MI-Rosemary Reinel

[Dark Knight]

(WLKI Radio) Sturgis, Michigan, Police are turning to the public to help find a missing 79-year-old woman. They say Rosemary Reinel planned to visit family in Florida but never arrived. She hasn't been heard from since September 20th. Reinel has a white 1993 Buick Riviera 2 door with Michigan license plate T-C-R-9-5-8.

[Beyond Belief]

ok, can we get the destination and the route she was supposed to be traveling.

[fourboys]

Photo of Rosemary and of car.

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3900537&nav=0Rce

[Bobbisangel]

(WLKI Radio) Sturgis, Michigan, Police are turning to the public to help find a missing 79-year-old woman. They say Rosemary Reinel planned to visit family in Florida but never arrived. She hasn't been heard from since September 20th. Reinel has a white 1993 Buick Riviera 2 door with Michigan license plate T-C-R-9-5-8.



How far is it from Michigan to Florida? This lady looks like such a gramma. I don't think I would want my gramma traveling all by herself at 79 yrs old. She may be active and independant but she is still 79 yrs. I hope that nothing has happened to this little lady. Makes me sick to think what harm could befall her.

[Dark Knight]

There are indications she may have changed her mind at the last minute before her planned trip. No further details, however.

[ariel7]

:( I sure hope she's alright...
and that they find her soon
and safe.

love,

Ariel

[SewingDeb]

There are indications she may have changed her mind at the last minute before her planned trip. No further details, however.

Any word? I woke up this morning with a feeling that she met up with the manhunt guy (Melvin Keeling, whose van was found in Gary, Indiana). By the map Gary is only 100 miles from Sturgis. Could she have travelled this way to pick up a friend or relative to go on the trip with her and then could he have carjacked her? Or could he have travelled to Sturgis and taken her and her car hostage? I know this is farfetched, but stranger things have happened.

[Dark Knight]

Rosemary Reinel's car was found in Sarasota, FL on Tuesday. Police arrested Dannie Gayheart in Sarasota on unrelated charges at 7:30pm this evening. He was to drive Reinel to Florida, it was learned, and is a person of interest in this case as a result. Sturgis, MI police in a press release said they believe she may have become a victim of foul play. The investigation is continuing.

[ariel7]

Rosemary Reinel's car was found in Sarasota, FL on Tuesday. Police arrested Dannie Gayheart in Sarasota on unrelated charges at 7:30pm this evening. He was to drive Reinel to Florida, it was learned, and is a person of interest in this case as a result. Sturgis, MI police in a press release said they believe she may have become a victim of foul play. The investigation is continuing.

Such a sad update, DK. I was so hoping for better news.:(
I pray they have answers & find her soon.

with much love,

Ariel
:(

[fourboys]

Police believe missing Sturgis woman is victim of foul play

September 30, 2005

STURGIS (News 3) - Sturgis Police, working with the F.B.I., have found the car of a missing 79-year-old Sturgis woman.

Rosemary Reinel was last seen Tuesday, September 20th, at her Sturgis apartment complex. Friends say she planned to drive to Florida to visit family.

Police now believe Reinel went to Florida with an acquintance, 53-year-old Dannie Gayheart.

Gayheart and Reinel's car were found in Sarasota, FL, however Reinel is still missing.

Gayheart has been arrested by the F.B.I. for unlawful flight, and a parole violation. Sturgis Police are calling him a "person of interest." Police are working to extradite Gayheart back to Michigan.

http://wwmt.com/engine.pl?station=wwmt&id=...kout_local.html (http://wwmt.com/engine.pl?station=wwmt&id=19880&template=breakout_local.html)

[fourboys]

]Man jailed in Florida linked to missing Sturgis woman

<snip>

Wednesday night, 53-year-old Dannie Gayheart was arrested in Sarasota, Florida for violating his parole.

24 Hour News 8 obtained an FBI affadavit that shows Gayheart was going to drive Reinel from Sturgis to Florida.

Sturgis police returned from Florida Thursday with a box of evidence they obtained form Reinel's car.

24 Hour News 8 learned Gayheart and Reinel lived across the hall from each other in the same community home.

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3919350&nav=0Rce

[Bobbisangel]

]Man jailed in Florida linked to missing Sturgis woman

<snip>

Wednesday night, 53-year-old Dannie Gayheart was arrested in Sarasota, Florida for violating his parole.

24 Hour News 8 obtained an FBI affadavit that shows Gayheart was going to drive Reinel from Sturgis to Florida.

Sturgis police returned from Florida Thursday with a box of evidence they obtained form Reinel's car.

24 Hour News 8 learned Gayheart and Reinel lived across the hall from each other in the same community home.

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3919350&nav=0Rce




I wonder what this guy was on parole for....I wonder how long Mrs. Reinel had known him and how she met him. I wonder what they found in her car.
I also wonder if the cops had known all along that this creep was supposed to drive her to Florida and I wonder why one of the papers said "Reinel and Gayheart's car was found...... that must have been an error like so much ends up being in the media.

She lived across the hall from him huh? I wonder what she had that he wanted. Dam him anyway. That poor lady...79 yrs old. How could she have even begun to protect herself. He must have really snowed this poor lady acting like a good guy when his whole intent was evil.

I hope LE find her for her family's sake. This is so heartbreaking. How can a person hurt someone this old....someone's gramma!

[Dark Knight]

I wonder what this guy was on parole for....I wonder how long Mrs. Reinel had known him and how she met him. I wonder what they found in her car.
I also wonder if the cops had known all along that this creep was supposed to drive her to Florida and I wonder why one of the papers said "Reinel and Gayheart's car was found...... that must have been an error like so much ends up being in the media.

She lived across the hall from him huh? I wonder what she had that he wanted. Dam him anyway. That poor lady...79 yrs old. How could she have even begun to protect herself. He must have really snowed this poor lady acting like a good guy when his whole intent was evil.

I hope LE find her for her family's sake. This is so heartbreaking. How can a person hurt someone this old....someone's gramma!
(WLKI Radio) There's been a breakthrough in the investigation of a missing Sturgis woman and police say foul play may have been involved. Sturgis Director of Public Safety David Northrop says that on September 27th, the car belonging to 79 year old Rosemary Zarza Reinel was recovered by the Sheriff's Department in Sarasota Florida. Reinel had been reported missing on September 22nd. Reinel had planned on driving to Florida to visit family, but had not arrived. Police learned that 53 year old Dannie Gayheart had agreed to help drive Reinel to Florida, but had also not been seen in several days. Gayheart is currently on parole for the crime of False Pretenses of $20,000 or more. Sturgis Police went to Florida to examine Reinel's car for any clues to her location. With the help of the FBI, officers learned that Gayheart had family and friends in the Sarasota area. On Thursday night, police arrested Gayheart at a friend's house in Florida. Gayheart is being held in Sarasota County Jail.

[mysteriew]

Police in Sturgis are working with the FBI to find out what happened to a missing West Michigan woman.

Fifty-three year-old Dannie Gayheart is behind bars in Sarasota, Florida, for violating parole. He is being called a person of interest in this case, as police believe he was supposed to drive Reinel down south before she went missing.

Last week, police returned from Florida with a box of evidence taken from Reinel's car.

Reinel lived in an assisted living apartment in Sturgis. Her friends say Gayheart often visited a man who lived across the hall from Reinel. One neighbor tells 24 Hour News 8, she saw Gayheart helping a woozy Reinel into her apartment the night before she disappeared.

"She looked over at me and she said, 'Wilma, I've been to the bank, and I've closed out of my account. I wished I hadn't of,' she said. 'I closed out my account, but I'm not going to Florida right now on account of the hurricane.'," Wilma Hill, a friend of Reinel's, told 24 Hour News 8.
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3926942&nav=0Rce

[SewingDeb]

Police in Sturgis are working with the FBI to find out what happened to a missing West Michigan woman.

Fifty-three year-old Dannie Gayheart is behind bars in Sarasota, Florida, for violating parole. He is being called a person of interest in this case, as police believe he was supposed to drive Reinel down south before she went missing.

Last week, police returned from Florida with a box of evidence taken from Reinel's car.

Reinel lived in an assisted living apartment in Sturgis. Her friends say Gayheart often visited a man who lived across the hall from Reinel. One neighbor tells 24 Hour News 8, she saw Gayheart helping a woozy Reinel into her apartment the night before she disappeared.

"She looked over at me and she said, 'Wilma, I've been to the bank, and I've closed out of my account. I wished I hadn't of,' she said. 'I closed out my account, but I'm not going to Florida right now on account of the hurricane.'," Wilma Hill, a friend of Reinel's, told 24 Hour News 8.
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3926942&nav=0Rce


This sounds very ominous. I didn't realize he had only been paroled a month before that.

[Bobbisangel]

She told a female neighbor that she had closed out her bank account but wished she hadn't done it....she was woozy? What the heck! I wonder how much money she had in the bank...that must be the key to this whole thing.
I hate people that take advantage of the elderly. I wonder why he was living in an assisted living place. I don't think this is going to be a happy ending.

[SewingDeb]

How tall is she? A body was found in Florida:
http://www.local6.com/news/5054786/detail.html
INDIALANTIC, Fla. -- A visiting Massachusetts couple found an elderly woman on the beach early Tuesday, according to Local 6 News.

The gray-haired woman was discovered lying face-down on the sand about 7:45 a.m., below the intersection of Wavecrest and Eighth Avenue, Local 6 News partner Florida Today reported.

Brevard Sheriff's Homicide Agent Tod Goodyear said there were no immediate signs of trauma, but the case is being regarded as suspicious pending an autopsy by the coronor's office.

Goodyear said the woman, who was found nude, may have entered the churning surf, which was being kicked up by an ocean storm, Florida Today reported.

"If she was in the water, it doesn't appear she was in for very long," Goodyear said. "The surf is so strong that it will just tear your clothes off."

Goodyear said he hopes the woman can be identified through a MedicAlert bracelet she wore on her left wrist. He described her as about 5-2 and 100 pounds.

"She doesn't appear to be a transient," Goodyear said. "We hope she has some relatives nearby who can identify her based on her description. I would think she's someone's mother or grandmother."

Nicholas and Barbara Ottomaniello of South Hadley, Mass., who are visiting their son in Indialantic, said they were out for a walk when they found the victim.

[fourboys]

She is five-feet, four-inches tall, weighs 120 pounds and has white or graying hair. She was last seen wearing white gym shoes and a fishing/sailing type of hat.

Anyone with information on Rosemary Reinel is asked to call the Sturgis, Michigan police department at 269-651-3231.

http://www.wndu.com/news/092005/news_44971.php

[ketel0ne]

http://www.wndu.com/news/102005/news_45187.php

New info but it is from the man who is behind bars. So make of it what you will.

[Bobbisangel]

http://www.wndu.com/news/102005/news_45187.php

New info but it is from the man who is behind bars. So make of it what you will.


He says now that she left her car at a bus station so that she could ride the bus to Florida and he could drive her car there???? Now that really makes a lot of sense. A 79 yr old woman would rather ride on a uncomfortable bus then ride in her own car? If she did decide to ride the bus why would she even need him to drive her car anywhere? This guy isn't making sense at all.

I wonder if the body on the beach is Rosemary? I sure hope not. The height is wrong but that might be a mistake. If Rosemary had reached Florida surly she would have gone to a relatives. You would think her relatives would have been questioned by now...not looking good but hope is still alive here.

[Dark Knight]

(WLKI) The search for an elderly Sturgis woman is continuing in the Rome City, Indiana, area. Police say evidence found in Rosemary Reinel's car supports their suspicions of foul play. Fifty-three-year-old Dannie Gayheart remains incarcerated in Sarasota, Florida as a person of interest in the investigation.

[Dark Knight]

(WLKI) The search for an elderly Sturgis woman is continuing in the Rome City, Indiana, area. Police say evidence found in Rosemary Reinel's car supports their suspicions of foul play. Fifty-three-year-old Dannie Gayheart remains incarcerated in Sarasota, Florida as a person of interest in the investigation.

[fourboys]

FBI takes over case of missing Sturgis woman

October 24, 2005

The FBI is taking over the search for a missing Sturgis woman. Seventy-nine year-old Rosemary Reinel disappeared September 20th.

According to witnesses, Reinel told friends, including Dannie Gayheart, that she had withdrawn a substantial amount of money from her bank account in preparation for a trip to Florida. She disappeared from her Sturgis apartment complex the next day.

Dannie Gayheart, was present for that statement, witnesses say. He had recently been released from prison and was staying with a friend at an apartment building across from Reinell.

Gayheart told police that Reinell offered to let him use her car while she took a bus to Florida.

Police arrested Gayheart in Sarasota, Florida, where they also found Reinell's car. They say evidence in the car points to foul play.

http://wwmt.com/engine.pl?station=wwmt&id=...kout_local.html (http://wwmt.com/engine.pl?station=wwmt&id=20497&template=breakout_local.html)

[jodierenee]

I'm thinking she nevery even made it out of his apartment that one night. Whatever he did to her to make her feel "woozy" worked, and she died, either by accident, or on purpose. I'm sure whatever he did to her was because of her money in the bank...I doubt she ever even made it in her car.

[fourboys]

Body found could be missing Sturgis woman

Updated: 11/01/2005

LaGrange County, IN - As of Tuesday night Indiana State Police are guarding a cornfield in rural LaGrange County, where a body was found buried, possibly that of a missing elderly woman.

A farmer discovered the body Tuesday night in his cornfield in northeastern LaGrange County, near the state line.

It will remain buried there until Wednesday morning, when police will properly dig it up.

The body has not been positively identified, but police believe it is 79-year-old Rosemary Reinel of Sturgis.

Reinel went missing September 22nd, when she was supposed to be headed to Florida to visit relatives.

She was supposedly making the trip with a man by the name of Dannie Gayheart, who showed up in Sarasota in Reinel's car without her.

Gayheart is being held for a parole violation for leaving Michigan. He has not yet been charged with the woman's disappearance.

A forensic anthropologist will help police unearth the body Wednesday morning.

http://www.wndu.com/news/112005/news_45701.php

[Dark Knight]

WLKI.COM - Crime scene investigators worked this morning in a LaGrange County field where a human body was discovered Tuesday. A few yards south of County Road 800-North in a corn field, investigators worked beneath a large white tent as a T-V news helicopter hovered overhead. An anthropologist was summoned to help recover the body, believed to be that of 79-year-old Rosemary Reinel, who was reported missing from Sturgis September 22nd. A farmer who was harvesting corn from the field yesterday afternoon accidentally discovered the shallow grave when his corn picker partially unearthed the body. Police aren't saying much about the find, but plan to meet with the media on Thursday morning. Early last month, Sturgis Police said evidence found in Reinel's car supported their suspicions of foul play. The vehicle was recovered in Sarasota, Florida, and Reinel's next door neighbor - 53-year-old Dannie Gayhart - was arrested there on charges he violated his parole from Michigan. Authorities say Gayheart told them that Reinel left her car at a Kalamazoo bus station to pick up, and that he thought she had taken a bus to Florida. The Kalamazoo office of the F-B-I is assisting Sturgis, Indiana State Police and LaGrange County authorities in the investigation.

[PrayersForMaura]

Remains could be that of missing Sturgis woman.

HOWE -- The body of a missing Sturgis woman may have been discovered just five miles and just across the state line from where she lived.
Police from Michigan and Indiana and agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation were at the scene on Wednesday.

The woman, Rosemary Reinel, 79, was reported missing on Sept. 22. Police said she was last seen alive on Sept. 20 when she left her apartment with a neighbor, Dannie Gayheart, 53, for a trip to Florida.

Farmers harvesting corn Tuesday afternoon in a field at County Road 250 East and County Road 820 North -- State Line Road -- north of Howe in LaGrange County, discovered the body.

On Wednesday, a forensic anthropologist from the University of Indianapolis excavated the body from a shallow grave.

"The anthropologist will be the one searching the area, trying to recover the body as well as any evidence that may be found at the site," said Sturgis police Sgt. Luis Rosado, who was at the scene.

An autopsy will be conducted to determine if the body is Reinel's.

Police in Florida located Reinel's car in a parking lot on Sept. 22. Police said there was evidence of foul play in her car.

Florida police tracked down Gayheart, last month, hiding in an ex-girlfriend's apartment in the Sarasota area.

Gayheart, who was on parole for convictions of perjury and obtaining money under false pretenses, remained in police custody in Florida on Wednesday on charges unrelated to Reinel's disappearance. Police continue to call Gayheart a "person of interest" in the Reinel case.

More: http://www.southbendtribune.com/stories/2005/11/03/local.20051103-sbt-LOCL-A1-Body_unearthed.sto

[Montanagirl]

If it is Rosemary and that SOB killed her, may GOD have a fitting punishment in store for the piece of garbage he is.

[fourboys]

Body ID'd as Sturgis woman

Thursday, November 3, 2005

A body discovered Tuesday in a LaGrange, Ind., cornfield has been positively identified as Rosemary Zarza Reinel, a 70-year-old Sturgis woman missing from her apartment since Sept. 20 after telling her friends she had ``cleaned out'' her bank account but was postponing a planned car trip to Florida.
Police, who used dental records to confirm Reinel's identity, now recast their investigation from a missing-person case to a suspected homicide. As well, the location of the dead woman just 50 feet across the border inside northern Indiana could lead to a death-penalty case.

Continued at link:

http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1131034892117300.xml&coll=7

[Dark Knight]

WLKI.COM - The body found in a LaGrange County cornfield near the Indiana-Michigan border on Tuesday afternoon has been officially identified as that of 79 year old Rosemary Reinel of Sturgis, Michigan. She had been missing since September 22nd and Indiana State Police say the investigation has changed from a missing person case to a murder investigation. That confirms suspicions raised by police a couple of weeks ago who feared Reinel was the victim of foul play. LaGrange County Coroner Bruce Coney says Reinel was identified through the use of dental records. LaGrange County Prosecutor Jeff Wible says the Sheriffs Department and the State Police have only had the case for less than 48 hours and they should have a better understanding of the facts by sometime next week. Wible says Reinel's former neighbor, Dannie Gayheart, is still a person of interest. Gayheart is incarcerated in Sarasota, Florida on a unrelated charge. He formerly lived in Rome City before moving to Sturgis. Reinel's body was removed from the cornfield last night. It will be examined by pathology as well as forensic anthropology experts through an autopsy in the near future. Indiana State Police Sergeant Rodger Popplewell says facts concerning cause of death or other facts about the case remain unknown. Anyone with information concerning Rosemary Reinel's death are encouraged to contact Indiana State Police, Sturgis Police or the Kalamazoo office of the F.B.I.. The body was discovered Tuesday afternoon by a farmer who was harvesting corn.

[PrayersForMaura]

A body that was found in rural LaGrange County has been positively identified as a missing Sturgis woman, 79-year-old Rosemary Reinel. Reinel disappeared in September.

Police are still trying to figure where, when and how she was killed.

“We have no reason to believe that she voluntarily went to field under her own power,” said Wible.

Police have been following 53-year-old Dannie Gayhear, a man who neighbors say Reinel had talked about driving to Florida with.

In late September, Reinel’s car was found in Sarasota, Floriday but she wasn't

Dannie Gayheart is being held in Florida for violating his Michigan parole. He's considered a main suspect, since he's the last person Reinel was last seen with.

“It is my understanding that they were neighbors in Sturgis, Michigan. They were certainly acquainted with each other,” said Wible.

http://www.wndu.com/news/pics/story_photos/RosemaryReinel.jpg Rosemary Reinel was 79-years-old

Friends say they will remember Rosemary Reinel as someone who would have died fighting.

“I know she's not the kind of woman to stand up and be killed somebody had to done without her realizing they were going to do it. She was a fighter if it was to come to her life,” says Alice Hurley, Reinel’s neighbor.

Police say they hope to release more details in the case next week.

More: http://www.wndu.com/news/112005/news_45745.php

[Norma]

http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051104/NEWS01/511040326/1001/news

Dannie Gayheart, 53, a former Rome City resident who was living in an apartment near Reinel before she was missing, was identified as a "person of interest" by LaGrange County Prosecutor Jeff Wible

[Dark Knight]

(WLKI.COM) Determining the cause of Rosemary Reinel's death is taking longer than originally expected. In a statement released today by Indiana State Police, an autopsy was conducted last week on the body of the 79 year old Sturgis woman who was found in a shallow grave near the state line. But due to the condition of the body, police say pathologists are conducting additional tests to help determine the cause of Reinel's death. A LaGrange County farmer harvesting corn discovered the body November 1st. Reinel was reported missing by family members in September. State Police Sergeant Rodger Popplewell says a former neighbor of the victim, Dannie Gayheart, is still a so-called person of interest. Gayheart remains lodged in Sarasota County, Florida. LaGrange County Prosecutor Jeff Wible says investigations such as these are extremely time consuming and complicated.