Keith Reinhard and Tom Young

[SarcasticBella]

I haven't been able to find a thread on this case, so my apologies if there already is.

This was the story of two men who lived in a very small tourist town in Colorado. I wanna say the population was only like 120 people.

Tom Young owned a shop on the Main Street and one afternoon he and his dog closed up shop and disappeared. The skeletal remains of he and his dog were later found by hikers in the mountain. A gun was still in Tom's hands. Police ruled it a suicide.

Keith was highly interested in the case, and was writing a book on it. When he found out that Tom had supposedly commuted suicide, he wrote that he understood why Tom had done it and that "it all makes sense now."

The next day, he goes into town at about 4:30, and starts telling everyone he's going to go hike the mountain all the way to the top.

According to witnesses, this is a man who had a fear of heights, and had nothing on him but a flannel shirt, jeans, sneakers, and a hat. He has never been seen since.

To me, it would suggest that he too committed suicide. I can't imagine why else he would go into the mountains and not only that, but feel the need to let everyone know he was going into the mountains.

Thoughts?

[Todd Mueller]

Suicide is most likely, followed by a slip and fall while hiking. But all the clues point to suicide. I put the chance of foul play somewhere near 0%. I think Keith, like Tom, was depressed and in a "mid-life crisis." I think he got wrapped up in the legend of Tom Young and the mythical Guy Gypsum. I think he killed himself but left on mysterious terms to create his own legend. I feel bad for Keith's wife and kids, as they never got closure.

Interestingly enough, a guy is making a movie about these two stories. I'll be curious if anything new comes up.

[TheCars1986]

I think the only reason this segment was made was because of the "mysterious" nature of his novel and how the character ran off to start a new life and how Keith may have been living out his novel. Sounded fairly plausible at the time that he was still alive, but not now. He definitely died on that mountain.

[SarcasticBella]

Oh wow, very interesting!

I do feel for his kids especially. I feel for his wife as well, as she seems to have a very hard time coming to terms with all of this. In my opinion, she seemed completely opposed to hearing any other theory but that of foul play. Despite the fact that no evidence points to foul play.

[MegtheEgg86]

I used to be fairly certain he probably died accidentally by losing his orientation, becoming lost, and succumbing to exposure, but in the last couple of years I've been considering that he may have indeed committed suicide up on that mountain.

He was in the midst of a somewhat major life transition. His business endeavor wasn't proving successful. The town he'd chosen to live in was somewhat isolated and not populated by many other people. He was reportedly obsessed with the story of a man who walked up into the woods and apparently shot himself on a mountainside. He set out on a hike late in the day with no supplies or equipment or appropriate outerwear telling several other individuals he was going up the mountain, reportedly chipper and cheery as can be--as people who have committed to suicide plans very often are.

I guess what I'm saying is that I don't think the theory is unreasonable.

[SarcasticBella]

Originally Posted by MegtheEgg86

I used to be fairly certain he probably died accidentally by losing his orientation, becoming lost, and succumbing to exposure, but in the last couple of years I've been considering that he may have indeed committed suicide up on that mountain.

He was in the midst of a somewhat major life transition. His business endeavor wasn't proving successful. The town he'd chosen to live in was somewhat isolated and not populated by many other people. He was reportedly obsessed with the story of a man who walked up into the woods and apparently shot himself on a mountainside. He set out on a hike late in the day with no supplies or equipment or appropriate outerwear telling several other individuals he was going up the mountain, reportedly chipper and cheery as can be--as people who have committed to suicide plans very often are.

I guess what I'm saying is that I don't think the theory is unreasonable.

MegTheEgg, I think you nailed it. I too noticed how cheerfully he talked about going into the mountains...it didn't sit well with me.