Keith Reinhard - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

crystaldawn · 10-25-2005, 10:38 AM

I'm sure there are a few of you out there who remember this one. Its about the former sports reporter from Illinois who was going through a sort of mid-life crisis and had moved to Silver Plume, Colorado and I believe owned an antiques shop. He went to climb a nearby mountain one day and was never seen again. UM (in my opinion) seemed to slant the entire scenario as if to say Reinhard was obsessed with a man named Tom Young who too had went into the mountains months earlier and was later found to have committed suicide up there. After watching the UM segment it seemed most logical that Reinhard also (like Tom Young) went up to the mountain to end his life. However a friend from the board has recently shared with me numerous newspaper clippings he obtained concerning Keith Reinhard's disappearance. Here is a letter that Keith wrote to his wife just days before he disappeared:

"Yesterday Ted and I tried to conquer the ridge looking down on Silver Plume from the south. Ted made it. I didn't, reaching within 50-100 feet of the summit and all of a sudden getting panicky over my heights phobia. I wedged myself behind a scraggly spruce tree looking perhaps 1500 feet straight down at town and resigned myself to sleeping there overnight and waiting for a helicopter to rescue me the next day.
Ted, who had taken a different route to the top, eventually found me trying to ease my way back down. I was truly scared. But when we reached town near dark about an hour-and-a-half later, I vowed all over again to make that climb and reach the top.
Somewhere in all of this adventure (including a rainstorm we had to deal with that made the rocks very slippery) is a story about setting goals, facing life-threatening challenges, getting close to the magnificence of nature and learning to appreciate some of the consistencies of our natural world that are not always as readily found in our fellow man. That mountain was overpowering, but I felt that as long as I had total respect for it, and its ability to cast me off like just another quartzite boulder, the mountain was at least going to give me a fair shake on my descent.
Life is full of challenges. We aren't always successful in meeting them either. But as long as we have the ambition to go back and try again, and as long as we can use the failures as well as the successes to improve and shape our lives, they are important to establish. I'm so sore and stiff and wounded this morning that I can barely negotiate a flight of stairs. But I'll bet you within two days I'll be back up there trying to reach the top again."
--Keith Reinhard

It seems pretty obvious to me that Reinhard went up in the mountains that day not to end his life but in a quest to conquer that mountain as well as is fears and probably perished up there due to the elements (he has never been found). Any thoughts?

nohwheregirl · 10-25-2005, 11:00 AM

I remember this case, and yes, I remember it sounding like Keith had probably committed suicide. The letter is really interesting. Was there any evidence that he brought his climbing gear to the mountain, or was there any equipment missing from his home? Even if he was free-climbing, I'm sure he would have had to bring gloves and special shoes. Is the mountain a popular spot for climbers?

crystaldawn · 10-25-2005, 11:07 AM

I don't know the answers to most of your questions but I do believe it is a popular spot for climbing. According to the reenactment he didn't bring any gear. They did say that his shoes he was wearing were very worn (not the best choice for mountain climbing considering they wouldn't have much traction) therefore they couldn't even see shoe prints in their search. I now believe the reason why Keith went around town telling everyone he was climbing the mountain was due to his fear and my opinion he wanted everyone to know that if he didn't come back down to come and look for him.

10-25-2005, 10:38 AM	#1
crystaldawn Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 17, 2002 Location: Illinois Posts: 4,261	Keith Reinhard I'm sure there are a few of you out there who remember this one. Its about the former sports reporter from Illinois who was going through a sort of mid-life crisis and had moved to Silver Plume, Colorado and I believe owned an antiques shop. He went to climb a nearby mountain one day and was never seen again. UM (in my opinion) seemed to slant the entire scenario as if to say Reinhard was obsessed with a man named Tom Young who too had went into the mountains months earlier and was later found to have committed suicide up there. After watching the UM segment it seemed most logical that Reinhard also (like Tom Young) went up to the mountain to end his life. However a friend from the board has recently shared with me numerous newspaper clippings he obtained concerning Keith Reinhard's disappearance. Here is a letter that Keith wrote to his wife just days before he disappeared: "Yesterday Ted and I tried to conquer the ridge looking down on Silver Plume from the south. Ted made it. I didn't, reaching within 50-100 feet of the summit and all of a sudden getting panicky over my heights phobia. I wedged myself behind a scraggly spruce tree looking perhaps 1500 feet straight down at town and resigned myself to sleeping there overnight and waiting for a helicopter to rescue me the next day. Ted, who had taken a different route to the top, eventually found me trying to ease my way back down. I was truly scared. But when we reached town near dark about an hour-and-a-half later, I vowed all over again to make that climb and reach the top. Somewhere in all of this adventure (including a rainstorm we had to deal with that made the rocks very slippery) is a story about setting goals, facing life-threatening challenges, getting close to the magnificence of nature and learning to appreciate some of the consistencies of our natural world that are not always as readily found in our fellow man. That mountain was overpowering, but I felt that as long as I had total respect for it, and its ability to cast me off like just another quartzite boulder, the mountain was at least going to give me a fair shake on my descent. Life is full of challenges. We aren't always successful in meeting them either. But as long as we have the ambition to go back and try again, and as long as we can use the failures as well as the successes to improve and shape our lives, they are important to establish. I'm so sore and stiff and wounded this morning that I can barely negotiate a flight of stairs. But I'll bet you within two days I'll be back up there trying to reach the top again." --Keith Reinhard It seems pretty obvious to me that Reinhard went up in the mountains that day not to end his life but in a quest to conquer that mountain as well as is fears and probably perished up there due to the elements (he has never been found). Any thoughts?

10-25-2005, 11:00 AM	#2
nohwheregirl THE Mystery Machine Senior Member Join Date: Apr 23, 2004 Posts: 1,057	I remember this case, and yes, I remember it sounding like Keith had probably committed suicide. The letter is really interesting. Was there any evidence that he brought his climbing gear to the mountain, or was there any equipment missing from his home? Even if he was free-climbing, I'm sure he would have had to bring gloves and special shoes. Is the mountain a popular spot for climbers?

10-25-2005, 11:07 AM	#3
crystaldawn Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 17, 2002 Location: Illinois Posts: 4,261	I don't know the answers to most of your questions but I do believe it is a popular spot for climbing. According to the reenactment he didn't bring any gear. They did say that his shoes he was wearing were very worn (not the best choice for mountain climbing considering they wouldn't have much traction) therefore they couldn't even see shoe prints in their search. I now believe the reason why Keith went around town telling everyone he was climbing the mountain was due to his fear and my opinion he wanted everyone to know that if he didn't come back down to come and look for him.