JoAnn Matouk Romain’s body was found March 20, 2010 in Canadian waters of the Detroit River near Boblo Island, 70 days after she went missing in Grosse Pointe Farms. The Farms PD determined JoAnn committed suicide by walking into the icy water of Lake St. Clair across from the Lake Catholic Church.
The police chief at the time testified at his deposition that this determination was made “in the first five minutes.” Because of the immediate suicide determination, the Farms PD in their infinite wisdom handed the case off to neighboring Grosse Pointe Woods PD, where JoAnn lived. They unloaded the case like L. Brooks Patterson unloaded the OCCK case to the Michigan State Police. Nothing to see here. Told the family to get lost and hit up the Woods PD with any questions.
But when JoAnn’s body was found in the water 30 miles away, guess who raced over to Canada to meet with law enforcement there? Grosse Pointe Farms PD. Wait, I thought the case was handed off to the Woods PD? Now the Farms is all over the case. Gotta control the narrative–your quick, 5-minute suicide determination based on some mental illness there was virtually no evidence of that night or any other night.
I’m getting really sick of these corruption cases from Michigan. It’s salt in the wound. The Farms PD stinks in this case. There is no other explanation. The question is why? And cops here did what they do best in cases like this–fucking double-down. I’m betting some perjury happened in a few depositions in this case. So far they’ve evaded any real scrutiny. It’s maddening. Protect, Serve and Cover Up.
Yep, they were all over it when JoAnn’s body turned up. Take a listen:
Update: I found this article describing how podcaster/investigative reporter Liv Morgan got involved with JoAnn Matouk Romain’s case:
A Grosse Pointe Woods cop, when asked about the unsolved case, responded: “That family is crazy.” Classic gaslighting-cop answer. Victim family members are crazy or senile. You know what? If we are all crazy or senile, all cops are corrupt and dirty.
“Did you notice that Oakland County man today with the server was Benjamin Weeks [age 45]. I’m seeing this name all too often. First there was an OCCK tip on Lee Weeks in Ferndale who associated with one of Richard Lawson’s victims. Then there was Ken Bowman’s tip that Chris Busch might have known about another Weeks (murderer) in Flint. Then there was the interview that the only neighbor who associated with Arch Sloan was the Weeks family on Seminole.”
A letter from the President of Mlive Media Group, John Hiner, dated March 20, 2025:
Letter from the Editor
The Michigan Capitol Building.
This is the column I’ve written the most frequently in my career – and one I wish I’d never have to write again.
But here we are – Michigan’s government transparency law is lousy; the solutions are obvious; and your elected officials aren’t rushing to change the status quo.
Bipartisan bills to reform the Freedom of Information Act to include the Legislature and Governor’s Office passed the Senate last year and were poised for a vote in the House in December but died in a chaotic lame-duck session meltdown. January ushered in a new House speaker, Rep. Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, and he has since said the bills are “not a priority” and even “dead” for this session. We’re amid Sunshine Week, an annual news media focus on transparency for the good of the public and so we can better do our job as watchdogs of government.
And this year glimmers of light are poking through the fog. Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan, told MLive that Speaker Hall “might say something is dead today and then along comes a deal later … and suddenly things are resurrected. I’m going to keep a positive spirit about it and continue to be ready to advocate.” McBroom has been working with Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield, since 2015 to remove the FOIA exemptions for the governor and lawmakers. They’ve introduced the bills numerous times but have never made it to a final vote. McBroom and Moss have co-authored the following opinion piece, explaining why reform is essential for our state and citizens. I applaud them and encourage you to contact your local representative to express support for getting these bills debated and passed in the House.# # # By Jeremy Moss and Ed McBroom It feels like our politics are more divided than ever. But if you listen closely to what residents on both the left and right are saying, there is a common theme: A demand for a more transparent and accountable government. Our legislation to strengthen the Freedom of Information Act in Michigan achieves just that. Through FOIA, the public can request the behind-the-scenes documents – emails, memos, agendas, schedules, and more – from their city or township hall, their school district, county officials, and state departments to better understand how the government decisions that impact them are made. Who did your mayor meet with? What did your school board members send to each other? Did the county follow through on the issue you brought up? Residents can find all of that out through FOIA. But shockingly, Michigan’s law does not subject our governor and state legislators to those same record requests, thereby blocking the public from seeing the inner workings of our state Capitol. All 50 states have FOIA, but Michigan is nearly alone in the country with those outrageous and glaring exemptions for the executive and lawmakers. This contributes to why our state ranks worst in the country in government ethics. When state government officials operate in the dark, scandals in Lansing continue to persist. Nearly a decade ago, as representatives in the Michigan House – a Democrat from metro-Detroit and a Republican from the Upper Peninsula – we joined together to introduce legislation that finally includes the governor’s office and Legislature in Michigan’s FOIA to bring sunshine to state government. Our bills passed in the House, but the Senate refused to take it up. Then we were both elected to the Senate, where we passed our legislation last year, but the House wouldn’t move on it. This year, we introduced our legislation as the very first bills of the new session: Senate Bills 1 and 2. They passed overwhelmingly in January and were swiftly sent over to the House, where they currently sit. It’s past time for the full Legislature – Republicans and Democrats – to come together to act on these bills. The public should not have to wait any longer. # # # John Hiner is the president of MLive Media Group. If you have questions you’d like him to answer, or topics to explore, share your thoughts at editor@mlive.com
It is outrageous that in Michigan the governor and lawmakers are exempt from FOIA laws. It is equally outrageous that governmental entities in that state violate the spirit and letter of FOIA laws every week, if not every single day. Delays, denials, illegal redactions, excessive costs. The stance of these agencies: So, sue us.
A few years ago, I attempted to retain an attorney/law firm to assist me in obtaining the OCCK files from the Oakland County Prosecutor. I knew from multiple reliable sources that previous Prosecutor Jessica Cooper had one of her assistant prosecutors take OCCK files from her office to that of Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard to thwart further FOIA requests from my family and the press. None of the well-known FOIA firms in Oakland County would touch the case. I ended up working directly with the current prosecutor’s office, so I’m glad I didn’t give any of these firms my dough.
Cooper’s successor, Karen McDonald, managed to get those files back from the sheriff’s department. Those files were shit–mostly an Arch Sloan-fest/cluster-f. They did not include any of the early investigation notes or documents, or even any of the documents previously supplied to the press in response to FOIA requests in 2012.
I remind the reader that the Friday evening after the election confirmed that McDonald would replace Cooper, I received a text that a whistleblower in Cooper’s office had notified investigators that Cooper was engaged in a big document shred. The whistleblower believed this included OCCK files. While a restraining order issued from Lansing in the early morning hours of that Saturday, nothing was ever done to investigate or punish Cooper, whose law license was apparently immune from any examination for any reason whatsoever. Pure Michigan.
And I again remind the reader that the Oakland County Sheriff denied my FOIA request online 15 minutes after I submitted it.
“Your request for all records regarding the ‘Oakland County Child Killer’ investigation is denied; there are no records responsive to this request within the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office records. You may find the records you seek with the Michigan State Police.”
This is a flat out lie. I have seen numerous documents with the OCSD letterhead in the FOIA documents we have obtained from other sources. Apparently the sheriff wants me to believe that he forwards every single piece of paper, every tip, everything, to his good buddies at the Michigan State Police and does not retain copies for his own files. Their new-ish cold case team is working on the OCCK case. Trust me, they have documents. They just don’t comply with FOIA laws.
And why should they worry? Michigan doesn’t give a shit about transparency or FOIA laws, from the very top down. Year after year of the same refrain from the press (let alone a citizen trying to use the FOIA laws) make that much quite clear.
And speaking of the slick Oakland County Sheriff’s Department, I have more to post about their “antics” in other cases involving child predators who are or were law enforcement, as well as intimidation tactics used against victims. You have a rogue agency, Oakland County (and have for quite some time).