Deceased/Not Found PA - Karen, 11, & Michael Reinert, 10, Ardmore, 22 June 1979 *W. Bradfield guilty*

[Blackwatch]

Thank you for clarifying.

Considering Bradford's lack of sexual interest in women (I didn't know this) has the idea that Bradford and Smith were lovers been explored?
What about Bradford and the other two men he seemed have around him alot. Could they have been his lovers too? I was struck when reading the crime library article at how devoted these men seemed to Bradford and how willing they were to believe him. Is it because they were having a relationship with him - or am I just way off?

It seems that Bradford had various women in his life because they served some sort of purpose for him. I can't really figure out what purpose Susan Reinert would serve - what could Bradford gain from his relationship with Susan? Did he use her to somehow manipulate Smith into doing something he wanted him to?

This is definetly one of those cases where reading the book would do a person good. There are just too many variables for someone to get a clear idea of everyone and their relationships with eachother, etc.

I don't believe any sexual relationship between Smith and Bradfield has ever been explored. However, given Smith's sexual history as set forth in the love notes he sent his mistress, Smith may not have been interested in a male. Smith was also a very strange man, called "the prince of darkness" by those he worked with.

Susan Reiner served the purpose of inheriting a LOT of money which Bradfield conned her out of. I believe that was the primary reason for the relationship, and the murder.

There are several books on this case and, yes, they would explain a lot of things that don't seem to make sense. You need to read Echoes In The Darkness first, then move on to Principal Witness. These two books are quite opposed to one another and perhaps give a clearer picture. The third book, Engaged to Murder, more or less parallels the first book I mentioned, but does add some facts.

All in all, one needs to read some books by Hare, starting perhaps with Without Conscience and moving on from there. In fact, look up Hare on the net and check his psychopath list - very interesting.

This murder is one of the most fascinating, although not the most mysterious, I have ever read. The disappearance of the Reinert children is a haunting mystery, but so is the disappearance of Jay Smith's daughter, Stephanie, and her husband Eddie Hunsberger. The last two disappearances have never been fully explored or much publicized recently.

All in all, this case is fascinating but very frightening. If so many intelligent people could be so misled and badly used, it makes one wonder what hope for the rest of us. I find it even more fascinating that most of the teachers involved were allowed to go on teaching after the trial.

Another thing I find interesting is the town of Ardmore, PA was involved in both the Reinert case and the disappearance of Imbo and Petrone. While I don't believe these cases have anything to do with one another, I find it "interesting" that the same town played a part in both cases. Sometimes I think places, the land itself, has something to do with our fates.

 

[MagicRose99]

I am 39 years old and a former class mate of Michael's at Chestnutwold. It is hard to believe that nearly 30 years have gone by since these events. The picture posted on the site is Michael's 2nd grade photo, I have one of him wearing the same clothes as we and our classmates posed for our group photo with Miss Fulmore (I think). You could see the Reinert's house from my parent's back yard on Belmont Avenue (they lived on Woodcrest). Mike and I did not play often dispite the close proximity, I remember him being in the same cub Scout troop at St. Peters on Wynnewood Blvd., and going to Cub Dad weekend with him and his father (had a big birthmark on his leg). I guess I was portrayed as one of the kids in the tv show about this tragity when they showed a Cub Scout meeting. His father lived in the same community for years, re-married and attended my mother's church (St. Mary's on Ardmore Ave.). Since we have all moved out of the immediate area I do not know what he is doing now. I remember when investigators came to our house as they canvased the neihborhood. My mother had to hide the underwear she was folding at the time. Michael's best freind's name was AJ who had a bit of a cruel streak. After Michael and his sister disappeared the rumour is that AJ had a nervous breakdown and the family had to move. Very sad.

Welcome to WS, phorvath! Anything you can share with the group may be of help in sorting out this terrible tragedy.

 

[Julespa]

Looks like there will be no bed side confession from Jay Smith. http://www.kyw1060.com/Central-Figure-in-1979-Upper-Merion-Murder-Mystery/4391226
I am an avid hiker in the Lebanon/Harrisburg PA area. I only have the small photo from the doe network to look at the supposed grave site. To me the "marker" just looks like your average stone that is found in these parts of Pennsylvania. I wonder if they ever looked at the game lands around Fort Indiantown Gap (US Army post) it is located near 1-81 off of the Pine Grove exit a hop skip and jump away. It is the 2nd largest area of woods with no roads. The locals call the area Saint Anthony's Wilderness. Here is a link to a website of the area. http://home.comcast.net/~StAnthonyWilderness/picpage.htm
what catches my attention is the railroad rail holders in the one picture. I hike here a lot and they always used to remind me of crosses on a cemetery
especially at night time. There is also an abandoned cemetery in the woods along the appalachian trail. I wonder if this area was ever searched? It is also pocketed with abandoned Anthracite coal mines.

 

[gaia227]

Jay Smith was an interesting man and he took a lot secrets with him. What happened to his daughter and her husband? They just disappeared and never resurfaced.

I've always wondered - how did they get so many 'weirdo's' (eccentrics, if you will) teaching at the same elementary school? It was an interesting group of people teaching there.

 

[kfim]

I attended Upper Merion at the time that the murders occurred. I was scheduled to have Bill Bradfield as a teacher but he was removed from the school that year. Jay Smith was not principal at the time, however my sisters and brother did attend while he was principal and said that he was a very strange man. My one sister had Bill Bradfield for 11th grade AP English and thought he was one of the best teachers she ever had. To this day she does not believe he killed Reinert or her children. I however have a different take on this. I believe he planned her murder. Perhaps he did not commit it, but he planned the whole thing and he used Smith's known deviant behavior to frame him for the murders. Smith was a whack job and was guilty of drug dealing at the school (per my siblings who saw/heard of it happening) and robbing a Sears store plus who knows what else. He was an easy target for Bradfield to try to pin the murders on. Bradfield was obviously a sociopath who had all his female and young naive collegues and students wrapped around his finger. It was a sad time at our school. Many parents pulled their kids out and sent them to private and Catholic schools. I too wonder how so many oddball teachers came to be at the school at that time. By the time I graduated, they were all gone except for Vince Valaitis who came back from a leave of absence my senior year. By the way, we (my siblings and I) all got very good educations there..we are Dartmouth College and Bucknell University graduates.

 

[KT Can]

I too wonder how so many oddball teachers came to be at the school at that time.

I have wondered this as well...

 

[gaia227]

Well, I guess if Jay Smith as principal was in charge of hiring that might explain it........

 

[mysterymax]

These people were EDUCATORS?????!!!!!

 

[wv171]

"I've always wondered - how did they get so many 'weirdo's' (eccentrics, if you will) teaching at the same elementary school? It was an interesting group of people teaching there. "

I could not said it better..

It's a thousand wonder's these "weirdo's" do not abuse a few if not more school children during there sick lives..

Really some have the profile that fit right into abusers of children.. No all but I believe some had it, And here they teaching grade school of all places to have them working at .. Talking about a very poor personal hiring & keeping a eye on the employee's... Teacher driving around with a adult toy under her car seat.. Teachers been dissmissed for a lot less than that before..

You think that could be a reason area LE is highly question today over there police work on this case... They did not want a full scale panic in there town if the whole truth came out???

Appears a lot of parent's did panic little bit sending children to other school's and I don't blame them for that reaction..

Plus if something like that would hit the media I bet some area elected offical's that did not get kick out of office right then and there, They never would win a other election in there lifetimes..

Whole lot of people would lost there jobs if they happen to been more to this story than reported in the media..

No matter what happen in the past such as no alive parent's, So many Sicko's under same roof with thousand small childern every school day ..I think we owe it to the poor children to keep this investigation going until they are found...

 

[rpipergirl]

John and Jane can't be the Reinert children as John and Jane's DNA proved they are not siblings.

 

[hunterman1]

Not to bring up a dead subject, but given the media attention AOL has stirred up today, I saw the picture of the supposed marker for the first time. The description says it looks like a hooded figure made of stone. To me it looks more like it is indeed a hooded figure, period. Has anyone else ever thought so? It appears to me to be a figure in a burlap bag, that has had the face area cut out of it. You can make out the degrading remains of a person or child inside. The flap of the burlap looks to me to be hanging down in direct proportion to the hole thats cut out of the bag. You can also make out a piece of the bag ripped at the corner, where the hole was first started.
The picture shows what looks like a yellow post behind the propped up figure, apparently there to keep the body from falling over. Take what I'm saying with a grain of salt, my degree was in criminal justice not forensics, but I can't help but wonder if anyone else sees what I do. If you download the image, open it with Microsoft image viewer, blow it up to about 400% then adjust the brightness, and contrast it looks like a face that has been degrading, and you can make out the nasal cavities behind the missing nose, high cheek bones, and eye sockets. It makes me wonder if this sicko wanted a trophy picture as a souvenir.

 

[hannah_b]

Know what, hunterman. I thought the same when I first saw the picture. Then I thought it´s just my imagination playing tricks... Eerie. Glad someone else noticed, though. Isn´t there some way the pic could be enhanced aven more and facial structure could be compared to the Reinert childrens?

 

[Cymro]

I've looked at this and I can't see that it is anything other than a rock, I'm sorry. Look at the scale of the leaves nearby... seems that the rock would be hard to find again - it's probably about a foot high and would be recognizable only to someone who knew the area very well and already knew where to look.

 

[tess2161]

Yes Huntman I noticed it also but thought I was just seeing things...There is also a ball of twine or wire in the left corner...Does anyone know how John and Jane Doe was found in Ca??? Where they wrapped in anything??? Those kids still looks like the Reinert Children to me...I think the DNA lab messed up the test...Isn't there anyway to do another DNA test???
My husband said the rock in the picture looks like a land section marker...

 

[Mazama]

My husband said the rock in the picture looks like a land section marker...

I think this is some type of land marker too, however I don't see anything else like string or wire in the picture posted here.

I will play with it in PhotoShop to see if anything jumps out at me.

Maz

 

[Mazama]

I think this is some type of land marker too, however I don't see anything else like string or wire in the picture posted here.

I will play with it in PhotoShop to see if anything jumps out at me.

Maz

Sorry for quoting myself...Photoshop produced nothing other than what is in the picture, which appears to be a rock marker of some sort.

Maz

 

[hannah_b]

What is the blue object to the lower right of the picture? Any ideas?

 

[tess2161]

The blue thing is a flower...Someone in an earlier post said it was a Jack in the Pulpit...If you look at the picture that was posted by the Pa. State Police you can see a couple more of the flowers...

 

[hunterman1]

You know, Iv'e never seen the entire picture before. All I had to go on was the little cropped picture that AOL had, which only showed the top half of the rock, and not the squared off bottom half. When I saw it I said to myself, wow this doesn't look like a rock at all. I see the scale of the leaves now also, and yes they look rather big, even the ones to the side of the marker look larger than the scale should allow if there was a body in a bag. Like the face on Mars, I guess we all look for facial features to pop out, but it's realy errie that this rock looks so much like a dead body in a bag. I guess if the sun was in a different position, and did not cast any shadows, it would look completely different.

 

[tess2161]

Mazama, you have to enlarge the Pa. Police photo but there is lots of wire not twine that is shown in the photo...There is some at the right bottom of the rock, and several other places...The best view of the wire is in the lower left corner of the photo...