Friday, May 28, 2010

The Mysterious Disappearance of Keith Reinhard.

On a warm August afternoon, Keith Reinhard told local residence of Silver Plume that he was taking a hike in the mountains surrounding the town. He was never seen again.

What makes this case so intriguing is the events that lead to Keith's disappearance.

A few months prior, Tom Young owned a book store in Silver Plume, Colorado. One afternoon, he and his dog, closed up the store and mysteriously vanished. A few months later, Keith opened up his own shop in the same store front.

Keith was a sports writer for most of his career. He was entering his 50's and wanted to enjoy life. He set off to Silver Plume in hopes of a change. He wanted to rid his fear of vertigo, write a book and open up an antique shop in the same store front of Tom Jones.

When Tom Young disappeared the towns folk all had their opinions. But Keith had become obsessed with his disappearance. He decided to base the book he was writing on Tom Young.

Local hunters later found the remains of Tom Young and his dog. Both were shot in the head. The authorities called it a suicide and Tom's case was closed. A week later, Keith had told some friends that he was taking a hike to the top of the mountains. This was proven to be no easy task. It had been far too late in the afternoon to venture up the treacherous mountains. At the time, Keith had only the clothes on his back and nothing more. And on that late, August afternoon Keith disappeared and hasn't been seen since. It's been 22 years since anyone has seen him.

There are a number of spectulations concerning the disappearance of Keith Reinhard. One, is the fact that he went up to the mountains and killed himself. This, has been said to be highly unlikely, because nobody saw him with a gun. Or anything else to harm himself. Secondly, some believe that he met his demise on the mountains that day and perished up there. Thirdly, some believe that both Tom and Keith were murdered. And finally, some say he plotted his own disappearence.

There was a manhunt searching for Keith, but nothing ever turned out. The manhunt was eventually closed after a fatal helicopter accident which resulted in the death of one of the searchers.

Close friends and family disregard the notion that Keith would plot his own disappearance. He wrote letters to friends and family just days prior to his disappearance and he seemed to be optimistic about himself and life. He wasn't a man who would be known to just up and walk out on his family and friends. They stick by the theory that he was perhaps, murdered.

I often find it hard to believe that someone can just disappear off the face of the earth and remain lost for years without anyone seeing or hearing from that person. I believe that he went up there and died that day in the harsh Colorado mountains. I believe due to the fact of that one of the searchers was killed, the search was cut too short.

But if I'm wrong, then, why would a man tell everyone he was going for a hike, then kill himself? Or why would somebody want him dead? There has never been any solid evidence pointing to these two theories. This is one case that certainly baffles the hell out of me.

7 comments:

  1. One other theory I've seen implied is that he was eaten by a mountain lion, which is know to have happened to at least one other person in those mountains.

    A heck of an interesting story, without a doubt. I'm 39 now and remember seeing the case on "Unsolved Mysteries" when I was 19! I'm now a film maker and might consider making a money about this case someday. When something captures your fascination for so long, that's a sign that it's worth pursuing.

    "Unsolved Mysteries" seemed to try to convince the viewer that Keith's disappearance was not an accident - that he committed suicide, was murdered or planned his disappearance.

    And while it's an eerie coincidence that his store was in the same location as Tom Jones' and that Keith was working on a book about Tom, I think accident is by far the most likely possibility.

    In particular, I think to say that both Tom and Keith, as a result of renting the same space, came across some deadly information is extremely unlikely, especially in such a small town. Furthermore, I assume that space has been rented since and that those who rented it didn't disappear.

    Lec Zorn
    Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
    theleczornproject@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. You know, I've recently heard about the mountain lion theory. I'm guessing that because of the fatal accident - they called the search off way too soon! I've also recently read and article that a friend of his wrote concerning the disappearance. I'll have to get back to you on the article though. And UM, really did want the viewer to believe in those above mentioned theories. Like you, I find it highly unlikely that any of the men found out any dangerous informatin. I think that was just something to add to the drama. I'd believe that Keith fell and possibly died in the vast mountains. He was hiking way past the normal hour anyway, right? This case is very mysterious and I'd love to check out your film when you get it completed.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I knew Keith very well, and am convinced that he suffered an accident, heart attack, or was confronted by a wild animal. In other words, he was not murdered, he did not kill himself (he hated guns, and was afraid of getting cancer from certain foods), he never would have abandoned his kids, especially his daughter, who only was a teenager at the time.

    John Olsen - Illinois

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm greatly sad for his family and friends. I was always hoping for an update on this sad case. I wish for closure for the ones that loved him and knew him best.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I was there when Keith asked me and my father to go with him on his hike. The whole town was a madhouse after he went missing, with the search camp and everything. I still wonder what became of Keith... which got me here.
    The name of the other guy was Tom Young (not Tom Jones), he was a very kind man and his dog Gus-Gus was a super friendly and giant black lab. Keith was a good guy, too.

    ReplyDelete
  6. His name was indeed, Tom Young. Thanks for pointing that out! I don't know where the hell I got Tom Jones from. Anyway, it's fixed. Thanks again. I'm still searching everyday to see if this case has any new leads. I only wish for closure for his family and friends.

    ReplyDelete
  7. 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. ryno@ymail.com

    ReplyDelete