5 years on, OKC man still missing
He is a son, brother and high school valedictorian, but people who hear his name know August Reiger as the Oklahoma man who vanished on a trail 3,000 miles south of home.
Saturday marks five years since Reiger, who graduated in 2013 from Classen School of Advanced Studies with plans to attend the University of Oklahoma, disappeared along a trail in the Ecuadorian resort town of Banos while on vacation with his family.
No clues were left. Reiger’s disappearance sparked fruitless searches, unconfirmed sightings and armchair theories.
He hiked ahead of his younger brother and his parents, Chris and Randa Reiger, along a trail that takes a few hours to loop. About 10 minutes behind him, when the family reached a pavilion at the top of the mountain, Reiger was gone.
He was not at the hotel when the family returned. He reportedly had no money or passport on him.
Local authorities immediately began to search. Ecuadorian military personnel were called in. The U.S. State Department got involved.
At the time, Reiger’s family said their son could not have gotten lost. The trail was visible from their hotel, in a tourist area, and not isolated. Family could not be reached for comment for this story. The case prosecutor in Banos was unavailable.
Authorities initially treated the case as a kidnapping, but nobody issued a ransom request. The international law enforcement organization
Interpol distributed photos of Reiger throughout Latin America. A mountain town and tourist destination, Banos is located along the western coast, south of the border region and the capital of Quito. While Americans have been kidnapped in the northern area near the Colombian border, Banos is considered relatively safe.
Someone reported seeing Reiger in the back of a pickup headed toward the country's Amazon region, but the lead never paid off. Later reports of sightings provided some hope, but investigators could not substantiate the claims.
The case gained international attention, with family members appearing on television programs, and then-President Rafael Correa of Ecuador pledging to make it a priority of his administration.
A Facebook page dedicated to the search effort garners posts from visitors, but much fewer these days, compared to the first year of Reiger’s disappearance.
On January 25, a couple wrote: “We live in Ecuador and I think of your family often. Our prayers are always with you. I hope you find answers for your son and your family.”
On June 6, an Oklahoma City woman wrote: “I think about your son often. I pray he is found.”
On June 11, a woman from Colorado wrote: “I still pray everyday for August and his family. My hope he is found soon. Please Lord.”
Still, his disappearance is perplexing, not only to Reiger’s family and those who follow mysteries and true crime stories, but to professional sleuths.
“The lack of information regarding this case is frustrating,” said Mike Nance, a retired Tulsa cop who serves as an administrator overseeing Region 4 of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, which includes Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
Among a host of duties during his 38 years with the Tulsa Police Department, Nance walked a beat, served as an original member of the department's Special Operations and Tactical Team, and instructed statewide for Domestic Violence Intervention Services.
After his retirement, Nance worked as a cold case and missing person investigator for an Oklahoma district attorney's office in the northeast part of the state.
Evidence of a kidnapping is lacking, Nance said. Several questions remain. What was Reiger’s state of mind when he disappeared? What was the family dynamic?
Without having been to the location, Nance wants to know more about the experience level of those who were looking for Reiger.
“I question the search,” he said. “I would like to see the search plan and extent of the search. My belief is that August’s body is in close proximity to the hiking trail and that some tragic accident occurred that caused him to perish.”