Jim Rathmann (investigator)

Jim Rathmann (born March 4, 1979) is an American investigator, television personality, Army veteran, and former law enforcement officer, United States Secret Service agent, and college football player. He is known for being the lead investigator in the Investigation Discovery documentary Joe Exotic: Tigers, Lies & Cover-Up.

Rathmann served with the 82nd Airbone Division and received a Bronze Star for valor in combat. As a Secret Service agent, he served under President Barack Obama’s administration.

Rathmann played college football at Louisiana State University. He was a member of the LSU Tigers team that won the BCS National Championship at the 2004 Nokia Sugar Bowl.

Early life and education
Rathmann grew up in Boca Raton, Florida. He attended Boca Raton High School.undefined After his military service, he attended Louisiana State University.

Military service
Rathmann’ first tenure in the U.S. Army was from 1999 to 2003, during which he achieved the rank of Sergeant. After attending Officer Candidate School, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 2008, and he served as an Infantry Platoon Leader with the 508th Infantry Regiment in Fort Bragg. From 2009 to 2010, he served as a platoon leader for the 82nd Airborne Division after being deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan. Rathmann eventually achieved the rank of Captain and was awarded the Bronze Star in combat.

Football career
Rathmann played for the LSU Tigers in 2003 and 2004 as a safety, slot receiver, and kick returner.

He played under the tutelage of coaches Nick Saban, Jimbo Fisher, and Will Muschamp. With the Tigers, he won the 2003 season’s BCS National Championship at the 2004 Nokia Sugar Bowl.

Career
Rathmann served as a deputy of the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s office.

Rathmann worked as a Secret Service agent mostly under President Barack Obama. He has also provided security for then-Vice President Joe Biden and presidential candidate Mitt Romney and vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan.

In 2016, Rathmann was hired as an defensive backs coach for the Legacy High Eagles. By 2018, he was still with the team as an assistant coach.

Rathmann co-owned/hosted the true-crime podcast Real Life, Real Crime in 2019. Sheriff Jason Ard partnered with the podcast to investigate the disappearance of Livingston Parish resident Barbara Blount in 2020. In the same year, Rathmann began investigating the disappearance of Don Lewis, which had been discussed in the Netflix documentary series Tiger King, which centered on Joe Exotic and his conflict with Lewis’s former wife, Carole Baskin.

Following his investigation into this topic, Rathmann was chosen to be the lead investigator in the documentary Joe Exotic: Tigers, Lies & Cover Up.  He employed methods such as cadaver dogs to gather new information about Lewis’s disappearance. Rathmann also submitted the new evidence he gathered for the documentary to the White House for consideration of a presidential pardon for Joe Exotic. The program premiered on Investigation Discovery in September 2020. Rathmann discussed his work on the documentary on television news programs such as The AM Show and Good Morning America. He also discussed the documentary on local news networks such as Chicago’s WGN9, Nashville’s News Channel 5, and San Antonio’s KENS5.

In June 2021, Rathmann served as a guest speaker at the true crime convention CrimeCon 2021.