Name: Rachel Anne Reuter
Age: 30 years old
Last Seen: June 12, 2021
Location: Urbandale, Iowa
Status: Still missing/James Klever convicted of murder
Case Information
30 year old Rachel Reuter was last seen in Urbandale, Iowa on June 12, 2021. She was last seen leaving the Super 8 Hotel, and hasn’t been heard from since.
Background
Rachel Reuter is originally from Cassville, Wisconsin and has 2 children. The father of her children died in a car accident in January 2020.
She had been struggling with substance abuse issues for a few years prior to her disappearance, and had been in and out of various treatment and prison facilities.
Several days before her disappearance, she was asked to leave a treatment center after if was found she had been using methamphetamine.
Disappearance
On June 12, 2021, Rachel Reuter was last seen leaving the Super 8 Hotel in Urbandale, Iowa. She was last seen getting into a friend’s white Hyundai Veloster and hasn’t been heard from since.
Her father reported her missing to the Urbandale Police Department on June 16, 2021.
Investigation
Surveillance video shows that on June 12, 2021, Rachel Reuter left the Super 8 Hotel with 46 year old James Klever, a man she had met on a dating app a few months prior.
Cell phone data shows that after leaving the hotel in Klever’s white Hyandau Veloster, the pair traveled to Pam Larson’s home in Bondurant, Iowa, a home Klever was familiar with.
James knew the combination to the lock on Larson’s garage, and they spent the night in there without Larson’s knowledge or permission.
At 3:30 am, Rachel’s phone made a call to Lyft, but there is no record of her officially requesting a ride. This is the last traceable activity on her phone.
Larson realized they were there when Klever walked into her home early the next morning, stating Rachel was out of control. She heard banging and yelling in the garage, but refused to get involved. She asked Klever to get Reuter off of her property then returned to bed.
“I told James, ‘I told you not to bring her here. Get her out of here. Take care of this,'” Larson testified. She said Klever told her Reuter had taken some drugs and “went crazy.”
Klever called Larson repeatedly on the phone, saying Reuter had stopped breathing. She told him to call an ambulance, to which he replied “it’s too late for that.”
Larson didn’t call an ambulance either, then left for a planned trip. When she returned home, she found a mess in her garage, including multiple items she said looked like they had blood on them.
She subsequently deep-cleaned the garage, and disposed of anything that might have had blood on it, for which she was later arrested and charged with being an accessory after the fact.
On June 15, 2021, Klever arrived at an acquaintances home in Bethany, Missouri. He said people were looking him, and said he needed to hide.
According to authorities, Klever told the person he had killed two people at a motel. He said he had put their bodies in the trunk of his car, before disposing of them on land owned by his family.
On June 18, 2021, Klever showed up at his parents house, with a broken hand and walking with a limp.
On June 19, 2021, Klever’s son told police his father showed up at his house, and that his car had a foul odor. Klever told his son he killed a woman, and put the body in the trunk of his car before dumping it at Cainsville Bottoms in Missouri. He later stated he dumped her body into the Grand River.
On August 30, 2021, police executed a search warrant at Pam Larson’s house in Bondurant, which is when she told them of the events that happened on the morning of June 13.
During the search, investigators found evidence that Klever killed Reuter in the garage. They say he then wrapped her body in a motorcycle tarp before placing her in the trunk of his car.
Klever’s car trunk was searched and found to be infested with blowflies. Testing by authorities showed that the flies had been feeding on human blood.
The rubble of an extinguished fire on a rural Missouri road was found to have metal fittings matching Reuter’s handbag, and partially burnt mail addressed to Klever.
In November 2021, James Klever was arrested charged with murder.
Klever Convicted of First Degree Murder
During his trial in 2023, Klever admitted he got into an argument with Reuter during the early morning hours of June 13, 2021. He says both of them were under the influence of methamphetamine, and that she attacked him first.
He says she hit him twice with a baseball bat before he took it from her and hit her in the head with it. After the blow proved fatal, he says he “panicked” and concealed her body in the back of his car.
“She was stumbling, and I swung and hit her in the side of the head with it. She spun into a toolbox and didn’t get up,” he said.
He left her body in his car in the hot June weather until the smell became unbearable, and admitted to attempting to burn her belongings in Missouri.
He says he dumped her remains in Iowa’s Decatur County on his way south, into the Grand River.
Klever denied he had any intention of killing her, and his attorney argued his actions constituted voluntary manslaughter rather than murder.
Despite the defense’s argument that Klever only acted after being provoked by Reuter, the jury convicted him of first-degree murder in November 2023, concluding that in addition to killing Reuter, he also disposed of her body.
Klever was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Rachel’s remains have never been found.
Whereabouts
James Klever was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Rachel Reuter, though her remains have never been found.
Appearance
White female with blonde hair and blue eyes. Rachel stands 5’3 and weighs 160 pounds. She has a tattoo on her chest.
Clothing & Accessories:
It is unknown what Rachel was wearing when she disappeared.
Investigating Agency
If you have any information regarding the case of Rachel Reuter please contact the Urbandale Police Department at (515) 331-6800.
Resources & Further Information
Rachel Reuter – NamUs
Rachel Anne Reuter – The Charley Project
Media Links
Timeline of Rachel Reuter Death Investigation, Suspect Charged With Murder – We Are Iowa
Iowa Man Who Beat Woman With Bat, Hid Her Body in His Car Convicted of First-Degree Murder – Des Moines Register
Iowa Man Who Beat Woman to Death With Bath, Then Hid Her Body Gets Life Sentence – Des Moines Register
Videos & Flyers
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