156: Jami Hagel Sherer: When Domestic Violence Becomes A Disappearance

In 1986, 22-year-old Jami Hagel met Steven Sherer at a bar in Redmond, Washington. He was charming, persistent, and was soon sending her a dozen roses. Within months, the relationship that started with romance would become something far more frightening. Steven controlled where Jami went, who she saw, and how often she could be away from him. As Jami became increasingly isolated from her friends and family, the confident and outgoing young woman they knew began to disappear. To many, Jami's life seemed successful: she was building a career and Microsoft, started a family with Steve, and purchased their first home. But those who knew her well, knew she was looking for a way out. But leaving Steve would never be as simple as walking out the door. There were threats of violence, financial complication, a child to protect, and the growing fear that he would never let her go. But by the fall of 1990, Jami was ready to make plans for a life without him. She was ready to tell him she wanted a divorce. So she stepped out the front door of her parents' house to tell him, and she was never seen again. 📍 Redmond, Washington | September 30, 1990 📖 Featuring an original poem written and read in her honor by Jami Rice. ➡️ Help bring attention to missing and unidentified women—subscribe and share this episode. 📍 Find us on Instagram & Facebook and Patreon. 📚 Get Aimee’s book, Doe, now available via University of Akron Press, Bookshop.org, and Amazon. 📰 For more women-centered true crime content, subscribe to Aimee’s newsletter, GIRLHUNT. More about Jami Rice: A Southern California native, Jami lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband, three children, and two dogs. As a pre-teen, Jami read books about serial killers and followed true crime cases on tv. In 2017, she was the jury foreman on a first degree murder trial in Los Angeles County. Shortly after that trial concluded, Jami launched MURDERISH podcast as she wanted to share true crime cases with like-minded people. Her very first episode was a recounting of her experience being a juror on a murder trial. Voted “Class Clown” in school, Jami was the kid in school who often had her seat moved to the front of the class because she “talked too much.” Not much has changed, and through MURDERISH Jami now has a vehicle and an outlet to tell fascinating true crime stories to people without getting into trouble for talking too much. Every other Monday, Jami releases a new episode of MURDERISH where she gives listeners a 3D look at fascinating true crime cases. Jami tells these stories with the empathy victims deserve. In each episode, she walks you through the victim and perpetrator’s background, how their worlds collided, details of the crime, and what went down during trial. Jami’s professional background includes an 18 year career in commercial real estate financing. In 2018, she ditched her corporate gig and joined her husband in operating their Landscape construction and design company. When she’s not telling true crime stories, Jami is working alongside her husband to transform outdoor spaces and argue over who is the boss. Jami also enjoys going camping with her family, coffee, good conversation, binging on HGTV and Bravo, riding on the back of her husband’s motorcycle, karaoke, laughing, and making people laugh. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices