse Pointe Woods), is now the police chief in Huntington Woods.
Like the OCCK case, nobody will do the right thing. Even with all the glaring mistakes that were made. Law enforcement once again thinks that silence and integrity are the same thing.
Jesus. Of course he is now chief of HWPD. I had to laugh–comments to the articles about the case always include “but there was only one set of footprints in the snow”–according to THE POLICE REPORT. I’m not so sure integrity, or even the appearance of it, is the goal. The attorney for the Romains said: “When a department lacks competence to do their job, they make up for it with corruption.” https://www.tiktok.com/@justiceforjoann/video/7187882554496699691
The comments in the articles about one set of footprints are quite simply laughable. If anyone saw the area, and watched the live reports from that night, they would know that there was no snow to display any footprints that night. And then there is a steep decline of sharp, slippery rocks that she would have had to navigate in her heels to get to the water (which she feared) to commit suicide. Then she is found 60 miles away with no water in her lungs.
The Police report, well, I do not comment on fiction. It has to be fiction. What police department investigates a car that has been abandoned for only an hour at a church, then immediately brings in the coast guard helicopter to search the water for the mother, and then goes to the daughter’s house to report the mother missing. It is there that police realize that the car does not even belong to the mother. It belongs to the daughter. Police should have been inquiring and searching for the daughter. The police then realize their mistake and deny that any officer visited the daughter that night. I can go on and on with more facts, but the videos in this case is better viewing.
I also agree, it is a great quote from the lawyer. It certainly hits the nail on the head in this and many other cases. I have followed this case for many years, but never saw the interview with the witness wishing to take a polygraph, and also challenge the police to do the same. Thanks for posting this. Very much like Sebastian’s story. Wanting to just tell the truth, but it does not fit with the police fairy tale that they wish to to spin.
If I remember correctly, the brother of this witness also died a short period before he did. Another coincidence. Just like Sebastian telling his story to his friends, and then some of them died shortly after.
Thank you again, G-Man. I have not lived in Michigan for many decades and this story never made it on my radar when it happened. As you point out, the police actively controlling (and spinning) the narrative, as Brooks Patterson did in the OCCK case. And excellent reminder about happened to Sebastian’s friends. Last time I checked, one of those filthy dirty cops is still alive. Paul Hawk, a healthy man in his mid-50s winds up dead and shortly after his brother died? I wonder what the death certificate says (let me guess–“heart attack”).
Attorney Issa Haddad explains in the video that “When we FOIA’ed the police records and all the witness statements, there was no witness statement from Paul Hawk.” Mr. Hawk explains on tape that he called police and gave a statement the very week JoAnn Matouk Romain went missing, assumed they looked into it and nothing came of it. But the deck is stacked when the suicide card gets played. Why publish the sketches of the two men and ask the public for information? “Clear” suicide–that’s why we called the coast guard so quickly!!
And classic, ham-handed jumping of the gun going to her house and reporting her missing even though it was the daughter’s car. Just like Patterson jumped the gun back in 1977 in his eagerness to make sure there was no link between Chris Busch and “those men in Flint” to the child killings. Wait, what arrests in Flint, Brooksie? Oh yeah. Stay tuned for another bullshit press statement tomorrow.
I wonder what JoAnn Matouk knew that would have “earned” her a fake suicide. This case stinks. Back when police were investigating Lawson, Lamborgine and then the man who ended up being Chris Busch (a very big cog in the child rape and “filming” business in Michigan; don’t be fooled by his slovenly mug shots–that is what he was), one of my brothers told me he was suffering from pretty serious nightmares. Yeah, me too, I said. He said: Cath, the nightmares are about the police.
He has always been smarter and more prescient than me.
I can only add that anyone who wishes to get up to speed quickly on this case, should watch the first in a series of 5 videos. A good 6 minute video that will simply drag you into this rabbit hole. The following 4 videos are only 4-8 minutes each, but contain quite a bit of amazing information. You stated it correctly, “good on the family for trying to get answers. A very sad and frustrating case”.
Part 2–clearly fucking liars. In uniform. Sickening.
Such a well told story in these videos, and in small portions so as to not get overwhelmed with information. Like OCCK, there are many suspects, LE corruption and cover ups, and many sub-plots due to different suspects.
Told by the family and investigators who have uncovered quite a bit of the story, and great videos to place you at the scene and see exactly what transpired.
You are correct. This is a very interesting case, and apparently there is new evidence that will be aired in the very near future.
Below were my observations/comments about this case as we were discussing the Gail Webster case last May (https://catherinebroad.blog/2023/05/25/gail-webster-series-1-5/):
Not to change the subject, but this case has some similarities to a 2010 Grosse Pointe death that was ruled a suicide. Like someone used the Webster case as a playbook. Coincidentally, it is tied to a person in the OCCK investigation.
1) Daughters searching for the true story. Know it was not a suicide.
2) Keys mysteriously disappeared from victim six weeks before her disappearance, then mysteriously appeared on the victim.
3) A law enforcement official is the prime suspect. This person is also an OCCK investigator.
4) Prime suspect is cleared because he was allegedly working an undercover operation nearby.
He refused to take a polygraph test.
5) Theory is the victim heard or saw something regarding the prime suspect that scared her. She had an appointment to meet with the FBI. FBI will not comment.
6) Victim told daughter that if anything happened to her, look at the prime suspect.
7) Police botched the initial investigation. Then they made a critical mistake. They showed up at the victim’s house an hour after she was expected home to report to the daughter that the victim was missing, and her car was left stranded at the church. Problem is, it was not the victim’s car. It was the daughter’s car. How did police know it was the mother who was missing? Police later dispute that they ever sent an officer to the house.
8) Police would not listen to a witness who saw and identified the suspect with the victim at the time. Or a witness who saw her running down the road. First witness ends up dying unexpectedly.
9) Police dispose of critical evidence.
10) Police ignore official autopsy reports. Claim suicide by drowning with no water in the lungs.
Best to watch the videos of the report.
https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/defenders/2020/10/19/watch-joann-matouk-romain-mystery-series-parts-1-4/
Thanks, G-Man. You were on it.
And she was found wearing her high-heeled ankle boots (spike heels)–no way someone could navigate that waterfront or the walk out to the water (which was low that year) or in deeply enough to drown, in those heels. If you were serious, you would take off those heels so you could make it to the water to get the job done. What a mess this case is!
Yes. I walked to the very spot and there was no way I would have gotten near the water in the dark (or even daylight) without falling down and hitting my head on some rocks or concrete. Safer to just crawl, but it would be painful on that downward slope.
I also like that someone called to report her missing an hour before the church service while she was meeting with her lawyer. Someone sure messed up there.
For those local to the Detroit area, it looks like an update to this story will air Monday January 22. After the story airs, I’m sure everyone else who wishes to view it can find it here.
https://www.clickondetroit.com/video/meta/promo/2024/01/19/secrets-of-a-small-town-monday-at-545-pm-on-local-4-news/
Watch live special at 8 p.m. streaming on Local 4+ at 8pm.
https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/2024/01/22/live-stream-at-8-secrets-of-a-small-town-the-joann-matouk-case-14-years-later/#:~:text=%E2%80%93%20It%20has%20been%2014%20years,Church%20in%20Grosse%20Pointe%20Farms.
Jesus christ. How incredibly sad and frustrating. A few things strike me. One, whenever cops/agencies are so ham-handed (initiating the missing person/coastguard stuff so early; city cop asking MSP to “clear” cops) it tells me they are used to doing whatever they want and no one will be the wiser. Two, those high-heeled boots. Three, witness automatically deemed to have a “credibility problem” and targeted by police for a long time after coming forward. Four, donating the scarf found at the scene to charity–donating evidence in an open case. I wouldn’t feel safe knowing that’s how those two local PDs do business. The highlighted deposition testimony was nauseating. It’s about what I would have expected, however. Disgusting.
Body in lake water for 70 days; eye witness dead; scarf donated to charity, civil suit dismissed–I’m guessing whoever killed JoAnn Matouk Romain isn’t losing a lot of sleep.
In your one comment you just did a better investigation than two police departments and one federal agency did in 14 years (and counting).
Drugged (witness saw woman matching her description slumped over with two men near her), put in a car and driven to Canada where the body is eventually dumped. After 70 days would a tox screen show anything? That sounds more plausible than stumbling down the lakefront and walking out far enough in high heels to get into deep enough water to drown–oh right, dry drown. Seriously fucked up.
Agree. Another great point. Also the lake had no current to take the body 30 miles away, and an expert indicated that a dry drowning would have caused the body to float. Yet the next 2 days during daylight, the rescue effort found nothing.
But a Federal Judge puts the final nail in the coffin; she says, “there’s no evidence that someone who wanted to kill Romain knew that police would cover his tracks.”
Despite dismissing the lawsuit, the judge says there still are “disputed facts” in Romain’s death that are “very disturbing.”
See also Never Let Him Go, airing on Hulu, about what happens when police treat a murder as a suicide. https://www.hulu.com/series/never-let-him-go-a04d05c1-cd8e-4aba-9475-d110abbdc1d3
For you non Michigan viewers, the Grosse Pointe areas are where the richest of the rich live. They literally placed a bunker between them and Detroit proper.
WOW: https://open.spotify.com/show/4DGvwblkz66PzhZf3bywcZ. If there are dirty cops involved, the odds of getting to the bottom of this are less than 8%. In my brother’s murder, dirty prosecutors nailed the lid down so tight that almost 50 years later their reputations are fully (and unjustifiably) intact.
I wonder what else was being sold/run out of that liquor store?
Episode 2 of No One Knows, A Deep Dive Podcast into death of JoAnne Matouk Romain: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-2-we-would-of-found-her/id1723274491?i=1000645417899. Is anyone else sick to death of these botch job investigations by suburban police departments? (Whether by mis or malfeasance.). Grosse Pointe Farms PD (especially you) and Grosse Pointe Woods PD–your behavior in this case seems to implicate you in something much more nefarious than just bad police work. Retired GPF PD Chief Dan Jensen, your treatment of this woman’s family is especially egregious and suspect. If Michigan House Bill 5409 passes, Grosse Pointe Farms PD is worthy of intense scrutiny. https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2023-2024/billintroduced/House/htm/2024-HIB-5409.htm. And passing this off to Grosse Pointe Woods, where the victim lived as opposed to where the “incident” occurred? Wow. No wonder you like that suicide conclusion.
Ed Milam, Metro-Detroit Pepsi delivery driver turned pastor–WTF, pal? “I wanted to make sure this isn’t anything I need to be worried about.” Nobody stole your identity, pal, and your “God” knows it.
I was going to post about the new podcast. I’m glad to see the family continues to fight.
Another good episode at such a detailed level. Lots of poor or improper work done.
Let’s not forget both of the medical examiners that missed, or omitted contusions on the body and that there was no water in the lungs. Thank goodness the family obtained a third and independent autopsy. Also, why wasn’t the body first sent to the Wayne County Medical Examiner where the crime occurred and where she lived? Instead it goes to Macomb County.
So the Canadian officials called Grosse Pointe Woods Police about finding the body, and yet it is Grosse Pointe Farms Police that shows up to meet with the Canadian officials when it is no longer their case? And the Canadian autopsy indicated “there was some circumstantial evidence that she may have intended to take her life” How do you determine that from a physical autopsy? They did not indicate having performed a psychological autopsy. Only that they talked to GPF Police.
In case you missed it on the link, the next drop (season 1, episode 3) will be March 1, 2024. As the podcast mentioned it will concentrate on the witness, Paul Hawk.
So many troubling details. On top of the preternatural and premature handling of JoAnn’s disappearance as a missing person/suicide based on a car registered to her daughter being in a church parking lot after 9 pm. That’s quite a leap. And it points to the involvement of multiple players. Which heightens the otherwise remote possibility that the truth will out. Enraging to me that the family has to work around two shitty PDs, hire a private investigator and pay for a private autopsy. Fucking gaslighters.
Just updating my last statement. It appears all new episode drops will occur on the 1st and 15th of each month.
Episode 3 is now available.
Spotify:
https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/gs2MwJGYBHb
Episode 3 today (March 1, 2024). https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/no-one-knows-podcast/id1723274491.
Michigan is so fucking corrupt.