David Wellington Reed was a 13-year-old in the seventh grade at Schuylkill Haven Area Middle School.. Born January 17, 1972, Reed’s tragic murder assumed national attention when he murdered in 1985.
He sadly joined plenty of other milk carton kids of his era.. The search was out for him in the mid-80s when he was reported missing. Suddenly the small town of Schuylkill Haven made national news.
While the death remained a mystery for years, it eventually came to light that the crime was committed by 20-year-old Joseph “Joe” Geiger in Schuylkill Haven… the murder took place over Geiger’s stolen illegally grown cannabis plants.
Geiger blamed Reed for the disappearance of the drug.
Friends, family, and teachers remembered Reed as an outgoing person who aspired to fly.
Reed’s death remained unsolved for 20 years, until the case was reopened in 2005 by the Schuylkill Haven police department.
Geiger was arrested in 2008 on the 23rd anniversary of Reed’s death and was found guilty of third-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, evidence tampering, and abuse of corpse, among other offenses…
THE 1985 MURDER
On December 15, 1985, Reed’s remains were found at Caldwell St in Cressona. The State Police in Haven immediately took over the case. And over a year later, the troopers closed out the matter without any leads or suspects of relavance.
Years later in 2005, Lori Ann Reed was interviewed by police. She was the wife of David Reed’s older brother Joseph.
According to what she told police, there was rampant drug use at the Reed home and even witnessed David Reed smoking pot.
In May 2005, police interviewed Susan Aregood. She told them that she saw Joseph Geiger at a party crying to himself “I didn’t mean to hurt him.”
A year later in June 2005, Geiger himself called police. After an interview with him, it was reported that Geiger said he did not know Reed personally. Geiger had a number of inconsistencies in his story.. As police interviewed him further, they discovered these issues.
Police also interviewed a man named John Fry who said he knew Reed. Though he was with Reed the night of the death, he said he didn’t have any information about the actual crime and eventual death.
Eventually, Geiger told cops that Fry was the one who killed Reed. Despite this desperate accusation, officials started to hone in on various issues regarding statements from Geiger and evidence. In 2008, Reed’s remains were exhumed in Florida. It was reported after that Reed died of blunt force trauma to the head.
The net started to close in on Geiger in January 2008 when police yet again interviewed Fry and he told cops that Geiger was arguing with Reed. According to the recollection, Geiger punched Reed in the face and knocked his head into a metal wall of a railroad car.
Weeks later, Geiger was charged with third degree murder…
The Pottsville REPUBLICAN blasted a major 2008 headline as the story unfolded:
According to police, Geiger murdered Reed after hitting his head against a wall of a railroad car in 1985 after a fight about marijuana.
Prosecutors said that Geiger dragged the dead body of Reed to a wooded area near Caldwell St, where it remained until being found four months after the incident. According to then Assistant District Attorney AJ Serina, Geiger was periodically visit the grave site.
On February 27, 2009, Geiger at age 43 pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter, abuse of corpse, tampering with evidence, and simple assault. More serious charges were dropped as a result of the plea.
The attorney for Geiger, Chris Hobbs, said that he was satisfied with the final verdict. He told the REPUBLICAN HERALD in 2009 that “Given the amount of time that has passed..I think the sentence is a fair one.”
Judge Domalakes lamented that it was a “shame a young life was lost over illegal drugs.”
In 2014, a documentary aired called TROUBLE IN COAL COUNTRY: NIGHTMARE NEXT DOOR:
x x x
David Reed’s tragic demise was emblematic of the time: A paperboy in a town that was thought to be safe, missing.. on the morning table’s milk carton, and ending up dead.
The cold case thankfully got warm and was eventually solved. Many others across the nation with similar storylines were not…
If David was alive today, he would have been.. and could have been a pilot.
May his soul forever rest and may God grant peace to friends and family who lost him on that autumn day in 1985..
