Concord Couple Shooting Update: Residents Facing A Mix Of Fear And Faith

CONCORD, NH — Concord city councilors are hearing a mix of fear and emotions but faith, too, from constituents concerning the shooting deaths of a retired couple from the east side of the city as the case approaches its first full week being investigated.

The bodies of Stephen and Djeswende Reid were found on the Marsh Loop Trail on Portsmouth Street, not far from their Alton Woods apartment, on Thursday. The couple was reported missing the day before. Investigators spent 48 hours searching for clues and gathering evidence from the crime scene and have randomly returned to the area during the past four days.

Investigators have requested Concord residents come forward with any information, no matter how small, that might be connected to the case — including requesting doorbell camera footage, unusual vehicles, or unknown people seen on the Broken Ground Trails and surrounding neighborhoods or around the Alton Woods apartment complex.

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Since the Reids’ bodies were found, city councilors, some who knew them, their family, or know people in the area, have been fielding calls from residents about the case. Some of those calls have included concerns about public safety, safety on the city’s trails, and the lack of information from police and the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office.

Candace Bouchard knows the area where the Reids lived and were killed intimately, having been a long-time Ward 9 city councilor and a state representative for the ward, too.

Bouchard said while there was a mystery about the killings, constituents were not fearful of being harmed but were being cautious. She said they were taking the advice of the police and remaining vigilant for their safety and surroundings. On Wednesday, during a walk around the Canterbury Meadows and Alton Woods complexes, it was quiet and peaceful — something Bouchard said was pretty normal during an early weekday afternoon.

Amanda Grady-Sexton, another at-large city councilor, said she had heard from more than a dozen constituents and family and friends across the country “who are expressing shock, sadness, and fear” about the case.

Grady-Sexton said her heart went out to the entire Reid family while adding she was grateful for the work law enforcement was putting into the case.

“I have full faith in these departments and urge people to trust their efforts,” she said.

Byron Champlin, another at-large councilor, also felt for the family. He said, however, he had received more constituent contact recently about the third leg of the Langley Parkway project than the killings. Champlin likened that to confidence in law enforcement to get the job done.

Champlin said there had been no complaints about police or requests to close the trails, but residents expressed concerns about the uncertainty of the case, “how these two folks were killed and why, and what were the circumstances surrounding their deaths.” While the public wants to know as much as possible, “police have to be very careful about what information they share; it could compromise a prosecution,” he said.

Champlin said everyone wanted the person responsible apprehended and to receive a fair trial — and part of that process was “to allow police the air, the space, to do their job.”

Bouchard urged anyone in the area, whether previously hiking the trail on one side of Interstate 393 or living on the other side, who may have seen anything suspicious or unusual, to heed the requests of investigators and report anything to the police, no matter how small or trivial it may seem.

“The most important thing the public can do is to quickly provide any information to the Concord PD,” Grady-Sexton said in agreement.

Champlin said curiosity about the case was a factor with the public, and information needed to be provided in a timely manner. But, he said, police have to be allowed to do the job they were trained to do — even if it may seem like the shootings were not being solved as quickly as other killings in the city.

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The Concord Police Department can be reached at 603-225-8600, or tips can be submitted anonymously by contacting the Concord Regional Crimeline at 603-226-3100. Tips can also be submitted online through the Crimeline website at concordregionalcrimeline.com, or text message TIP234 and your message to CRIMES (274637).

Crimeline awards cash to anyone whose information directly leads to convictions in homicide cases. All tips remain anonymous.

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