Tricia Reitler was a 19-year-old college student who, in 1993, was a freshman psychology major at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana. She lived in a dormitory named Bowman Hall. Reitler’s family lived in Olmsted Township, Ohio, southwest of Cleveland.
Reitler was last seen on March 29, 1993, between approximately 8:00 and 8:30 PM. That evening, she was writing a term paper and then took a short break to go to Marsh Supermarket, about half a mile from her university campus.
She bought a root beer and a magazine and started heading back to her dormitory, but she never arrived. She was last seen at the supermarket. Two days later, her bloodstained shirt and jeans, along with a bag of purchased items and the receipt, were found in a field across the street from Marsh.
On March 29, 1993, Reitler’s family received an unexpected call. As mentioned on WRTV, Tricia’s father, Garry Reitler, said, “I will never forget what was said. She said, ‘This is Lieutenant Dunn from the Marion Police Department. Do you know where Tricia is?'”
According to authorities, Reitler did not disappear willingly. At the time she went missing, six to seven unidentified individuals were playing basketball at the Center School playground, but no one came forward with any testimony.
In Reitler’s case, investigators identified three suspects:
First: Donald W. Grenier. He was arrested in 1999 for molestation and abduction charges involving young girls in the Marion area. Investigators searched his house to find any clues about Reitler and Wendy Felton, a girl who disappeared from Indiana in 1987, as there were many similarities between the two cases. However, nothing related to either case was found in Donald’s house, and he was cleared of charges in both cases and remains cleared to this day.
Second: Tony R. Searcy. He is a habitual criminal and was considered the main suspect in Reitler’s case for a long time, but he denied all allegations and any involvement in the case. Authorities did not have any solid evidence against him, so he was not arrested for Reitler’s disappearance.
Third: Larry Hall. A 32-year-old man who lived with his parents in the 300 block of Grant Street in Wabash, Indiana. Larry was a janitor from Wabash. Sometime after Reitler’s 1993 disappearance, during the investigation, authorities found materials related to the case in Larry’s van. He was arrested in 1994 for the abduction of Jessica Roach, a teenage girl whose remains were found in Indiana in 1993.
He confessed to the FBI that he had killed Jessica, Reitler, and two other women from the Midwest. Hall also revealed where he had buried Reitler’s body, but Reitler’s body could not be recovered from that location. He later recanted his confession.
No connection to Reitler’s disappearance was found, and due to a lack of evidence, the charges related to Reitler’s case were dropped. He was only convicted in the Jessica Roach case.
Reitler’s whereabouts remain unknown to this day. It has been 31 years since she disappeared. Reitler’s family has lost hope that their daughter is alive and believe that she is no longer alive. This case remains unsolved to this day.