I found the article from 2022 titled
How did death claim David Riemens?
and this time without a subscription block! I'll post a few snippets.
How did death claim David Riemens? - Main Street Media of Tennessee
Next Monday (2022) marks the 10th anniversary of the disappearance of David Reimens, a gifted stone mason, artist and Bohemian soul who made his home in a tree house between Watertown and Shop Springs.
For 1,992 days, his vanishing proved to be the longest missing person case in Wilson County.
On Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, a human skull was found on a wooded hillside off Taylor Road near Sparta Pike about two and a half miles from Watertown. Three days later, lawmen uncovered a skeleton nearby. Forensics tests on the bones confirmed the remains were Riemens.’
For nearly 10 years, Detective Maj. Robert Stafford with the Wilson County Sheriff’s Department Criminal Investigation’s Division has carried a brick in the back seat of his truck; a brick that one day may unlock the mystery of how Riemens died. Or maybe not.
Riemens, 60 years old when he went missing, stood about 5-feet-8-inches tall and weighed 180 pounds. He had blue eyes, brown hair, a moustache, sideburns and goatee and normally wore a ponytail. He was last seen around 1:30 p.m. Aug. 8, 2012, in the Watertown Dollar General parking lot where he left his white 1997 Ford Ranger pick-up truck.
He abandoned all his personnel possessions including a beloved dog, a packed traveling bag, an array of dazzling and colorful yet enigmatic oil paintings that often featured trains, hobos, dragons, sprites and mythical Indian coyote dancers,and, most precious, he left four siblings (a sister had died in a car wreck in 1995) and a community of caring friends.
The brick in Stafford’s vehicle is one of two that he removed from the back of Riemens’ truck. The second brick, untouched, is preserved in an evidence room. The bricks are believed to have come from a property where the rock layer hoped to begin a new job for a person he was to meet the afternoon he dropped out of sight.
“If I follow up on a lead and bricks are there, I can compare,” said Stafford, who has been involved in every murder investigation in Wilson County over the past 10 years except for two or three. “We’ve solved every one but one because the suspect has passed.”
He noted that in Riemens’ case what had been a missing person investigation case changed to a death investigation once his remains had been found. It is not a homicide investigation because forensics tests on the skull and bones did not show signs of violence.
Stafford keeps the case file, No. 12-15982, which holds more than a thousand pages, close at hand. “I keep it active and on my desk at all times,” said the detective, who estimated he has interviewed 85-100 people while working the investigation.
Asked when he last got a lead, he shared, “Well, as you know, the case is featured on the television show, ‘Disappeared.’ Each time that show airs, we get a flood of calls. As far as good information, the last local and good lead came approximately one year ago.”
....
Of the ongoing investigation, Stafford said, “The most haunting thing about the case would be not being able to this point to provide closure to the family and friends. Equally, to determine what happened leading up to his death.”
....
Describing their relationship, Jackson said, “We knew him pretty well. We did a number of things together, kayaked, threw darts and drank beer. He very easy to get along with and had a good sense of humor and was comfortable around people.
“The day before he disappeared, he was right here, talking about this guy he was going to do a rock job for. He was trying to tell me who this guy was but couldn’t remember his name. He kept saying, ‘Yeah, you know. He hangs around. You’ve seen him.’ And I said, ‘I just don’t know who that is.’
“That whole thing is kinda strange, that where he was working there was a pile of bricks somewhere on that property, and he kept talking about where it was. It was kind of unclear.”
As for what happened to Riemens, Jackson said, “I am deeply confused simply because he told us he was gonna go to Michigan the next day, yet his truck was found at the Dollar General parking lot. I don’t believe that he would just park his truck there and wander off. The only thing I can come up with is that he went off with somebody else and somehow it was connected to that job he was talking about, but who knows?
“It’s a mystery that probably won’t ever be solved, and he was a great guy, a genuinely wonderful person. He was a master stone mason and a creative guy, a painter. I’m sorry he’s gone.”
Delmas, too, is puzzled and added,
“The big question is why he would leave his truck at Dollar General? He had four or five friends within walking distance that could have given him a ride. I think somebody accidentally caused his death or it was malicious.”
BBM
And once again, nothing about the car keys and the wallet...!
