Jennifer Kocher

Writer & editor with more than a decade of experience in feature, news, arts and lifestyle coverage for print and online media.

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WyoFile •

Whistleblowers: Workplace discrimination and retaliation plague Wyo National Guard

If the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s decisions and the testimony of multiple women are any indication, the Wyoming National Guard has a problem. Over the last decade the EEOC — the federal authority charged with investigating employer discrimination — has put the Wyoming National Guard on notice three times for workplace hostility, including the mishandling of sexual harassment. Whistleblowers say the documented complaints are only the tip of the iceberg and that rather than addres
County 17 •

Missing People of Wyoming: Part II

Dave Wolfskill is a guy who lives up to his name. A former policeman/detective turned private investigator, Wolfskill has devoted the latter part of his career to tracking down missing people. Now retired, he does it on his own time. Old habits die hard, he joked, and now, he continues working with a dedicated group of private investigators, volunteers and bikers at We Help the Missing, a non-profit that he co-founded with Utah detective, Marki Davis. Sitting at the Red Rock Café in downtown H
County 17 •

Part II: Debunking the Myths

This is part II of a multi-part series. Part I – Operating in the Shadows | Part II – Debunking the Myths | Part III – Grooming Victims | Part IV – Supply and Demand One glaring misnomer when it comes to human trafficking is that victims are snatched out of malls or shopping center parking lots by cartel members in black vans with tinted windows who have targeted them based on age, gender or hair color. Though this occassionally does happen, it’s not what law enforcement and prosecutors are
County 17 •

Part IV: Supply and Demand

There’s a perception that human trafficking is a big-city problem that doesn’t happen in rural states like Wyoming. The truth is, however, that its ruralness and connectivity to major interstates makes the state prime for underground activity as a growing number of human trafficking cases are reported every year. This series takes a look at the nature of the problem, the people and groups tackling it and how awareness is changing law enforcement’s response and state legislation. This is part IV