by Guy Page
The Burlington Police Commission tonight will consider a resolution asking the Barre Police Department to seek Federal Bureau of Investigation assistance on finding Ralph Jean-Marie, a black man from Brockton, MA who had lived for years in the Barre area before being missing since April 13, 2020.
Barre PD has offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to finding Jean-Marie. It believes his disappearance was an act of foul play. “Since Ralph Jean-Marie was reported missing police have conducted 14 direct interviews, 15 searches by either foot, drone, or with the use of K-9 teams, as well as the Crime Scene Search Team. In addition to this, detectives have investigated numerous comments and information gleaned from social media sources, and continue to actively pursue leads and information in connection to the disappearance of Ralph Jean-Marie. This has involved multiple State, County, and Municipal Departments. In addition to investigating numerous potential leads, detectives have also collected potential evidence which has been submitted to the State Crime Lab for analysis,” a Sept. 9 2020 press statement said.
The Burlington Police Commission is organizationally part of the Burlington Police Department, and has taken an increasing ‘fair and impartial policing’ oversight role. It is not standard practice for a Vermont city police department to publicly advise a course of action to other police departments. The resolution is available on the Police Commission website and reads as follows:
Burlington Police Commission Resolution on Disappearance of Ralph Jean-Marie
April 17, 2021
Whereas Ralph Jean-Marie, 38 years old, a Barre, VT resident and a man of color, has been missing under suspicious circumstances for one year as of April 13, 2021, and
Whereas the Barre Police Department has declared the disappearance to have occurred under suspicious circumstances due to all Mr. Jean-Marie’s belongings remaining in his room at The Hollow Inn, including phone, wallet, glasses, and medication, and
Whereas Chief Bombardier has indicated that over the last year that the Barre Police Department has exhausted every resource available to them but has been unable to locate Mr. Jean-Marie during this one-year period, and
Whereas the current environment with regard to racial disparities in policing and other institutions calls on Vermonters, and particularly public officials, to ensure that people of color are adequately and vigorously supported and protected by law enforcement, and
Whereas the public is demanding greater transparency in policing,
Be it resolved, the Burlington Police Commission urges the Barre Police Department to avail itself of all available resources to locate Mr. Jean-Marie and determine his fate, including and in particular, to call in the Federal Bureau of Investigation to help to solve this case.
Information about the Burlington Police Commission appears below.
| Commissioners | Ward | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jabulani Gamache, Chair | 5 | 6/30/2022 | jgamache@burlingtonvt.gov |
| Shireen Hart, Vice Chair | 7 | 6/30/2022 | shart@burlingtonvt.gov |
| Kerin Durfee | 7 | 6/30/2023 | kdurfee@burlingtonvt.gov |
| Randall Harp | 3 | 6/30/2021 | rharp@burlingtonvt.gov |
| Melo Grant | 3 | 6/30/2023 | megrant@burlingtonvt.gov |
| Stephanie Seguino | 6 | 6/30/2022 | sseguino@burlingtonvt.gov |
| Yuol Herjok Yuol | 6/30/2022 | yherjokyuol@burlingtonvt.gov |