According to Det. Rich Drysdale, one of the perks of living in a relatively small town is that crimes don't often remain unsolved, and missing people don't often stay lost.

Helena resident Shannon LaBau is an exception to that rule, and so is John Reamer.

Reamer disappeared from his apartment on Wilder Street at the end of March in 1994.

According to Lt. Dave Jeseritz, who is investigating the case, a friend dropped Reamer at his apartment on the evening of Sunday, March 27, 1994.

The next day, Reamer didn't show up for a fishing trip with another friend. Then, he failed to show up for classes at Carroll College.

On April 4, 1994, a missing person report was filed with the Helena Police Department.

In retrospect, Jeseritz said officials should have investigated Reamer's disappearance more aggressively at the time. However, Reamer had a number of reasons to leave town and it didn't come as much of surprise he was gone.

He was under state supervision at the time of his disappearance in connection with a 1992 assault that occurred at a Manhattan, Mont. bar.

According to court documents, he was in danger of being taken back into custody after receiving two DUIs a few months before he was reported missing.

A close friend of Reamer's, Three Forks resident Sandy Kamerman, said she thinks his disappearance was more suspicious than police officers originally thought.

Kamerman explained that Reamer shared a young son with her daughter, had a strong support system, attended college classes and was building a new life in Helena.

She added that when she and her daughter were asked by Reamer's landlord to clean out his apartment, they found his billfold, his school books and his car, parked in the street. But his favorite cowboy hat was gone.

While Kamerman concedes that Reamer had a chemical dependency problem, in addition to mental illness, she doesn't think he would leave without a word, and isn't convinced that he's dead.

Jeseritz wants to reveal Reamer's fate to give Kamerman and Reamer's family members some peace.