Keith R. Reinhard

The 50-year-old Daily Herald sports writer of Chicago, Keith Reinhard, went missing on August 7, 1988. Reinhard, described by friends as free-spirited, was known to be passionate about covering high school sports. Prior to his disappearance, Reinhard took a 90-day leave of absence from working at the Daily Herald to work on his photography, writing, to reflect, and regenerate in Silver Plume, Colorado, near Pendleton Mountain. According to an article published in the Daily Herald in August of 2008, Reinhard wrote, “I love these mountains and want to live in them before I die in them.” He left for Colorado alone, leaving his wife of 3 years who stayed home, and headed west due to his interest in photography and panning for gold.

During his leave of absence, Reinhard lived in an apartment located behind an abandoned Catholic Church. He also rented a small shop where he sold matted photographs while writing a novel that he was currently working on at the time.

At around 5p on August 7, 1988, Reinhard headed out for a hike in an area south of Interstate 70, up Pendleton Mountain, but failed to return at 10p when he said he would. The next day, search efforts included more than 100 people, who logged in over 10,000 man-hours, and aviary search teams. Keith Reinhard was never found, and his disappearance remains a mystery.

In the novel that Reinhard was writing was a character by the name of Guy Gypsum, who resembled Reinhard in several ways. The last paragraph that he wrote before he left for his hike read “Guy Gypsum changed into some hiking boots and donned a heavy tunnel shirt. He understood it all now, and his motivations. Guy closed the door and then walked off towards the lush, shadow-less Colorado forest above ..”

Police also found a dark passage in Reinhard’s notes that has led people to believe he committed suicide, “Oh, God, I want to wander. I want to wander till I die. With the mountains as my living room. My only roof the sky.”

Prior to the disappearance of Keith Reinhard, Thomas Young, who lived in Silver Plume, Colorado, went missing in 1987, and was later found dead in July of 1988. Young owned the little shop that Reinhard rented, and the novel he was writing was inspired by the incident involving Thomas Young. When Young’s body was found on July 31, 1988 – 7 days before Reinhard’s disappearance – Reinhard told people of Silver Plume that he was going to climb Pendleton Mountain, but he failed to return.