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