COMING SOON
DARK SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN
In Silver Plume, Colorado, journalist Keith Reinhard vanished while writing a novel about another man’s disappearance.
Three decades later, sinister questions about what actually happened to Reinhard have given rise to a story of legend in Silver Plume - a town haunted by a century-old pattern of tragedy and death.
SILVER PLUME’S LONG HISTORY OF DARKNESS
The old mining town of Silver Plume, Colorado is known as the “living ghost town”.
Since the 1890s silver crash, its population has plummeted to a mere 130, largely a melting pot of transplants from around the country - teachers, artisans, and builders.
The town, just the blink of an eye along the Interstate 45 miles west of Denver, has an eerie, windswept vacantness. Steep canyon walls sandwich the valley in shadow. The north side of town receives as little as two and a half hours of direct sunlight a day in winter; the south doesn't see the sun at all for about six weeks a year. To add to its darkness, Silver Plume is haunted by a century-old pattern of bizarre and mysterious deaths.
A granite shrine looming on a cliff above town serves as a reminder of its macabre legacy. Clifford Griffin, superintendent of the 7:30 Mine, died by a bullet to the head in 1887.
Over a hundred years later, Silver Plume’s people continue to argue whether Clifford committed suicide or was murdered.
Tom Young was a veteran of the Army Special Forces and former Arvada high school teacher who moved to Silver Plume, Colorado in 1969. He lived alone with his dog, Gus, on the south side of Pendleton Mountain - the dark side of town caught in perpetual shadow.
On September 7, 1987, Tom Young closed up his bookshop on Silver Plume’s Main Street, and along with his dog, Gus, vanished without a trace. He was never seen alive again.
Eleven months after his disappearance, two hunters discovered the remains of Tom and his dog in the mountains outside Silver Plume. Each had died from a bullet wound to the head. A gun was found on the scene, along with pieces of a shredded green tarp, suggesting that the bodies had been purposely concealed.
The death was eventually ruled a suicide, but a cloud of suspicion remained.
BOOKSELLER TOM YOUNG VANISHED IN 1987
IN 1988, JOURNALIST KEITH REINHARD BEGAN WRITING ABOUT TOM’S DISAPPEARANCE - THEN DISAPPEARED, TOO.
Keith Reinhard was a Daily Herald sportswriter from suburban Chicago. Following the disappearance of Tom Young, Reinhard took a three month sabbatical from his job. He moved to Silver Plume, renting Tom Young's vacated bookstore. He became obsessed with the mystery surrounding Young's disappearance and began writing a novel based on Tom's story.
One week after Tom Young’s remains were found, Keith walked through Silver Plume telling everyone he saw that he was going to climb to the top of Pendleton Mountain.
Keith had a known fear of heights, and was leaving at 5 PM - far too late in the day to begin a difficult six-hour hike. That night, Keith Reinhard did not return.
For seven days, over 200 volunteers combed the mountains searching for Reinhard.
Investigators discovered Reinhard’s unfinished novel inside his apartment. The final paragraphs in the story read like a description of his own disappearance, fueling speculation that Keith had staged his own disappearance.
Despite one of the largest search and rescue missions ever launched in Colorado’s history, no trace of Keith Reinhard was ever found.
Was there a connection between the disappearances of Tom Young and Keith Reinhard?
What was the relationship between Tom and Keith?
Was Keith murdered, or did he commit suicide?
Or, is it possible Keith simply perished on the mountain?
These disturbing questions have persisted for over thirty years - giving rise to a modern story of legend in the old mining town of Silver Plume.
