The Billings Gazette has written a story on the troubles at the Tumbleweed Runaway Program, following up on the story I posted yesterday.
Derek Brouwer, a reporter I have met only a couple of times, did a good job on it. In particular, he had the good idea of asking Yellowstone County Sheriff Mike Linder about the very large encampment of teens that Tumbleweed Director Sheri Boelter supposedly visited during a Youth Count survey in 2013.
Boelter’s claims about that camp, and the many discrepancies in her account, are at the heart of allegations of fraudulent activities raised by five current and former employees of the nonprofit agency.
Here’s what Linder had to say:
Camps of that size have never been discovered by Yellowstone County Sheriff Mike Linder or his staff, Linder said Thursday. Deputies have rarely encountered youths in outdoor camps, and never more than two or three in a particular location, he said.
“I can’t imagine that we had 50 youths in a homeless camp. That would have been big news,” Linder said.
The Gazette also reported that a member of the Tumbleweed board, Debbie Schenk, resigned on Monday.
“I don’t have any answers,” she told the Gazette. “I don’t want to be involved in the board anymore.”
Stay tuned. The board said it is still conducting an investigation.
