Warning: Skip to 3rd paragraph to bypass the history and get to the tech part.

Recently purchased an '89 LWB Montero; all original with over 220K miles. It smokes a little, shifts a little rough, has hail damage and a multitude of other problems. I fell in love with it instantly and proudly brought it home only to find the wife with crossed arms and a disapproving stare. Sure, the interior smells a little funny and its not the belle of the ball; not to mention it's questionable past resulting in a title that I had to spend 2 months and $125 to get a bond in order drive it. Nonetheless it has charisma and I believe that it could be a great companion given a chance, a little cash, and a lot of attention. It has to live on the side of the house for now but it's paved and semi-sheltered from the sun and rain; something it appears to have never seen in its lifetime.
So...

I've read a lot on these forums before and after purchasing the yet-to-be-named Montero and since then I have developed a laundry list of things to do to help it along. I've also ripped out ALL of the carpet and the back seat to make way for a future platform/storage/expedition cargo area which is the main reason I purchased it and the one thing that will make the wife warm up to my new stray. After a couple of months of cleaning and airing out the interior it smells *much* better and I have a plan for building out the storage/sleeping quarters. I've also spent a couple of days tracking down blinker/brake light issues so I'm ready to start building out the cargo area.

The problem:
The cargo door did not open from the outside when i bought it but would from the inside. I adjusted the linkage for the outside handle and it has worked fine for the last dozen times. Unfortunately, the last time I shut the door I have been unable to open it again. I've tried everything I can think of:
Push/Pull/Wiggle from the inside/outside
Manually moved the linkage for to unlock/open from the inside with the panel removed, including disconnecting the linkage to make sure I had full range of motion.

It just wonÆt budge! I feel like I could figure it out if I could get it open once but the only access point I can find is behind the door trim from the inside... I've removed the rear light, looked underneath, removed the interior trim, etc. and I just canÆt figure out how to get the damn thing to open.

Maybe if I could use a slim-jim kind of device if I knew what the mechanism looks like? I've also reviewed all of the reapir manuals and although they provide great detail on the side doors I did not see anything about the rear door!

Any and all help is appreciated!