Missing: Keith Reinhard

[JonathanVonErich]

Keith Reinhard

Gender: Male

DOB: 9/5/39

Height: 6’2”

Weight: 210 lbs.

Eyes: Blue

The tiny village of Silver Plume, Colorado--population 200--lies in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. On September 7, 1987, Tom Young closed up his bookshop on Main Street, and along with his dog disappeared. Nine months later, a new resident of Silver Plume, Keith Reinhard, opened an antique shop at exactly the same location. On August 7, 1988, Keith closed up his shop for the day. Less than two hours later, Keith Reinhard also disappeared. There were just too many coincidences. Keith Reinhard and Tom Young both rented the same store. They both left town promising to return. Strangest of all, Keith was writing a book about Tom's disappearance, when he too suddenly vanished.

Nine months earlier, Keith's antique shop had been a bookstore. Tom Young, the man who mysteriously disappeared with his dog, had run the store for about a year. Tom had told people he was taking a vacation to Europe. Three weeks went by before anyone became suspicious about his absence. Keith Reinhard became obsessed by the unexplained disappearance and began talking to everyone in Silver Plume who had known Tom. Eventually, Keith decided to base his novel on Tom Young.

On July 31, 1988, ten months after Tom Young disappeared, two hunters found the remains of Tom and his dog in the mountains near Silver Plume. Each had died from a bullet wound to the head. Dave Dauenhaur of the Clear Creek County Sheriff's Department, was one of the first investigators to arrive on the scene: "They were up there exploring some territory for the bow hunting season which was coming up and they found his remains. Also found at the scene was a revolver. In subsequent investigation, we found out that Tom had purchased a gun, approximately four days before he was last known to be in Silver Plume. The Tom Young case is closed and it has been ruled a suicide, both by the coroner's office and by the Clear Creek County Sheriff's Department."

One week after Tom's body was found, Keith walked through Silver Plume telling everyone he saw that he was going to climb to the top of nearby Pendleton Mountain. Keith was last seen walking toward Pendleton Mountain at 4:30 in the afternoon, far too late in the day to begin a difficult six-hour hike. That night, Keith Reinhard did not return.

The next day, helicopters were called to search the mountain. On the ground, more than 125 men and a dozen trained dogs combed the difficult terrain for seven days. Charley Shimanski headed the Alpine Rescue Team: "The Reinhard search was like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. This haystack is 3,000 vertical feet of 60 degree slope. This was about as difficult a search terrain as we cover. We were at a real disadvantage because Keith went into the mountains wearing no more than blue jeans and a flannel shirt and tennis shoes. He had no backpack. He had no equipment. A typical subject of a search will leave lots of clues for us to trace. Keith didn't leave many clues. He didn't have many with him to leave behind."

In thirty years of operation, the Colorado Alpine Rescue Teams had found every single person they searched for. However, they discovered no trace of Keith Reinhard. Some have concluded that Keith Reinhard and Tom Young were murdered, noting that both men rented the same space to run their shops. Perhaps, they both came across information someone didn't want them to know. Another theory is that Keith planned his own disappearance. To this day no one knows what happened to Keith Reinhard.

Unsolved Mysteries episode about the case:

Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSs9AVSR3vg

Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLA6Hf8ktSs

Edited May 31, 2012 by JonathanVonErich

[Regi]

This is a very interesting case not only because of the similarities between this and Young's case, but mostly in how the two cases are interwoven.

The inconsistencies are telling.

Reinhart had a fear of heights, yet he intended to "make it to the top of the mountain" even though it was late in the afternoon, and he was completely unprepared.

He was "apprehensive, but excited" about turning 50. His family, and then his friend of 40 years all agreed on that issue.

Reinhart had initiated several major changes in his life, all within a relatively short amount of time.

Everyone was well aware of his Reinhart's obsession with Tom Young's disappearance. He was even writing a novel inspired by the event, and the article reporting the discovery of Young's body was present at his work station after his disappearance.

I agree with the investigators' impressions.

Re: Young's case, if the bullets were recovered, I don't understand why ballistics couldn't show that they came from Young's gun.

[JonathanVonErich]

This is one of the strangest case I have ever seen, and I'm trying to find more recent information.

I was searching the web and found a blog about this case. 7 people wrote comments about the blog. Somebody think that Keith might have been eaten by a Mountain lion. Possible. A man claiming to be one of Keith's friend is convinced that it was either an accident, that Keith had a hearth attack or that he was attacked by a wild animal. Another comment was written by somebody claiming that the day Keith disappeared he had asked him and his father to go with him on his hike. All of these comments are very interesting.

This is probably the most interesting of all comments. This man left his email at the end of the comment, so I'll try to contact him. Here's what he wrote in September 2011:

"I was in Jamaica in Aug/Sep 1988. I was eating dinner at our resort, heard a scream, saw a table of 4 (2 men, 2 women), one of the men had stood up and was punching the other man in the side of the head. The man getting punched was clearly stronger/more muscular, he blocked a couple of punches then then one doing the punching and his female companion left. Strange occurrence as you can imagine, watched it all unfold at the table right near me. Got back to town (Denver), in Westword was reading article about Keith, it had his picture and that of his high school friend Ted Parker. Instantly recognized Reinhard as the one punching, Parker as the muscular man sitting and taking the punches. Showed the article that night to one of the people on the trip with me. Only showed them the pictures, not in context with the article. I said 'recognize these people?' They immediately said they were the ones fighting in the restaurant in Jamaica (at Sans Souci resort in Ocho Rios). Called the Denver FBI office, they said they were not investigating it, so wanted me to call the Clear Creek County Sheriff's Department, which I did (can't find the name of the guy I talked to, but if you told me his name I would be able to say yes or no - wife was going through cancer treatments at the time). He was not surprised and had heard of other rumors similar to mine. There was never any follow-up after that - took down my info on where/when I saw him, etc., but got the feeling I was not the only one who had given him that info. So take it for what it is worth, but two of us saw this fight happen, then saw pictures in Westword they were the two men fighting, no question."

I'll contact this person, this is a very interesting story. Maybe this person was simply mistaken ( highly possible ), but still I think this possibility should be investigated.

To read the blog and the 7 comments: http://somethingslurking-hook.blogspot.ca/2010/05/mysterious-disappearence-of-keith.html

[Regi]

Jon, I agree that every sighting should be investigated until a body is recovered, but right off the bat, I don't see Reinhard at a resort in Jamaica, engaging in a fist fight with Parker. 1) Reinhard didn't strike me as a resort-type person, and 2) He didn't strike me as an angry/violent type, either, (never mind that they were said to be with two women (I think that makes the sighting even less accurate) but most importantly, if Parker was absent anytime in the early weeks of Reinhard's disappearance, then it should have been easily established, and so for that reason- if the sighting was brought to the attention of the authorities, I'm confident that it was quickly discounted.

[JonathanVonErich]

Jon, I agree that every sighting should be investigated until a body is recovered, but right off the bat, I don't see Reinhard at a resort in Jamaica, engaging in a fist fight with Parker. 1) Reinhard didn't strike me as a resort-type person, and 2) He didn't strike me as an angry/violent type, either, (never mind that they were said to be with two women (I think that makes the sighting even less accurate) but most importantly, if Parker was absent anytime in the early weeks of Reinhard's disappearance, then it should have been easily established, and so for that reason- if the sighting was brought to the attention of the authorities, I'm confident that it was quickly discounted.

You are probably right Regi, it would be very surprising if one of the man was Keith. Like you I am skeptical, but I wrote an email to this person, just in case. We have to look at every possibilities.

What do you think of the Mountain lion/wild animal theory ??

[Regi]

What do you think of the Mountain lion/wild animal theory ??

I'm glad you asked, Jon. I'd intended to comment on that, and I'm surprised that it slipped my mind!

I think the wild animal theory is very probable because it offers the best explanation as to first- what happened, and then second- the reason Reinhard's body was never recovered. As for a specific animal, I wouldn't rule out a bear, either, because even though I believe it's considered a rare event, bears have been known to attack (most often when a victim is alone) and then drag away the victim. Also, the time of year of Reinhard's disappearance (Sept.-seems to be a common month for attacks) is when bears are preparing themselves for hibernation and so might be more inclined toward that sort of behavior.

That said, I do think that it's equally as probable that Reinhard could have simply fallen and was either killed in the fall, or died as a result or soon after, and was never located only because of the difficult terrain. I appreciate that it was an extremely difficult area to search.

[JonathanVonErich]

Thanks for sharing Regi. I agree, very probable and logical theory. I'm wondering why producers of Unsolved Mysteries decided not to mention this theory in the segment, they should've.

Indeed it's a very difficult and dangerous area to search. I'm wondering if, in recent years, they tried again to locate his body.

I'm still asking myself: Why would he leave so late ?? He left around 4h30pm, that's late for a six-hour hike. And he went there with no backpack, no water, no food, nothing. This is strange. There's something mysterious about what Keith did or didn't do before going on that hike.

[Regi]

Thanks for sharing Regi. I agree, very probable and logical theory. I'm wondering why producers of Unsolved Mysteries decided not to mention this theory in the segment, they should've.

Indeed it's a very difficult and dangerous area to search. I'm wondering if, in recent years, they tried again to locate his body.

I'm still asking myself: Why would he leave so late ?? He left around 4h30pm, that's late for a six-hour hike. And he went there with no backpack, no water, no food, nothing. This is strange. There's something mysterious about what Keith did or didn't do before going on that hike.

You know, Jon, that's an excellent observation, and that's where the answer lies as to what his intention was. Did he really intend to climb to the top, or was he sarcastic with that remark? Was he so adventuresome and optimistic (as his wife described him to be) that he was the original Survivorman who didn't survive? Did he decide to test fate?

Unsolved Mysteries is one of my all-time favorite programs, but I'm recognizing that they leave out important and informative info. and I agree, they could have offered better speculation.

According to another source, Reinhard- in his last letter to his friend and boss at the Daily Herald- wrote "I love these mountains and want to live in them before I die in them."

I don't know when the letter was written, but there's certainly two ways that could be interpreted.

http://www.dailyhera...news/301059968/

I have to say I've been bothered about calling out da bears (hehe).

I must make it known that I don't know much about their habits and behavior- it might be obvious that I'm not in any way an authority- and what I wrote was what I remembered about bears from a book I read in the 90's called Bear Tales.

Yes, it's a collection of bear stories, and some are funny, some sad, some are strange, and some will scare the hell out of you, and those are the ones I remember. (I developed a mild bear phobia similar to the shark phobia people had after seeing Jaws.)

Also, I was mistaken in the info that Reinhard was missing in Sept., (it was Aug) but as it turns out, August seems even more common for attacks according to fatality stats.

I think the main thing about that notion is that animal predation could explain what happened to Reinhard and why his body hasn't been located, but I also believe that Reinhard set out with full knowledge of all of the dangers and risk, so, the question is, why was he so careless?

Edited June 29, 2012 by regi

[wondergirl100]

This case intrigues me, because of the circumstances surrounding it. Interestingly enough both guys who owned the store went missing in the mountains and only one them was found dead, but the other one was never found at all.

[Regi]

This first link below is a very interesting read, and the second link- which I haven't yet read from- provides police files!

https://www.ericwalterdocs.com/home/2017/7/1/the-mysterious-disappearance-of-keith-reinhard

https://www.darksidedoc.com/

Edited February 11, 2018 by regi

[GlitterRose]

I need new glasses.

I keep reading Keith Richards.

[MDagger]

I miss JonathanVonErich.  Was because of his contributions that I got interested in the True Crimes Forum.  Hasn't been the same since he got banned for some reason.

MDagger