Authorities have collected more evidence in the death investigation of Michele Reiter after a search of property connected to her ex-boyfriend, according to documents filed in Tom Green County.
According to an affidavit for search warrant and a return on the warrant, Texas Rangers searched a San Angelo home and a pickup truck last week and have recorded several pieces of possible evidence in the case.
Texas Rangers cataloged 22 pieces of evidence from a gold 1997 Ford extended cab pickup when executing one of the warrants. Lanny Marvin Bush, 53, claims ownership of the pickup, but it was last registered in Reiter’s name, documents state. The vehicle was located at the San Angelo home of Bush’s current girlfriend where he also lives, documents state.
Items collected as evidence include a shovel with a broken handle, hair with root lodged in the right rear door panel, 3 sterile swabs taken from the right rear door panel noted as possibly blood, blue denim shirt with stains, several receipts, and various other items of clothing and paperwork.
The affidavit notes that one of the receipts is for ammunition purchased by Bush from a store in Brownwood on the afternoon of September 10th.
Reiter’s body was found by Texas Ranger Danny Crawford at 10:30am on September 24 in a “shallow, clandestine type grave,” in Coleman County, according to the affidavit.
The documents state that the criminal offense being investigated is murder and names Bush as the suspect and Reiter as the victim.
According to the documents, Lanny Marvin Bush, 53, admitted to authorities that he set up a fake Facebook account under the name “Rocky Switzer” in order to communicate with his ex-girlfriend Michele Reiter, with intent to do her harm. It further states that Bush admitted to investigators that he met with Reiter on two separate occasions on September 10th. Bush acknowledged sending a text message from Reiter’s phone after the suspected time of her disappearance, according to the documents.
The affidavit notes that Bush denied being responsible for Reiter’s disappearance.
Bush was arrested in Tom Green County on the charge of online impersonation and a parole violation on Thursday, September 20th.
Reiter was last seen on September 10th around 6:30pm when she left for a dinner date that evening, according to her roommate. According to police reports, Reiter’s roommate reported her missing on September 11th after Reiter did not come home for the night. She also did not report for work that morning at Home Depot, where she had worked for approximately 4 years. The missing Brownwood woman’s vehicle was found abandoned Wednesday, September 13th at the Bert Massey Sports Complex.
Friends and family gathered the evening of Thursday, September 14th for a candlelight vigil for Reiter at Coggin Park. Friends of Reiter organized a pair of search parties on Sunday, September 23 to search the county for the then missing woman. Law enforcement officials found and recovered her body in Coleman County the next day.
