Police in Kittery, Maine, have uncovered new information regarding a missing persons case from 1983 with the help of a true crime podcast host, according to a press release from the Kittery police department.
Kittery resident Reeves K. Johnson, 31, went missing on Feb. 3, 1983, sometime after leaving his welding job in Exeter, New Hampshire. Over the next several days, Reeves' home and bank accounts were emptied, prompting his family to file a missing persons report.
After 38 years with little movement, Kittery Detective Brian Cummer reopened the case in 2021, partnering with Reeves' siblings and Kristen Seavey, host of the New England-based true crime podcast "Murder, She Told," in an attempt to dig up new information about Reeves' disappearance.
As a result, two new pieces of information have been discovered.
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The first came in a letter Reeves wrote in 1978 in which he referred to a girlfriend named Cheryl. Though no other identifying information is mentioned in the letter, Reeves' siblings recalled that she may have had a young child at the time, and that she lived somewhere in Maine or New Hampshire.
Seavey also discovered that prior to his job as a welder, Reeves worked as a dishwasher at a Kittery restaurant in 1981. Borderline restaurant, which was located across from the Kittery Trading Post, went under foreclosure the following year.
Cummer hopes that releasing the new evidence will persuade those who worked at Borderline and knew Reeves to come forward with any information they have.
"Every clue is one step closer to figuring out what happened to Reeves. There are people who care about him who have had to live without knowing for the past 40 years," Cummer said in a statement. "No piece of information is too small."
Kittery police have asked anyone with relevant information to the Kittery Police Department at (207)439-1638 or email Cummer directly at bcummer@kitterypolice.com. They have offered a $6,000 reward for information that enhances the investigation.
