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Six Months After She Disappeared, Iowa Man Confesses To Murder of Woman He Met On Dating App
James Shiloh Klever confessed to the murder of Rachel Reuter, authorities said, however, the whereabouts of her body remains a mystery.
An Iowa man has been charged with murdering a woman he met on a dating app, as police continue to search for her remains.
James Shiloh Klever, 46, is facing first-degree murder charges in the murder of 30-year-old Rachel Reuter, who has been missing since June.
"Investigators believe that during the early morning hours of June 13, 2021, Mr. Klever killed Ms. Reuter at the Bondurant residence, although her remains have not been located," Polk County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Nov. 3.
Officials said Reuter’s father reported her missing to the Urbandale Police Department on June 16. She was last seen leaving a Super 8 Motel with Klever days earlier, the Iowa City Press-Citizen reported. Evidence ultimately led investigators to a property in Bonduran, Iowa, about 14 miles northeast of Des Moines. Authorities now suspect that Klever murdered Reuter at that home on June 13.
Under police questioning, Klever told authorities he’d met Reuter through an online dating website and had left her at an apartment complex on June 12. The 46-year-old however, “could not provide an address or exact location,” according to a search warrant.
Klever ultimately admitted to killing Reuter, according to the case’s criminal complaint obtained by Oxygen.com. He told detectives he beat her to death with a baseball bat.
“It’s the most tragic ending to a missing person’s case,” Lt. Ryan Evans of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office told Oxygen.com on Friday. “It’s always challenging, this type of case. We always hope for the best and obviously try to investigate it as quickly as possible so that we don’t have something like this.”
Physical evidence, including DNA and a witness sighting, also tied Klever to Reuter’s slaying, the complaint says.
Klever was booked into a Polk County jailhouse on Wednesday, according to online jail records. Klever was also charged with possession of a controlled substance.
Investigators are now trying to locate Reuter’s remains.
“We have not found her yet,” Evans added.
Authorities this week declined to comment on the exact scope of the search or the exact area law enforcement is focusing search efforts on while trying to locate the woman’s body. The Iowa Department of Criminal Investigations is also assisting local law enforcement on the case.
Evans said Reuter is originally from Cassville, Wisconsin and has family in the state.
“She had been in the area for a while,” Evans said.
Klever is being held on a $1 million bond. His next court date is scheduled for Nov. 12 at 1 p.m. It’s unclear if the Bondurant man has retained legal counsel in the open case.
No further information was released by officials regarding the investigation into Reuter’s death this week. The Polk County District Attorney’s Office didn’t respond to Oxygen.com’s requests for comment regarding the case on Friday afternoon.
Investigators are seeking the public’s assistance in locating Reuter’s remains. Anyone who may have had contact with Reuter or Klever in June is urged to contact the Polk County Sheriff’s Office at 515-286-3334.
