Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 24, 1995 TAG: 9511240061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NATALIE AUSTIN THE DAILY NEWS LEADER
DATELINE: STAUNTON (AP) LENGTH: Medium
Willard H. Keeling never thought a leisurely day out with his metal detector would lead to an unsolved murder.
However, Keeling's three-month quest to solve the mystery he unearthed that day has transformed him from coin-searching hobbyist into amateur sleuth.
A paper trail of correspondence, countless telephone calls, dusty newspaper morgues, cemetery plot records, FBI contacts - Keeling was unrelenting. And the Staunton resident's digging, both literally and figuratively, has come to a successful end.
It all started when he found a ring - a relatively routine find in the metal-detecting world. What followed, however, couldn't have been further from routine.
Carl Peterson, a friend of Keeling's, obtained permission in July from the owner of Crafton Park, an old nightspot, to search the grounds with metal detectors in the hopes of finding old coins. Crafton Park was a popular hangout for college students.
The first trip and two hours of skimming the ground with the metal-sensitive devices netted only a wheat penny. On the second visit, however, it took Keeling about 10 minutes to uncover a Virginia Military Institute class ring.
``From there it started,'' he said. The name of the cadet, Walter Henry Meier, was engraved on the inside of the ring, leading Keeling to his first stop, the VMI alumni office. There Keeling learned from alumni personnel that Meier, who had moved to Richmond, was murdered in 1972 only months after his graduation.
``I've been metal-detecting since 1971, '72. What are the chances that the first ring you'd find would be that of a cadet who was murdered?'' he said. ``I wondered how the ring got back to Staunton.'' After learning of Meier's untimely death, Keeling became determined to find the family and return the ring.
The alumni office provided Keeling the address of Meier's parents in Milford, Ohio. In a letter to them, Keeling described how he found the ring and that he wanted to return it to them. The letter was returned, however, marked, ``No such address in Milford.''
Keeling also tried writing to the VMI class agent, who was also a former roommate of Meier's, to see if more information was available on Meier's family and friends, but the results were nil.
Keeling made a trip to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, where he searched for articles on Meier's murder and references to family and friends. In these articles, he learned that Meier left his girlfriend's house at 11 p.m. on Aug. 31, 1972, stopped to purchase wrapping paper for a wedding gift, then disappeared.
Meier's body was later discovered by a State Highway Department worker near Virginia 617 and Interstate 64 in Goochland County. The 21-year-old man had been shot three times - twice in the back and once in the back of the head. The case has never been solved.
Meier's girlfriend's name was listed in the article and on a hunch, Keeling called Mary Baldwin College and found that she was a 1972 graduate. On contacting her, Keeling learned that Meier lost the ring his junior year in Staunton just after he got it.
Keeling continued his search for the former cadet's family, including contacting the VMI alumni office and obtaining the name of a current student with the same last name, also living in Ohio.
Ultimately, it was the grave of the young VMI graduate that led to those he left behind. Keeling had already written to the funeral home that handled Meier's arrangements and also found the plot number of the grave where he was buried in Ohio.
It was a return telephone call from the young VMI cadet from Ohio with the same name, however, that led to Keeling's locating Meier's mother. The mother of the young cadet, who is no relation to the murder victim, was able to locate the owners of the grave site and the mailing address of Meier's mother.
Keeling would later receive a letter from the victim's mother who expressed her appreciation of his efforts to locate her and return the ring. Along with the ring, Keeling prepared a package that contains a personal letter to her, the paper trail of his search, a photograph of Crafton Park and one of a memorial plaque at VMI that bears her son's name.
by CNB