MT MT - John Reamer, 25, Helena, 27 March 1994

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According to Lt. Dave Jeseritz, who is investigating the case, a friend dropped Reamer at his apartment on the evening of Sunday, March 27, 1994.

The next day, Reamer didn’t show up for a fishing trip with another friend. Then, he failed to show up for classes at Carroll College.

On April 4, 1994, a missing person report was filed with the Helena Police Department.

In retrospect, Jeseritz said officials should have investigated Reamer’s disappearance more aggressively at the time. However, Reamer had a number of reasons to leave town and it didn’t come as much of surprise he was gone.

He was under state supervision at the time of his disappearance in connection with a 1992 assault that occurred at a Manhattan, Mont. bar.

According to court documents, he was in danger of being taken back into custody after receiving two DUIs a few months before he was reported missing.

Kamerman explained that Reamer shared a young son with her daughter, had a strong support system, attended college classes and was building a new life in Helena.

She added that when she and her daughter were asked by Reamer’s landlord to clean out his apartment, they found his billfold, his school books and his car, parked in the street. But his favorite cowboy hat was gone.

While Kamerman concedes that Reamer had a chemical dependency problem, in addition to mental illness, she doesn’t think he would leave without a word, and isn’t convinced that he’s dead.

Jeseritz wants to reveal Reamer’s fate to give Kamerman and Reamer’s family members some peace.
http://www.helenair.com/articles/2005/12/24/helena/a01122405_06.txt
 
Here is the Doe Network link for John there are photos of him, and his tattoo there:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1424dmmt.html

John Reamer
Missing since March 27, 1994 from Helena, Lewis And Clark County, Montana.
Classification: Endangered Missing

Vital Statistics
* Date Of Birth: November 16, 1968
* Age at Time of Disappearance: 25 years old
* Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'11"; 180 lbs.
* Distinguishing Characteristics: Native male. Brown hair. Brown eyes.
* Marks, Scars, Tattoos: Reamer is a member of the Makah Indian Nation. He has a tattoo that was an original design that his grandmother created for him and is significant to Reamer's Makah heritage. It is located on his upper right arm. It says "Makah Nation" around the native american logo and has two feathers hanging down his lower arm, past his elbow.
* Clothing: Unknown clothing description, possibly wearing a cowboy hat.
* Dentals: Available
* Medical Conditions: Bi-polar disorder. Drug & alcohol addiction & depression.
* Other: Fingerprints & DNA available

Circumstances of Disappearance
Reamer's girlfriend dropped him at his apartment on Wilder Street in Helena the night of Sunday, March 27, 1994. He had spent the weekend with her, and their son. She was surprised to find a man she didn't know at Reamer's apartment when she dropped him off. She thought Reamer might have known him from a video rental store where Reamer often rented Nintendo games.

On Monday morning, his girlfriend and her mother talked to Reamer before he left for school. Neither of the women detected anything out of the ordinary during their brief conversation with Reamer. That was the last time they talked to him. They tried calling on Tuesday and Wednesday but got no answer.

Reamer's next door neighbor recalls last seeing Reamer come home on the night of March 27. The woman said she intended to make breakfast for Reamer and her son Monday morning before the pair went on a short fishing trip, but Reamer didn't answer his door that morning.

On April 4th, he was reported missing. In his apartment were items including Reamer's billfold and his school books. His vehicle also was parked outside the residence. But his favorite cowboy hat was missing.

According to Montana Probation and Parole records, Reamer was under state supervision at the time of his disappearance in connection with a 1992 assault that occurred at a Manhattan, Mont., bar. Reamer received a six-year deferred sentence, along with 331 days in the Gallatin County Detention Center. Reamer was bi-polar, and was not taking his medication at the time of the brawl at the bar.

There were at least a couple occasions when it was feared Reamer was suicidal, but friends or law enforcement were able to intervene before he was able to hurt himself. Though Reamer experienced some rough spots following his release from jail and move to Helena, related to drugs and alcohol, it appeared he was doing fairly well in his new life. He was working for a contractor while attending Carroll College.

Lt. Dave Jeseritz reopened the missing person case of Helena resident John Reamer a little over a year ago. He visited the video store where Reamer was believed to have rented videos. The owners confirmed that Reamer had rented items there, but had no information about the young man who was believed to be an employee there.

In December 1993, Reamer's probation officer recommended to the court that Reamer's six-year deferred sentence be reinstated after he was picked up for an alleged DUI that involved a hit-and-run accident. In addition, the officer was concerned that Reamer had failed to complete a drug and alcohol treatment program.

Jeseritz pulled Reamer's phone records to figure out if the conversations witnesses reported having with Reamer before his disappearance actually happened, and to determine who else he might have called.
Jeseritz found nothing out of the ordinary in those records other than that Reamer had called a couple of fishing companies in Alaska, where he used to work before moving to Montana.

Those companies had long since been out of business by the time Jeseritz tried to make contact with them in 2003 to find out if anyone there had any information about Reamer's whereabouts.

In addition to obtaining Reamer's phone records, he investigated transactions from Reamer's bank accounts. He discovered that some activity was recorded in the days preceding Reamer's disappearance - nothing out of the ordinary - but the accounts have remained dormant, with a positive balance, since then.
 
A recent article from March 12, 2012:
Helena unsolved: The case of the missing student

Reamer, a Carroll College student, was last seen when his girlfriend dropped him off at his apartment on Wilder Street on March 27, 1994.

When he disappeared, Reamer was on probation and potentially facing prison time because of a drunk-driving arrest, a violation of his probation conditions. At the time, police believed he had simply skipped town.

“It wasn’t treated as a homicide or any foul play type of issue,” said Dave Jeseritz, Helena’s assistant police chief, who took on the case while a police detective in 2003.

<snip>

Over the years, Jeseritz interviewed numerous people who knew Reamer, pulled phone records and put together a timeline of events. While Jeseritz has a list of “persons of interest,” he lacks a solid suspect or motive. There were no signs of struggle at Reamer’s apartment. His billfold and school books remained at the residence. His vehicle was parked outside. The only item noticeably missing was Reamer’s favorite cowboy hat.

Recently, after being promoted to assistant police chief, Jeseritz handed the case over to another detective, Tim Coleman.
 
Missing for 19 years.

I'm wondering if John's girlfriend actually talked to the guy she found at his apartment and what he said etc.
 
Has John Baptiste Reamer been ruled out? He disappeared in 1994 when he was 25 years old, which would have made him around 32 when "Lyle" was found deceased.

Also, Reamer was Native American. He grew up and his family lived nearby where he was located (Amanda Park is 2 hours away from Neah Bay). Neah Bay is right on or around the Canadian border, which would explain the possible Canadian accent. Lyle was 140 lbs when found, John was 180 when he disappeared, and if I recall correctly, Lyle had to have appeared to have lost weight prior to being found.
 
Who has seen this man?

NAT_11365_1.jpg
 
I think the tattoo would be hard to remove and not show. Another thing I noticed about Mr. Reamer was his teeth, the photos of him on the Charley Project don't look like he had braces in the past.
 
I have given information to the Helena Police Department and the Snohomish, Washington Medical Examiner's office on what I think is a very viable match. The medical examiner says she will call to let me know. This was my first contact for a find and I hope it is him. Everything matched up...time,estimated height and weight, and very near where he grew up. It was believed that it was a possible abduction and even though he was getting his life in order, he was slipping back into the drug culture. Even the artist rendition was very similar to his photos. I am truly hoping it is a match. He has a son in Three forks, Mt and how cool it would be to get his body home to him and the boy's grandmother whom he was very close to. What experience have others on Websleuth's site had with what they thought were matches? I told Helena, Mt police I wanted no credit for it if it is a match because ultimately they need to make the determination. I just want to know if I can be successful doing this. I will continue even if it is not a match..but how gratifying it will be if it is. He was very loved by his son's grandmother and at least she would know what happened. It was a homicide as there were multiple shots to the head.
 
I also wanted to mention that I have ordered a book that others might want to read. It is call"The Skeleton Crew" How Amateur Sleuths are Solving America's Cold Cases...by Deborah Halber. I ordered it through Hastings and it is 25.00 dollars, no paperback until the summer for those of you that are interested...
 
Unfortunately, the decedent was ruled out on dental records but even the detective said they thought it was going to be a match because time,age,height,weight and ties to the area were basically, a match. The decedent even looked like him in the artist's rendition. Wow...I was so hopeful. Well, I won't give up....if I can even get one person home to their family, it will be worth it.
 
The decedent also had a tattoo which was not made known to the public for some reason. I found this out when I told the medical examiner that no tattoo was listed and she said that she knew that he (decedent) did have a tattoo. The decedent was from Washington state, you can find it under the geographical index for June 11, 1994.(Doe Network)
He was found in a lake close to Everett, Wa. that was fairly close to Leah Bay. I also thought about what the description said about extensive work on the decedent's teeth and didn't feel that ruled Reamer out as they have dental care on reservations. I thought the tattoo could have been missing because of time spent in the water, 21/2 months and they can only guess how long the corpse has been there so I thought it seemed pretty good.
 

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