place they'd hoped to own some day. did you ever go back to spider lake? yeah. we go back every year, yet. and we take our vacation in june. i go back in september. jan's birthday's the 24 of september, and she loved her birthday. keith morrison: and so, in a way, he still takes her with him out here on spider lake. [music playing] helli got a call fromning, and alison, and shene." told me that he was missing. they asked would anyone want to hurt him.

i knew that my dad had been on match.com. this is not going to end well. this is a crime scene. andrea canning (voiceover): miles of nothing up here. it's an easy place for a man to go missing. i said, what do you mean, you can't find my brother? andrea canning (voiceover): he was the school superintendent, not the type to play hooky. he really loved teaching and working with kids. andrea canning (voiceover): turns out he wasn't missing-- he was dead. so your missing person case has become a homicide. correct. andrea canning (voiceover): that solved one mystery, but left another. why would anyone want to kill him? maybe it had something to do with a woman in his life. he'd broken off his engagement with one. andrea canning (voiceover): and there was somebody else nobody knew about. i was lonely. i just needed someone to talk to. did it also get a little steamier? yes. andrea canning (voiceover): passion

and a secret that the wrong person discovered. her face look like she'd seen a ghost. and she said, sheriff-- mary taglianetti (on phone): [crying] joe gerace (on phone): stay with me. --you have a phone call i think you need to take. hello, and welcome to "dateline." keith reed was a school superintendent who was respected by his students and adored by friends and family. when he didn't show up at an out-of-town conference, it set off alarm bells. investigators would take a hard look at keith's love life for clues. and it would be another person off everyone's radar who would help detectives piece together this puzzle. here's dennis murphy with "at close range." dennis murphy (voiceover): winter comes early and stays late in far western new york. the farmlands near chautauqua lake, tilled by amish and dutch families, are encased in snow and ice for months at a time.

but in this place of frozen stillness, the hottest of passions, boiling jealousy, came to call one day. and tiny clymer, 1,700 residents in the southwest part of the county, is still shaking off the shock of it all. joe gerace was the sheriff of chautauqua county. my 35 years in law enforcement, can you ever remember a homicide in clymer? never. dennis murphy (voiceover): it began quite simply. the new school superintendent in town went missing one weekend, just a few weeks into the school year in september 2012. keith reed, 51 years old, was a longtime educator, who'd landed in the sweet spot of his professional career. the up until then school principal had applied for the top administrative job in the clymer district with his big brother, kevin, urging him on. he says, there's this little school out in chautauqua county called clymer. he says, i don't know whether i should apply there. and i said, you know, apply. dennis murphy (voiceover): you might think a close-knit community like clymer would

be standoffish to newcomers, but parents and students quickly embraced the hands-on mr. reed. his eldest daughter, katelynn. greeted the kids in the morning coming off the bus. he talked to them during the day. he was in the hallways. he really loved teaching and working with kids. and he was wonderful at it. dennis murphy (voiceover): the new superintendent had three grown daughters and a painful divorce behind him, but he'd never let life's difficulties distract from his primary role-- dad. megan is the middle child. he loved to have fun. and he would always dance crazy with us, like, pick us up in the air and slide us between his legs and throw us up. dennis murphy (voiceover): and the old family snapshots-- hiking in hawaii, disney world, all the christmases-- seemed to show a dad over the moon with his three girls. katelynn was a star volleyball player, an all-american, and knew without a doubt when her father was in the stands on game days. dennis murphy: you could hear him.

i could. [laughs] yeah, everyone could. dennis murphy (voiceover): her dad was in a long-term relationship with a single mom named kimberly roush. he had three daughters, and i had two boys. and a lot of our time was spent being involved in their sporting events. dennis murphy (voiceover): they'd been on again, off again for years. but no sooner had they decided to take one of their periodic romantic timeouts from one another than they'd rubber band back together. kimberly roush: a song would come on, and he would pull the car over, take me out of the car and dance along the side of the road. being with him was amazing. dennis murphy (voiceover): and now that his girls were grown, keith reed was at long last finding his special place, getting comfortable. he bought a big house in town, a sign that the superintendent wasn't just using clymer as a career steppingstone. he found where he wanted to be finally, after years and years of looking. they'd have to pry him out with a bar. dennis murphy (voiceover): but on saturday morning, september 22, 2012, when clymer school principal ed

bailey drove past his friend and colleague's house, he was surprised to see both of keith's vehicles still in the driveway. the superintendent was meant to be across the state at an educator's conference. i just made a mental note. i was going to be coming back by there. and i thought if both vehicles there, i'll stop in and see what's going on. dennis murphy (voiceover): when all looked the same on his return trip, the principal pulled into the drive. i actually went in the door of the house and yelled, yelled his name. and of course, there was no answer. dennis murphy (voiceover): someone else who started to wonder what was up that saturday was katelynn. the two spoke by phone every day. he didn't answer my phone call on that saturday. and so i thought that was a little strange, but i was really busy, so just kind of forgot. dennis murphy (voiceover): by sunday, his middle daughter, megan, had become very concerned. she hadn't heard from him either, worrying. because i was like, ok, answer your phone. it's time to answer your phone. we were-- i was confused because he always just answers the first time we call. dennis murphy (voiceover): that sunday night, her uncle

kevin, a former fbi agent of 20 years, was being called to the house in clymer by a school official. and said, we can't find your brother. i said, what do you mean, you can't find my brother? well, he's supposed to be at a conference in albany. he didn't check in at the hotel. both his cars are still at the house. said, ok, so we're coming. dennis murphy (voiceover): kevin was hoping for a simple explanation, that they'd come upon his brother on the property hurt and maybe unable to get up. my hope was that he had gone out back-- there's a huge tract of land behind his house-- and had fallen down and was laying out there and couldn't get home. dennis murphy (voiceover): but when he walked into the house, the former fbi man didn't like what he saw. i started looking around. and here's his $600 in his wallet, suitcases partially packed. i came back downstairs. said, everybody out. everybody out. what are you talking about? i said, just go out in the garage. this is not going to end well. and this is a crime scene. dennis murphy (voiceover): principal ed bailey was taken aback by kevin's comment. i mean, i understand we have an issue here that keith's not where we thought he should be.

but what do you mean, it's not going to end well? dennis murphy (voiceover): the principal had called the sheriff's office to report keith missing. deputies had responded to the scene. nothing added up. he had a bag packed. it looked like he was preparing for his trip, but nothing else that was out of place. dennis murphy (voiceover): deputies broke out flashlights and searched the house, the grounds, but no luck. keith reed was flat out gone. and it's really a mystery to them when they leave the house, huh? correct. dennis murphy (voiceover): sunday night ended in drenching rain, darker than usual around the house. they hadn't yet figured out why the exterior lights by the garage weren't working. they hadn't talked to the neighbors about some loud voices they'd heard. where was the school superintendent, mr. reed? andrea canning (voiceover): coming up. as the search continues, police make a startling discovery. so your missing person case has become a homicide. correct, and it was like, wow.

andrea canning (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. you might wonder, john legend, how do you keep your voice sounding so... ...legendary? honey! and how do i keep my protection against covid-19 up to date? with a covid shot this season, designed for recent variants. you can get your covid-19 shot when getting your flu shot, if you're due for both, as recommended by the cdc. ♪the fresher, the better.♪ ask your healthcare provider about getting this season's covid-19 shot when getting your flu shot. this holiday season, send a reminder of how much we mean to each other. shutterfly, make something that means something. enjoy 40% off your order with code cards40. order now for holiday delivery look at this skin baby! she is glowing. she is 1 of 1! olay hyaluronic body wash has 10x more vitamin b3 complex.

for visibly-nourished skin. my skin is so much more moisturized. olay body wash and lotion. discover yours.

your business needs a network it can count on... even during the unexpected. power's out! power's out! -power's out! power's out! -power's out comcast business has you covered, with wifi backup to help keep you up and running. wifi's up. let's power on! let's power on! let's power on! -let's power on! it's from the company with 99.9% network reliability. plus advanced security. let's power on! power on with the leader in connectivity. powering possibilities. comcast business. power's out.

ok, one down, mr. bailey. don't forget this. dennis murphy (voiceover): this snippet of cell phone video shows school superintendent keith reed at the end of the first day of school in september 2012. in three weeks' time, the high profile educator would be reported to the sheriff's office

as a missing person. the school superintendent that everybody loved. the kids loved him. he was there every morning, greeting them as they got off the bus. dennis murphy (voiceover): keith's last known whereabouts was dinner with a friend on friday night. a security camera caught him leaving the restaurant around 8:30 pm. the next day, he was a no-show at a big state educator's conference across the state. his brother, kevin reed, a former fbi agent, had a bad feeling about things when he arrived at his brother's house sunday night. i went right into fbi mode. i didn't have time to get emotional. dennis murphy (voiceover): his brother, grounded, stable, reliable, was no one's candidate to just one day go missing, especially not then. why, just a few weeks before, he'd had the moment every dad lives for-- walking his eldest daughter, katelynn, down the aisle. it was one of the most momentous days of his life. he was just-- i've never seen him that happy. dennis murphy (voiceover): at the reception, he had even busted out his signature dance moves. he lived it up on the dance floor. he was a very happy guy then--

yeah, he was. dennis murphy: --august 2012, huh? mm-hmm. dennis murphy (voiceover): but now, as dawn broke a month later, monday morning, september 24, keith reed had vanished. the sheriff's people were dispatched again to do a daylight search of the grounds. it wasn't long before a k-9 handler reported back. keith reed, his body had been found. immediately, the dog and he found the body in the shrubs. dennis murphy (voiceover): keith's girlfriend, kimberly, was driving to a new job that morning when she got the news. she couldn't believe what she was hearing. he's dead. they found him. and i just started crying. and i said, no, that's not possible. dennis murphy (voiceover): but tucked into the hedgerow about 50 feet from his driveway lay keith reed's body. he had been shot three times, twice in the back, once in the chest, all at close range. and it was like, wow. how could this happen? who could have done this?

why would they do it? dennis murphy (voiceover): those same questions were soon roaring through the halls at keith's school. principal ed bailey had gotten the news from the sheriff's office. i just about dropped the phone. just couldn't believe it. we're talking about keith reed. yeah, my friend. dennis murphy (voiceover): along with the shock in the community came an unnerving question. given the national climate of school related shootings, could keith reed have been targeted because of his work leading the district? an angry student, a disgruntled parent-- was any of that even remotely possible? i'm thinking, going back through, did he have any enemies? who possibly could have been upset enough or crazy enough to do something like this, you know? did you come up with any possibilities? well, there was one incident that i know that the family was very upset with them. school related beef sometime. school related, but, you know, nothing out of the ordinary. you know, nothing that should have ever rose to this level. dennis murphy (voiceover): neighboring districts were understandably on edge, too. were they next?

my phone blew up from other schools. are we in danger? is this the beginning of something bigger? there was a lot of people worried. dennis murphy (voiceover): and concern only heightened, the sheriff said, when word spread that an unknown man had stopped by keith's school around noon that friday, asking to see mr. reed. he had told them that he was applying for a job as a substitute teacher, that he came in from connecticut, looking for work. dennis murphy (voiceover): the man seen here was captured on school surveillance cameras. was this visitor a piece of the puzzle? detectives didn't know, but given the potential nightmare of schools and children in jeopardy, it was more important than ever for the sheriff to have all hands on deck at the crime scene. david foley was county district attorney at the time, and he was there when a door-to-door canvas turned up a critical clue for the timeline. a neighbor couple had heard gunshots, three gunshots, friday evening, somewhere around 9:00 pm. dennis murphy (voiceover): on the property itself, though, detectives found themselves

frustratingly short of clues. but they did recover in the grass a soggy piece of paper that looked like a receipt. it would be work for the lab to figure out. and around the garage, investigators took note of something perplexing. three exterior lights, the bulbs, were missing. why are the bulbs gone? this was odd. this was really odd. so somebody had done some planning. rang the doorbell, can't see who's out there. flips the lights on, nothing happens. opens the door, there's his assailant. dennis murphy (voiceover): so the shooting of the superintendent for a grievance unknown became one theory to pursue. but detectives were about to hear a story that would make them look at the crime scene in a completely different way, something more traditional. was it possible that keith reed was the victim of a bad romance? as it happened, a candidate for a suspect, someone on again, off again, was about to pull into the drive. andrea canning (voiceover): coming up, angry texts put a girlfriend in the hot seat.

andrea canning (voiceover): when "dateline" continues. my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis held me back... now with skyrizi, i'm all in with clearer skin. ♪ things are getting clearer ♪ (♪♪) ♪ yeah i feel free ♪ (♪♪) ♪ to bare my skin yeah that's all me ♪ (♪♪) ♪ nothing is everything ♪ (♪♪) with skyrizi, 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months. and most people were clearer even at 5 years. skyrizi is just 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine, or plan to. ♪ nothing and me go hand-in-hand... ♪ ♪ nothing on my skin... ♪ ♪ that's my new plan. ♪ (♪♪)

♪ nothing is everything ♪ now's the time - ask your doctor about skyrizi, the number one dermatologist-prescribed biologic in psoriasis. learn how abbvie could help you save. protect against rsv with arexvy. arexvy is a vaccine used to prevent lower respiratory disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. arexvy does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients. those with weakened immune systems may have a lower response to the vaccine. the most common side effects are injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache and joint pain. arexvy is number one in rsv vaccine shots. rsv? make it arexvy. life has twists and curls. but you define them and make them bounce. tresemme flawless curls defining mousse. 24 hour. hydrating curl definition. style your life the way you want. ♪♪ tresemme, style your way.

dennis murphy (voiceover): the body of keith reed, the admired school superintendent, had been found in a hedge by his house. he'd been shot three times. keith's brother, kevin, a law enforcement veteran, had caravan to the house monday morning

with his 80-year-old parents, expecting to search for a missing person. the sheriff broke the news. so now i've got my mother wanting to go and cover him up with a blanket because he's cold. try that sometime. it's a crime scene, mom. you can't go up there. it's tough. dennis murphy (voiceover): as the reed family struggled to make sense of the horror, investigators would put the question to keith's daughters. did they know of anyone who had a reason to hurt their dad? we could not think of anyone to tell them, no one. everyone was just, no. dennis murphy (voiceover): but a name had occurred to their uncle kevin. of the leads to sort through, he suggested investigators look at keith's on again, off again girlfriend of many years, kimberly roush. i said, first thing you need to do is talk to kimberly. and where did that come from in you? [sighs] experience and knowing the relationship. dennis murphy (voiceover): the investigators learned from kevin and others that the superintendent's

relationship with kimberly had, at times, been rocky. they'd been engaged to be married, but keith recently called off the wedding. by the time summer was over, he said, no, we're not doing this. dennis murphy (voiceover): was this what the crime scene was all about-- a deadly confrontation between a man and his lover, upset over a canceled wedding? kimberly, who was almost two hours away, raced to the house. i said, kevin, what happened? i said, did he have a heart attack or something? and he said, no. somebody shot him. and i just started sobbing. and i started to go down to my knees in the road. dennis murphy (voiceover): investigator randy bolin was assigned to talk to her. she is crying and very, very, very emotional. so i immediately go and speak to her, but i give her some moments. dennis murphy (voiceover): but in the investigator's eyes, kimberly quickly went from grieving girlfriend to potential suspect. he asked for her phone. i said, ok, is there a reason why?

you know, i just was kind of shocked. dennis murphy (voiceover): it turns out that keith had asked kimberly to join him at the educator's conference that weekend. she said they'd never finalized the plan, but she'd been mad at him for not returning her calls. she gets very upset in her text messages back. like, i can't believe you're not talking to me. you know, and they're like half violent. like, why are you not calling me and-- really flaming stuff, huh? yeah. dennis murphy (voiceover): and something else-- in keith's bedroom upstairs, crime scene analysts noticed this picture frame. it was toppled over and taken apart on a bookcase. whatever picture had been in it was gone. you can put a story together with that pretty easy, huh? the pieces of the puzzle were just starting to come together. dennis murphy (voiceover): investigator bolin brought kimberly in for a formal taped interview. she was read her rights. i mean, i'm still in shock. i barely have my head around that he was killed,

and now i feel like i'm going right from that into, are you the one that killed him? i just found out he was dead this morning. and then i show up and i found out he was shot. and now i feel like i'm a suspect. dennis murphy (voiceover): kimberly told investigator bolin she'd been three hours away at her parents' house at the time they believe keith was shot. she admitted that while she did get angry with him, she would never hurt him. never in a million years, no matter what he said or did, did i ever consider or conceive the thought of harming him or hurting him or living without him. i remember feeling absolutely terrified. and i thought, i have two little boys at home. i need to get home. they don't even know he's gone. but in through some of your messages, you've displayed that you can be-- he told me things in anger. --anger-- angry.

you know what i mean? oh, but i've been angry. you can tell i've been angry. anybody would be in certain situations. that doesn't make them a killer. dennis murphy (voiceover): but had there been a trigger leading up to friday night? the investigator saw in kimberly's text messages that she was intent on getting back from reed a high school diploma, something she thought might be at his house. i mean, i used the f word, and i said, i'm sure you're-- obviously, you're there with another woman. and i don't even care. i just need my [bleep] diploma. why won't you just pick your [bleep] phone up? you think i'm going to show up and shoot him over my missing diploma i can't find? i would just go there, look through the bins, find it, take it, and leave. dennis murphy (voiceover): but what about that picture frame? detectives thought it might have been toppled over during a fight. no, we've never broken pictures of each other. so i really had no idea what they were talking about. dennis murphy (voiceover): investigator bolin confronted kimberly with a working theory.

thinking keith was away, she stormed over to his house with a male friend to get her diploma back, only keith was still home, an unhappy surprise. there's an issue here where there's two males going at it. did you see something you didn't want to see? i wasn't there. seriously. not at all? not at all. they were thinking i was guilty of this. and i loved him so much, i could never have even thought of doing anything like that. dennis murphy (voiceover): the nearly three-hour long interview was over. kimberly was still in the crosshairs, and the thought was terrifying to her. am i going to go to jail for something i didn't do? dennis murphy (voiceover): but investigator bolin had his doubts that she had anything to do with keith reid's death. she didn't leave my suspect list, but at the same time, she seemed genuine that she didn't-- she would never do something like this. dennis murphy (voiceover): meanwhile, there had been a very puzzling development in the investigation.

the sunday night the superintendent was reported missing, the cops had asked the phone company to ping keith reed's cell phone to ask it the technological question, where are you? the phone answered back electronically, i'm in harrisburg, pennsylvania. this man is dead in the hedges by his house, and his phone is in harrisburg, pa? yes. hours away. hours away. dennis murphy (voiceover): a school superintendent dead at his home, his phone more than 200 miles away. what was going on? things get way more complicated when a second woman makes a phone call to the sheriff. andrea canning (voiceover): coming up. mary taglianetti (on phone): i don't know. i don't-- joe gerace (on phone): ok, just relax. she was very, very upset. andrea canning (voiceover): when "dateline" continues.

what if your mobile network wasn't just built to work out here... ...but was designed differently to also give you