Investigators: Toyota SUV Owner Not A Suspect In Concord Homicide Case

CONCORD, NH — Officials are looking for more people who may have been on trails in the eastern part of the city on the day a retired couple in Concord was killed to come forward and be interviewed by police while also clarifying the owner-operator of a vehicle caught on dashcam footage is not a suspect in the homicide investigation.

Geoffrey W.R. Ward, a Criminal Bureau Chief with the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office, and Concord Police Chief Brad Osgood answered questions about the latest in the case — a request for information about a dark green Toyota RAV4, parked at the trailhead off Portsmouth Street, not far from where the bodies of Stephen and Djeswende Reid were found shot to death in April. Investigators are looking for the owner or operator of the vehicle to come forward.

Ward said investigators did not know where the vehicle was registered but had begun searching state databases to find potential people to speak with who own that model in New Hampshire.

“What we have is what are in these images,” he said. “It’s not clear … if we had a registration, if we had a license plate, I probably wouldn’t be here today asking for your assistance.”

Investigators are seeking to speak with the owner or operator of a 2006 to 2012 dark green Toyota RAV4 SUV parked at the Marsh Loop trailhead on Portsmouth Street on April 18. Credit: New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office

Most of the dashcam footage of the SUV was recorded by SAU 8 Concord School District buses on the afternoon of April 18 — although Ward said the vehicle could have been parked there longer. One screenshot came from a citizen who recorded the vehicle, too.

Ward, during questioning, clarified the owner-operator of the RAV4 was not a suspect in the homicide case, but detectives did want to speak with them.

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Investigators were also still seeking tips about the person of interest featured in a sketch released last month.

Ward added there was “no known connection” between the person in the sketch and the SUV owner-operator wanted for questioning. More than 200 tips have been submitted to police with detectives also gathering more information and clues from people on their own.

“This has been a wide-scale investigation,” he said.

Ward also said detectives were looking to speak to anyone who was on any of the Broken Ground Trails on April 18 including Curtis Trail, the Howard C. Nowell Trail, the Ry’s Way Mountain Bike Trail, the Pond Loop, and Profile Avenue Connector — which leads from the trails to the Cranmore Ridge apartment complex and dozens of homes, and not just the Marsh Loop Trail. He added detectives were also looking to speak to anyone who may have parked their vehicles on South Curtisville Road, Portsmouth Street, the power substation, or the water tower access road which is just east of the mountain bike trail.

“As I hope is clear,” Ward said, “from these specific asks, our goal is to speak to all persons who were in the area of the Broken Ground Trails on April 18, 2022, as they may have vital information that can help solve this case. Even individuals who were out on the trails and did not see or encounter any other individuals while on the trails, still, should contact police and speak with a Concord police detective, as they could have important information about routes that were taken or even routes that were not taken by the suspect in this matter.”

While not getting into specifics, Ward confirmed investigators had spoken to people previously on the trails but they have not been able to find the owner or operator of the RAV4 yet, hence the request for assistance. He said he was not surprised when asked, why the owner-operator of the RAV4 had not come forward considering all the publicity with the case.

“One thing you learn, in my line of work,” he said, “and we see this most often, and not to get off-topic, with selecting juries in murder cases, even high-profile murder cases, is there are a number of people who are so busy with their daily lives that they are not plugged in to what the news media is reporting or necessarily what is going on … in their communities. People can miss it; people can be on vacation.”

Osgood said the Concord community should be “confident” the department was making solving the Reids’ killings its “highest priority.” He also requested everyone come forward with any information they may have.

“We have a core group of investigators that are solely devoting all their efforts on this case,” he said. “We encourage people to call us … even if they think they have nothing or something trivial; we want to talk to everybody. Something is going to develop.”

When asked if he was concerned about solving the case, entering its third month, Ward said he was not.

“This is certainly not a case that has gone cold,” he said. “It’s good old-fashioned police work … we are certainly making some progress and will continue to work toward identifying anyone who was connected to these murders.”

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