Unsolved: Charline Rosemond, Somerville, Massachusetts (part one) with Rose Rosemond

Charline Rosemond, a vibrant 23-year-old woman who dreamed big and lived bigger. With help from her younger sister, Rose, we tell the story of Charline’s life and unravel the details of her tragic death in April 2009, and get to understand what families like the Rosemonds face as they seek justice for her murder through their grief and frustration.

We explore the emotional landscape of Charline’s case, painting a picture of her life, her dreams, her plans, against the unknowing, then the unbearable agony her family faced when they learned she was dead. Murdered. We see the anguish of being dismissed by authorities through Rose's eyes, and the family's 15-year effort to keep Charline’s story from fading away.
And there are many questions: Who shot Charline? Did they set her up? Was there really a car for sale? Was it a ruse? Why won't police accept a family's word that their loved one is in fact missing?

Anyone with information about Charline Rosemond’s murder please call the State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office at 781-897-6600.

Emily Sweeney's Cold Case Files feature in the Boston Globe, June 2024
Charline Rosemond new Facebook page 

Chapters

• 0:00 Crime of the Truest Kind
• 17:15 Unsolved Crime
• 26:58 Desperate Search for Missing Sister
• 31:11 Unanswered Questions
• 42:46 Police Inaction in Unsolved Murder

Transcript

Anngelle Wood: 0:00

Well, hello, my name is Anngelle Wood and this is Crime of the Truest Kind.

Anngelle Wood: 0:24

Hey, everybody, it's spooky season, officially October, Rocktober as I have been known to call it.

Anngelle Wood: 0:31

My name is Anngelle Wood. This is Crime of the Truest Kind. Massachusetts and New England Crime Stories, history, always advocacy- focused, because that is the most important part of all of this. We borrow these stories from people who lived these experiences and, at the very least, we can treat them with respect, at the most, help these people sort through and be a support. A couple things at the top. Thanks to our supporters, including Michelle, who supports the show via drop a tip in the jar, I don't know what I call it. Give the dogs a bone, it's "Buy me a coffee. That's what that platform is. And certainly to all the friends, the wicked cools, the solid golds, the total gems, the superstars, our EP Lisa McColgan. Your support goes directly into the production of the show. Like everything, leaving the house costs money. Hell, staying inside the house with the internet costs us money. We are in it.

Anngelle Wood: 1:44

istory is season four of Crime of the Truest Kind and we kick off this new season with a live show. I am back at Off Cabot in Beverly next Thursday, October 10th. North Shore Crime Cases, by request. That's what you asked for. That's what we will do. We will talk about crimes from the vicinity - Beverly, Salem, Peabody, Lynn. There are, unfortunately, a lot of things to talk about, but these shows have been enjoyable in terms of being able to meet all of you who are local to Massachusetts and New England who come out. So thank you for that. So next live show next Thursday, October 10th. Tickets are available offcabot. org. Crime of the Truest Kind. com, all linked there. Thank you, cannot wait to see you. If you have some questions in advance, you can email the show: crimeofthetruestkind@gmail. com Thank you.

Anngelle Wood: 2:47

This week's episode deals with a case that I've been talking about a lot. I've talked about Charline Rosemond for a couple of years and always intended to do an episode dedicated to her story. But I really wanted to reach a family member and I had really tried to reach her sister, rose, and I wasn't able to make direct contact. Enter Emily Sweeney of the Boston Globe, who does the Cold Case Files. Emily and I did a live show a few months ago at Faces in Malden where I talked about Charline's case. Emily then wrote a feature in the Cold Case Ciles for the Globe about Charline, got in touch with Rose and then put Rose and I in touch. So, Rose and I have had conversations about Charline's story. I will keep in touch with Rose and the Rosemond family for as long as they'll have me.

Anngelle Wood: 3:47

The advocacy work I want to continue to do as part of this coalition that we are starting here in the state of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Missing and Murdered Persons Advocacy Coalition, MMMPAC, it's long, but that's what we're calling it. With the express purpose of supporting families like Charline's. Families don't know what to do when their loved one goes missing. Truly, there is no playbook. We want to help. I've learned a lot about what happens to families. It ain't good. And Charline's case is one of those cases that bothers me.

Anngelle Wood: 4:26

For all of these reasons that you will learn, and more so today, episode 71, I ask the question who shot Charline Rosemond?, Somerville, Massachusetts,

Anngelle Wood: 4:57

Somerville, Massachusetts has, has seen its share of headlines. The city next to Boston was rocked by a still unsolved sexual assault and murder of 17-year-old, Deanna Cremin. I talk a bit about Deanna's story in episode 65 when I talk about the fight that crime victims' families have when their juvenile lifer goes up for parole in the Commonwealth. Now, while Deanna's killer is at large, four months later, a Somerville mom named Janet Downing was brutally killed in her Somerville home on July 23, 1995. Shocking, yes, Janet's killer was found, arrested, tried and convicted and handed a life without parole sentence. He was 16 years old. Eddie O'Brien, the grandson of the former Somerville police chief, Eddie O'Brien, the grandson of the former Somerville police chief O'Brien, went before the parole board in June of this year and we are anxiously awaiting their ruling. I check for a decision about once a week. I still haven't seen

Anngelle Wood: 6:00

one.

Anngelle Wood: 6:03

safe. I mean there's crime, like most cities theft, drugs. According to Neighborhood Scout, chances of becoming a victim of violent crime is 1 in 395 in Somerville, it's 1 in 311 in Massachusetts. And amber is the color of your energy. Sites that sell security systems will tell you there are home invasions nightly. No such thing. Bestplaces. net lists Somerville property crime as 26.4. The US average is 35.4. With a violent crime rate in Somerville 13. A national average 22.7.

Anngelle Wood: 6:42

In 1987, the City of Somerville City Council adopted a resolution establishing Somerville as a sanctuary city. That is defined as a municipality that limits or denies its cooperation with the national government in enforcing immigration law. A city's council and mayor will usually declare itself a sanctuary city and subsequently enact measures and policies that are welcoming and favorable to migrants. I know that is a hot button issue, thank you, but I'll tell you what. I am not talking about politics, we are talking about Charline.

Anngelle Wood: 7:23

Some fast facts about Somerville. Bobby Pickett wrote the oldies hit, " the Monster Mash. He's from Somerville. Here's something I learned Leon Russell plays piano on that 1962 Halloween classic. What Alex Rocco from the Godfather from Somerville, mo Green character Somerville, one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the US. over 50 languages are spoken in public schools. Somerville has the most artists per capita in the U. S. Everywhere you look in Somerville there's somebody who makes something, and I know a lot of those people. And those people are wicked cool. The beloved New England staple, Fluff, invented in Somerville. Fluff is a marshmallow-like sticky, ooey-gooey substance that we put on bread with peanut butter. There is a Fluff Fest every year. It was in September in Bow Market in Union Square.

Anngelle Wood: 8:25

ver mob kingpin James Joseph "Whitey Bulger was the leader of the Winter Hill Gang, holding his post for decades. Then he split town in 1994 when the heat was coming down. He was caught eventually while on the lam, many years later, sentenced to prison for all his misdeeds and many murders, and then he was beaten to death by three men in federal prison Karma. He was moved into a very violent federal prison in West Virginia. That's a whole other story. I talk about it in my first two podcast episodes. By the way, you can listen to one and two.

Anngelle Wood: 9:07

Charline Rosemond, born February 5th 1986 in Boston, one of six siblings. Charline and her younger sister, Rosalie, who goes by Rose, are the youngest and the two siblings who share the same parents. The Rosemonds are a very close family and the youngest daughters lived at home at the time Charline went missing. It was incredibly hard for them and still is. The family lived in Somerville for about five years before they moved to Everett. Now, Everett is a smaller city about four miles away. I didn't do a lot of work on this part of the research, but a couple notable mentions Ellen Pompeo, Meredith from Grey's Anatomy, is from Everett and Teddy Peanut Butter. That's a Fluffanutter waitin' to happen. 49,000 people in Everett in 2022 to Somerville's almost 80,000 in 2022. The Rosemonds lived near Union Square and the Mid Nite Convenience, about 10 minutes away. That is the area where Charline would be found, so it was familiar to all of them.

Anngelle Wood: 10:17

There isn't a lot about Charline not her life that's available online. I sent her sister a series of questions so I could fact check and try to tell her story, to add to her presence. Her story is upsetting. Charline was killed, a victim targeted possibly and the person or persons who did this to her perhaps planned it, set her up and they're still out there.

Anngelle Wood: 10:57

Charline was a driven and focused woman with big dreams, dreams that I have no doubt she would have achieved, outperformed, making way for what she would accomplish next. A word her sister used about her is savvy. At 23, she had mapped out her moves. I wish I could have been that motivated at 23. Oh, I was not. In an attempt to illustrate the kind of person Charline was, a vibrant, light-up-the-room kind of woman, and I say that about absolutely no one, but you can see it in her photos, always the best-dressed in the room- to the nines- with that kind, bright smile. Charline was a cosmetologist. She studied that in high school as part of the CTE vocational program as a Somerville High grad class of 2004,.

Anngelle Wood: 12:00

There is a career in graphic arts, drafting, culinary arts, metal fabrication, health services, auto repair. I'm repeating myself Trades are a game changer for many, many kids, students, young people. Do not scoff at trade school. Someone needs to know how things work, how to make them work when they stop working and how to perform services. Now, this brings to mind the brilliant South Park episode from last year, where none of the men, the dads, the business executives, none of them know how to do or fix anything, so they are desperate for these tradespeople. It's called "Call the Handyman and I linked it in the show notes at crimeofthechewestkindcom. So trades very good.

Anngelle Wood: 12:52

One of Charline's passions was styling ha hair and her love of that spilled over to others, like her younger sister, and Charline knew how to put a look together. She had style, she had presence. A fashionista. Is that a good thing? I don't know if I like that word. Demure, oh no, no. She was chic. Her favorite show, America's Top Model. Music, the great uniter, as I like to call it, Reggae was her thing. She went to school and studied business accounting. She had an entrepreneurial spirit. She set her sights on opening her own hair salon. When I think of Charline an the way that I've gotten to know her a little bit. I envision her on Shark Tank with some invention, some beauty regimen or some hair care item, because let's call it what it is.

Anngelle Wood: 13:54

Charline had hustle. At the time of her death, Charline was working for a car dealership in Brighton. She had money saved. She had a lot of money saved and she took some of it with her with the plan to look at a car later in the day. She left her home on that morning of April 6th, speaking to her mom that night around 7, saying she'd be home. There was no mention of seeing that car that was allegedly for sale. No one saw or heard from her ever again, no one in her family anyway.

Anngelle Wood: 14:33

I spoke with Charline's sister, Rose. With thanks to Emily Sweeney of the Boston Globe Cold Case Files. There is a new Charline Rosemond Facebook page created by me, with the permission of Charline's family. Rose will be a part of it to drive some new attention and more presence for her story and to help push this case. Charline and Rose were very close. They were both living at home with their parents in Everett and Rose was expecting a baby when Charline went missing.

Anngelle Wood: 15:13

That is a sorrow on a level that no one should ever have to experience, and I certainly wish that they had not had to experience what they experienced in 2009, when Charline disappeared and when Charline was found murdered six days later, and what they have had to deal with since the unknowing, or at least the longing for someone to be held responsible for what happened to their sister and their daughter. I want to thank Rose for taking the time to speak with me and answer my questions, because what people who have never experienced what Rose and her family have experienced don't know or understand is that it doesn't go away. Even 15 years later. 15 years have passed since Charlene was murdered, 15 years of hoping and wondering and waiting and second-guess, guessing themselves. That's what we do. That's our nature as human beings. We break down and dismantle every single thing that we did or said before that loved one went away. It's very difficult and some family members who have experienced this kind of traumatic loss, like the Rosemonds, have speaking about it is re-traumatizing. It is a real thing. Someone who has had this kind of event. I'm grateful for her time. I'm grateful for her having a little bit of faith in me that I will do some justice to this story. Coming up is my conversation with Rosalie Rosemond, sister of Charline.

Anngelle Wood: 17:15

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Anngelle Wood: 17:49

When I first heard Charline's story or first learned about Charlene's story, I may have been researching another case, Deanna Cremin's story.

Rose Rosemond: 17:57

They always say Deanna Cremin's and Charline's case are like the biggest unsolved cases, in Somerville specifically, and I had heard about it throughout the years. But unfortunately it's sad that once something similar happens to you, you hear about it but it's not exactly hitting home, so it's easy to forget. However, once your family gets hit with that type of you know, unfortunate situation, that's when you start diving in and you learn so many similar details on other families. I know at some point I was trying to get things together, maybe with me myself and Deanna's sister, and maybe see if we could form something Found out she passed away shortly after probably not shortly after, but some time ago which was. It was one of those cases that if you hear one, you tend to hear the other, which it seems like is the case now for some of them.

Anngelle Wood: 18:47

One of the things I really aim to do when I cover a case like this and I get to talk to a family member or someone who knew the person well, is get to know them, to learn about them. Charline was on her way to really great things.

Rose Rosemond: 19:05

She was. It's interesting that we're talking about it now, because I was just talking to my dad about her, how far she probably would be in life now. She was just. She was always the life of any party, any gathering that my family had. She was the big sister that I always wanted to grow up and be exactly like till like now, a lot of my sense of style, a lot of the things that I'm interested in, because I had to kind of like follow her around. Being that we were two years apart, it was kind of like, well, she can't go, then If I can't go, then she can't go. So I learned so much from her because she had to drag me around pretty much. And then there are just so many things that I learned to learn from her.

Rose Rosemond: 19:46

And she went to school. She wanted to open up her own hair salon. She was a cosmetologist, took that in high school. I'm not as savvy as she was, but I still remember all the things that she taught me, even so long ago that I'm able to apply it and actually do hair. Now we had it all figured out. She went to school for business accounting. She was going to open up the hair salon because I'm not as hands-on. I was going to handle the front desk and the decorating and she was going to be the hairstylist.

Anngelle Wood: 20:19

It's unfortunate that we weren't able to see that play out, but she was definitely everything I wanted to be. She had an amazing sense of style. Any picture that I've seen of this woman, she looks incredible. Gorgeous all of the time.

Rose Rosemond: 20:29

Anytime we'd go somewhere sometimes it's the smallest gathering she would come in with the hottest outfit and people are like, do you know, it's not like the biggest event and she's like. Well, I have to dress up, no matter where it is, you never know when you're going to see people, and she definitely did that, so it was easy to catch great photos of her.

Anngelle Wood: 20:44

And the clothes. I mean, she had a tremendous sense of style. She must have had an amazing wardrobe.

Rose Rosemond: 20:53

She did and of course, being the little sister, I wanted to borrow this. Borrow that Didn't really go over well, but every now and then she'd let me wear some things, but that she definitely had a great sense of style.

Anngelle Wood: 21:04

Your family seems very close, like you were very close-knit.

Rose Rosemond: 21:07

We were. We are very close Me and Charline we are. We have the same parents. I do have additional siblings, but they're my mom's children, but Charline and I were my parents' only two children. So we always grew up very, very close together and we were always in the same household from the day that I was born. So we were definitely a tight-knit family. We will always have been.

Anngelle Wood: 21:29

Let's talk about that time when Charline left the house for that last day. So, as I understand it, she borrowed your dad's car. She had money in her pocket. And then what came next?

Rose Rosemond: 21:42

That morning she did have my dad's car. She had been using it for a few weeks. She had a car at the time, but then, I don't know, maybe the transmission or something blew out. So she was out of commission with that car and was like, okay, I'll just work on getting a new car. So for the past few weeks prior to her disappearing she was using my dad's car to go to and from work and my dad didn't have to go to work that day. So he let her borrow the car.

Rose Rosemond: 22:08

And that morning I was sleeping because at the time I was eight months pregnant and my mom and my sister were in the kitchen. But I remember hearing the conversation slightly and my mom did tell me what they end up speaking about and she had spoken to my sister and Charlene had the $4,000 cash on her and she had brought it to my mom because she was giving my mom some money for one of the bills. So that's why my mom was visibly able to see the money with her. So before she left the house my mom said make sure you don't take that money with you. And she's like oh well, I'm planning on buying a car after work. My friend has a friend that's selling a car. So basically, oh well, I'm planning on buying a car after work. My friend has a friend that's selling a car. So basically, like I'm going to bring the money with me if I'm interested, I want to buy the car immediately, just to make sure that you know I can snag the car. And right before she left the house, my mom was like you know, make sure you leave the cash here. Maybe you see the car first and see if you like it. Don't walk around with so much cash on you, because you don't want people to kill you for the money, which is crazy that that's the last thing, like my mom pretty much got to say to her in you know, seeing her in person the way that it played out, because something similar had happened to a woman in malden. So when my mom said that, it was in reference to like this happened to this lady, I don't want you carrying cash, so nothing bad happens to you. So she did end up going to work. The thing is the way that the house is set up the front door is away from the kitchen. So my mom didn't get to again reiterate like don't bring it with you. She had said that and hope that my sister didn't. But in turn she did bring the money with her. So she did go to work regular. Day after work she called my mom and they spoke a little bit, cause she spoke to my mom all the time.

Rose Rosemond: 23:42

Eventually I don't know if my dad just had like a gut feeling or something. He called my sister, was like, oh, I need my car to go somewhere. He really didn't, but he just wanted her home Again. I don't know if it's something that a parent just feels like you know what, safer to be at home. He called her and said come home. She was like OK, I'm at the gym, I'm leaving the gym, I'll be there shortly. This was around six, seven in the evening, so nobody kind of thought anything of it. We figured she'd get home eventually. The night came and the night went and what really stuck out to us was the next morning when we realized she never came home.

Anngelle Wood: 24:14

And that right there had to have been a red flag, because she's typically very regimented, very responsible, very very responsible.

Rose Rosemond: 24:23

Again, I wanted to always be like my sister. She was very responsible. No matter, it was always work hard, play hard, so as hard as she works she would have a great time. But she was always responsible. She was definitely a scheduled person. She was definitely kind of strict on exactly if I'm going to be here at this time I'm going to be here.

Rose Rosemond: 24:42

And another thing was which really worried us in addition to that is my dad is very lenient with letting us use his car, but when he needs to go to work the car needs to be there. You want to use it on his day off, not a problem. The next day was the day that he had to go to work and she had never came home, meaning he would not have his car to go to work, and that he had to go to work and she had never came home, meaning he would not have his car to go to work. And we never did that to my dad. So my dad knew it was a problem because we just knew dad will let you use his car, just got to bring it back when he has to go to work. And she didn't.

Anngelle Wood: 25:09

That was out of character for her in every way.

Rose Rosemond: 25:13

Absolutely, absolutely. And then you know we tried to. Not I mean, we were freaking out, but we tried to hold on a little bit. At this point it's like six o'clock in the morning because my mom's an early riser and she woke me up and said oh, your sister didn't come home. I'm thinking maybe she didn't come home but maybe she stayed out, but she'll be back really early. She has to go to work. I think she usually left the house around seven, seven, thirty. Again. She didn't play about work. The same way we didn't play about my dad in his car.

Rose Rosemond: 25:40

My sister was going to be at work on time when she worked at Herb Chambers in Boston and she had worked there for years, very reliable. She was a great employee there so she would never miss work. So I said to my parents let's wait till about 7, 30, 8 o'clock, when it's the time that she typically would start work. Why would she skip home and just go to work? It wasn't the case. But we were trying to like not think the worst of the worst, because it would make no sense that she, even if she slept out, to not bring my dad his car and then go straight to work from where she, it just wasn't a thing. But I didn't want to like assume and my parents didn't. So once we called her job and we were like hey, is Charlene there? And they said no, we really knew something was wrong, because not only did she not come home, she didn't bring my dad's car Now, her being the responsible person that she is she didn't show up to work. That's when my parents started freaking out.

Anngelle Wood: 26:28

Just so I get my facts straight how much time passed before your concern really started to manifest as like panic and you thought you really should get the police involved? I mean your family's from Everett. She was later found in Somerville where you used to live. We'll get into that. But what was the process for your family when you finally decided like okay, we have to report this?

Rose Rosemond: 26:56

So again, my mom was worried around six. At the time me and my dad weren't awake, but then eventually she woke me up, I would say after we called her job, about seven, thirty eight o'clock, still holding out like maybe I don't know what we were thinking. We weren't thinking anything. We just didn't know what to think. But we didn't think anything per se. We would never think murder. I know that we would definitely not think she was dead. She was dead and so I think I would say about 10 o'clock, I remember I was in my room and I was panicking, but again, I'm younger and I'm not saying that's something she would do. But I'm like I hope she just stayed out extra although she typically doesn't do that and maybe she'll just come in and all of this will blow over. However, when 10 o'clock came, I'll never forget my dad, and my dad's a super chill person. He's usually very optimistic, but he came in my room and he had tears in his eyes and he was like, please can you come with me to the police station? Like we have to report her missing.

Rose Rosemond: 27:49

At that point it turned from okay, well, she just didn't come home to like, oh my God, like we have to file a missing persons report. Like is this something that seems so unrealistic? Nobody thinks that's going to be what they have to do. You see it on TV, you see it on the news, you see it on shows, but you never think it'll hit home where you have to go file a police report. So we go to the police station, we try to file a police report. Of course they're like oh, she's 23, she's of age. What if she just ran away? We obviously try to reiterate several times that this is not like her. This is something she would never do. There was no trouble at home. It's not like we had any issues. We're a very tight knit family and we tried to explain that. And of course they really honestly they didn't do anything. They're just like well, we'll just wait and see. We'll wait and see, which was discouraging. So we took that upon ourselves.

Rose Rosemond: 28:36

I started calling mutual friends have you seen her? One of them ended up saying like oh, I talked to her yesterday. She was with some people that were going to show her like the Lexus, and she was around the Somerville area. So of course I'm like oh, let me talk to them. And so eventually I ended up talking to the friends that she was supposedly with. The thing is like they didn't show any concern whatsoever. Like you know, my sister's responsible, me and my dad are at your house telling you she's missing. My dad is crying in tears, like this is not a normal situation, yet, very unfazed, they're like oh yeah, she's probably I don't know somewhere, I don't think she's just somewhere. So that was really suspicious. But at the time, so much is happening that you don't, it's kind of like you put it in the back of your mind, you keep it in your back pocket that this is weird behavior. However, you're on a hunt to look for her. So it's not really like I had time to exactly examine it until like after the fact. So we're looking for her.

Rose Rosemond: 29:31

At this point, we're calling everyone that we know, we start making missing flyers. At this point, it's just like for me, being eight months pregnant, I and I still am I'm kind of like the backbone of the family my parents. It's too much for them to bear, so I do all the heavy lifting. Not to mention, I was close in age with Charlene. I knew her mutual friends. I knew where we hung out, because we always hung out. My parents had no idea. Your parents don't know exactly where you hang out to know like, oh, this is the park they go to sometimes. I knew all that because we hung out as sisters. So I kind of did all that in printing out the missing flyers, like my dad.

Rose Rosemond: 30:09

It was in between sadness and anger and pain because he's like why are you printing out miss missing flyer? She's not missing. It's like she was missing, but it's like hard for you to accept. Why is my daughter on a missing flyer and we're passing it out to people? It was just too much for him to handle. But we started doing that. We would call the state police and they were like we can't help you, we can't help you, which was frustrating because again they're like she's 23. She's probably not missing, but we were trying to say she is missing, like we're telling you she's missing, but they wouldn't listen. So we just continued for six days and the crazy thing is like despite how much you hang out with someone or how much time you spend, it isn't until someone goes missing that you realize like it's so hard to try to find where they are. You think of like the first few places that we typically hang out and then, once they're not there, your brain is kind of foggy, like I don't know where else to check, although you know you've hung out several places. But the world becomes such a larger place when someone goes missing and you're looking for them. So we continue to look for her and for six days we couldn't find her.

Rose Rosemond: 31:11

Each day, in and out, in and out, more family members are coming trying to help, from like all over, and finally on day six that's when. So on day six, we had of family that by at my house. By then there were so many people just around and my brother, my dad, gets a phone call from his cousin who's a taxi driver. But my dad is kind of like, again, there's a lot of family, he can't talk, so he hands that phone over to my brother-in-law. My brother-in-law then takes the phone to a different room and everybody's just kind of, you know, flyers, people are eating, trying to keep their energy going, so we can continue to look for my sister.

Rose Rosemond: 31:51

Finally, at some point my brother-in-law comes and he starts calling me and my parents one by one, and my sisters, my other sisters that were there, and he's like can you guys all come in the room? So it's not again. The house is packed. But he specifically wants the direct folks my parents, me and my siblings and he calls us into the room and he closes the door and he can't speak. And my dad's just staring at him like what is it? And he's just staring at us. He cannot get the words out. So my dad just says to him is it Charline? And my brother-in-law just shakes his head, yes, but he's not verbally saying anything. And my dad said just tell me what it is, is she dead? And my brother-in-law then says yes, my mom fell to the ground, my dad ran outside. It's like no matter how long it's been once I talk about it, it's like I feel like I'm back in that moment. Of course, by then everyone in the house finds out.

Rose Rosemond: 32:53

And then right after that, my friend, her grandma, actually lived in that building in Somerville where Charline's body was found behind.

Rose Rosemond: 33:02

So she called me like five minutes after was like I think we need to call the police.

Rose Rosemond: 33:06

And I'm like we already know, because she obviously got news.

Rose Rosemond: 33:10

And so we all headed over to Union Square in Somerville and you know, they had it taped off. It was behind the Mid Nite Convenience Store in Union Square we all used to go to that convenience store because Charline and I went to Lincoln Park Community School, so we that was just a convenience store we frequented, so we knew the area because we had lived in Somerville for five years prior to moving to Everett and we got there and they had it blocked off and for me I needed to see the car. They wouldn't let us go to the car but I needed to confirm the license plate in order for the reality to hit me and so of course I tried to go to the car. They wouldn't fully let me go to the car but once I was able to see my dad's car and confirm the license plate, that's kind of when it hit everybody like this was really real and it was just. It was just like a nightmare starting from then. It was just like a nightmare starting from then.

Anngelle Wood: 34:02

At any point during this, these hellish six days you were looking for her? Were you ever able to file a missing persons report?

Rose Rosemond: 34:10

No, they never took it as a report. They would not. They would not take it as a missing case. We couldn't get any help. At the time. I was calling the news stations trying to do the story and again, this is new to me it's not like every day you wake up and you're like, oh, I have this news anchor that I could just call. So a lot of places like you have to email, a lot of places you call. They never emailed back. You left a voicemail. There was only one guy I don't know his last name or I can't pronounce it, but I know his name is Todd and he finally picked up. I think he either emailed us back or he picked up and I was like my sister's missing, can you do a story? He was the only news report at the time that would even entertain my family, which till this day, we are super grateful because we outreach to so many people. We just couldn't get an answer but official missing report. We weren't able to do. However, we did have Todd who was willing to run the story, which he did about my sister missing, probably a few days in.

Rose Rosemond: 35:07

So a lot of people were just like on the lookout for my dad's car. The license plate yeah, that was pretty much it From what I know. I believe someone said that they saw her in the car that morning, kind of slumped over. Someone that lived in the building said that they saw someone in the car next to their car slumped over. It's a very small parking lot, very tight, so they didn't think anything of it. I believe they left. They either went to church or went to run errands, something of the sort, and when they came back they realized the person was in the same position, which is why they then called because this was abnormal, like I've been gone for hours and this person's still in the car. That's what they said. I don't know if that's exactly the truth, but that's what I've heard, which is how we came about to finding my sister's body in the car.

Anngelle Wood: 35:53

What did the investigation into her death entail? I mean, were you able to conclude how long she was there? Because when I think about that area Somerville Union Square it's very populated and I would think someone would notice. I mean, I hope I would notice. And I mean, think about it, it's the city. Parking is unreal. A car's been there for a while. It's probably going to get towed or ticketed.

Rose Rosemond: 36:25

At the very least someone might leave a nasty note the thing is because she was found in the driver's seat of my dad's car, shot in the head. How could you have been transferred there if you were found shot in the front seat, in the driver's seat? It's not the passenger seat where someone might've driven you there. You were in the same seat. The blood was in the same area.

Rose Rosemond: 36:49

So in my mind, all of this took place there. How did it go six days without people noticing? It could be a matter of people minding their business, but it's such a tight parking lot I can't get it's a super tight parking lot Parking next to another car. It's like you might as well just jump in the car. So the fact that six days was able to go by without folks noticing that this woman was there but again, who knows, maybe people are like, oh, she's sleeping. Maybe I don't know what people thought, but to me it had to have taken place there. I don't know how the six days ended up with no one seeing it, but based on the facts and I watch a lot of crime shows as well and I'm very into a lot of it it just seems like it's not possible for you to have driven her there because she was found in the driver's seat.

Anngelle Wood: 37:36

I hear this and my red flags go up. I think about. You know, a tow truck driver being called. It was a small lot. She was there in your dad's car and I'm sure your family has had these questions and many, many more, but you got no conclusive information about how long she may have been there, how long she may have been deceased at that point.

Rose Rosemond: 37:59

No, I mean based on what I can remember. I think they also agree with me. I can't exactly say like oh, the facts 100 percent state this, but if I can recall myself as well as the folks that were working on the case, do believe that she was there the whole time. They do believe she was there the whole time and they obviously may have more details onto why exactly they think that. I think that based on the facts of what I know but they have further information I may not have. However, they do agree with me. So I think that says a lot that you know that she was there the whole time, which is pretty crazy, I feel like, because I've been back to that area. I like to frequent it sometimes. I don't know just to kind of, I don't know what. I think I may be back to that area. I like to frequent it sometimes. I don't know just to kind of, I don't know what I think I may be able to find.

Rose Rosemond: 38:47

Obviously, it's been 15 years. Times have changed. I know they have cameras there now. I don't think they had cameras then. The convenience store is there. They have cameras. Crazily enough, they said that it wasn't working, that one day, which was the day that it happened or around that time they said it was working, wasn't working. So to answer folks' questions on if there was any surveillance apparently their cameras were not working at the time. That was facing behind the building, which sucks because you know watching shows and everything. Having surveillance a lot of times help families solve things rather easily, but the fact that we didn't have that it was another roadblock.

Anngelle Wood: 39:24

Well, and nowadays, I mean, our complete digital footprint is mapped out. We have a phone. Yeah, there's typically cameras everywhere. We follow people's social media pathways, right, it's just infuriating, and I hear you tell me this, and once you clarified it for me, they wouldn't even allow you to file a missing persons report.

Rose Rosemond: 39:47

My dad would call we left, we stopped calling the Everett police station throughout the six days. My dad would call the state police and they would hang up on him Sorry, sir, we can't help you click. And my dad is like in distress, like please help me. He's crying, my daughter is missing, can somebody help me? And they'd like we can't help you and they'd hang up on him. He'd call back, he'd do it every day and they would just continue to hang up on him and at that point we're like we don't know what to do.

Rose Rosemond: 40:08

This is not something you plan for. If you can't go to the police, yeah, she's 23. But at some point we're letting you know like this is not normal and I mean that it does suck. I understand people are adults and they're able to do as they please, but at what point are people able to report an adult missing knowing that they are now doing something that is not normal? We know most folks are routine folks and I just think it just did a disservice. I don't know if we would have found her any sooner. I don't know, because if they're saying that she was deceased the whole time, maybe it wouldn't have made a difference. She could have been deceased the same night. We expected her to come home but at the same time we would never know, because nobody allowed us to file a missing report and get the extra support.

Rose Rosemond: 40:55

All of the searches and everything we did was literally me and my family and friends. We didn't get any support by the community. We didn't get any support from the police station. On Okay, the first day you want to say wait 24 hours, but she went missing six days and we got no support the whole six days until after we found her. Then it was like we started hearing from news stations, you know cause.

Rose Rosemond: 41:14

Now it's like okay, the story's out there, but I just declined to speak to them. We reached out to you guys while she was missing. Now you want to talk to my family and she's deceased. What can you do for me now? You could have helped when we were looking for her and you choose not to reply. So I did take that personally. I know this is a business they run it but I felt disrespected that the same news stations I reached out to prior to finding her never gave me the time of day, aside from Todd. However, right after everybody was outside and everybody wants a word and it's like at this point we weren't in the mood to speak to you guys. We found her deceased. We wish you guys were able to help us much sooner to get the story out there. Who knows? Again, we don't know what the result would have been had we had earlier support, but we'll never know.

Anngelle Wood: 41:55

So here we are. We're 15 years out. Charline's murder remains unresolved. What kind of information do you get? Do you get information from the authorities? Do you get any kind of updates? If someone in your family calls to check in, I don't want to call it support because it doesn't sound like much is available to you, unfortunately. Do you have any means of communication with authorities about Charline's case?

Rose Rosemond: 42:26

Nowadays. No, for a good while there was a detective that was working on it. He has since retired. He was so amazing to my family, like such a blessing. He worked hard, day in and day out and even as he's retired he would call on her anniversary day and call and say you know, thanking you guys, even after retirement. Calling to say you know, thanking you guys, even after retirement. Calling to say you know, thanking you guys.

Rose Rosemond: 42:46

So one day I did go to the police station. This was maybe five, six years ago. I went to the police station. I had asked for this detective. At that time they told me oh, he's no longer here, he's retired, but we have someone new on the case. I didn't know that because that took me by surprise, and so I said OK, let me talk to the new detective.

Rose Rosemond: 43:02

The new detective comes out after a while and we go in the back, we start talking about the case and he starts basically asking me questions. So I'm giving him the whole rundown again. If this is the person working on the case. He knew nothing about the case, but I knew, but I didn't quite know it at the time. I could feel that like he was trying to mask the fact that he knew about Charlene's case. But he kept asking me details where I'm like don't you guys have that in the file, fast forward. I left there.

Rose Rosemond: 43:29

I was super pissed because it's like nobody's working on the case. Like don't lie and tell me that someone's working on the case and no one's. So I ended up posting something on Facebook, a long paragraph, pretty pissed off, saying you know, I went to the police station no one's working on my sister's case. They gave me this guy. He didn't even know anything about my sister's case and I tagged the police department. They obviously notified this detective, who then called me. He apologized but he did tell me I'm not gonna lie the day you came in. I will say I had never even opened your sister's file prior to that day, so I didn't know anything. So you guys telling me how we have someone new on the case. Meanwhile the new person never even opened the file, like he never looked at it again. They probably like we have new things to worry about, but this is something that is literally haunting my family and you guys haven't even had the audacity to open the file, and so after that we did keep in touch for a little bit me and that detective and you know cause. I think he probably realized, like how bad that looked. Not to mention, how are you taking over a case and you haven't even opened the file? He literally told me verbatim I never even opened her file, like it's back there somewhere probably collecting dust and it's like that's really not what my parents and I wanted to hear.

Rose Rosemond: 44:41

I understand you may not be working on it each and every day. However, I do think it's a solvable case, but someone has to be working on it for it to be a solvable case. I do think it's a matter of folks knowing what happened to my sister, considering the fact she was supposed to meet up with a friend to buy a car, like a lot of the things kind of align. However, it's just a proof that we don't quite have in order to figure out exactly what happened. But if you're not working on the case, you're never going to find out what happened.

Rose Rosemond: 45:06

What do you think? A fairy is going to come and tell you what happened? Granted, I would hope, as we continue to get the story out, maybe someone, even if they didn't know my family, heard about this and didn't realize a minor detail that they know could possibly help us, but at the same time, I just feel like if I'm not working on getting the story out and the police are not working on trying to get details and access to things that me as a civilian cannot, we're going to continue to have it 15, 20, 30 years when it's solvable, and these people are still out there. This is not going to be the first time they kill or the last time.

Anngelle Wood: 45:40

Do you know or are you, do you have any familiarity with these people that Charline was set to be out with when she disappeared? I do, and do you believe you know at least some of what happened and do you believe that you know at least some of the details about what happened leading up to her murder?

Rose Rosemond: 46:03

I feel like I have a very vague idea. I don't know. I just know that you're supposed to meet up with these people to buy a car or whatever hang out. These are the people you're supposed to buy a car. I know that it's usually a few of them at a time. I know you were shot in the back of the head, which leads me to believe there were at least a couple people there. If I get in the car with you, I'm not sitting behind you, I'm sitting beside you, unless someone is already in the passenger side. So for me I've concluded. Okay, more than one person, that's for sure.

Rose Rosemond: 46:43

Two there is someone that was charged with perjury for my sister's case and he ended up going to jail for about a year and a half and some change. But the reason he got called into the court of law was because he provided an alibi for these folks where the scientific facts in the towers and et cetera were able to prove that he was in fact at his own home. He was never with these people. So basically, he was providing an alibi for these folks. And why would you be providing a fake alibi if said folks had nothing to do with the situation? But there again allows me to further conclude that these people were in fact involved, because why do you have fake alibis? If you were really doing something, you were nowhere near my sister and you don't know anything that happened to her. Why did you get a fake alibi?

Anngelle Wood: 47:35

One of the many questions that comes up for me, Rose, about this story. Was there even a Lexus for sale? Was the car story real or was this a ruse?

Rose Rosemond: 47:47

If I'm not mistaken, I think she had a picture of a car. However, I'm not going to lie these folks. From what I heard, one of them, I think, told someone and this is, of course, after the fact is things that I've been hearing. One of them told someone oh, I'm about to come up on some money. Prior to my sister being murdered and shortly after my sister was murdered, this person had money that they didn't have before.

Anngelle Wood: 48:15

This is quite a story, Thank you, Rose, but this is just the first part of the story. There's a lot more to tell. So this is part one of the unsolved murder of Charline Rosemond in Somerville, Massachusetts, in April 2009. We are working on. It is live now. Who Shot Charline Rosemond? The name might change I'm going to leave that up to the family to decide if they want to keep that but we will be activating that page and sharing information and reminding people and jogging people's memories about what happened in that time frame where Charline went missing and was found murdered, that six-day span in 2009.

Anngelle Wood: 49:15

Thank you for listening. My name is Anngelle Wood. This is Crime of the Truest Kind, Massachusetts and New England crime stories. I add a little history, tiny bit of snark, because that's who I am and I'm not going to change now but always, always advocacy- focused, always centered on the people most affected, which is these families. Support the show, whatever that looks like, simply telling people about it, posting about it, sharing the Apple Podcasts link or the Spotify link or the Amazon Music link or the Good Pods link. However you listen, you can find it on YouTube and come to the live show next Thursday, October 10th, Off Cabot, North Shore Crime Cases. There are certainly a lot of cases to talk about Salem, Peabody, Lynn, Beverly, Rockport, Gloucester and we'll see what we have time for. If you have a suggestion, email at crimeofthetruestkind@ gmail. com.

Anngelle Wood: 50:29

I feel like there was something else I wanted to tell you. I have some really interesting shows on the way to collaborate with a couple of other true crime creators in the advocacy space. Really looking forward to that. I will tell you more about it as we confirm, well, we've confirmed. We just need to set up the time we're actually going to talk. Thank you, Rose. Thank you to the Rosemond family, thank you to all of you for caring about these stories. I must be going now. It's been quiet tonight. Lock your goddamn doors, I mean it. That's how the bad people get in. As a reminder as to why I say that, when you watch some true crime documentary and they're interviewing some killer, they'll often say I got in because their door was unlocked. Their windows were open. It was an invitation for me to come into their home. So to that I say lock your motherfucking doors.