Teen seeks answers in slaying of father

DERRY, N.H. -- All Megan Reid wanted was for her father to come home.

In the days following Jack Reid's disappearance on June 27, the Derry teen searched desperately for answers. She blanketed the small city's supermarkets and gas stations with fliers asking for help, got police involved, and hunted in vain for clues to his sudden absence.

It was as if the affable, well-known businessman just vanished.

''We knew something was wrong from the start," said Megan Reid, 18. ''It was out of character. It was not like our father at all."

On Tuesday, her search came to a shocking end when police found Jack Reid dead in the back of his dump truck in the parking lot of a Saugus strip mall. A law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation said he had been slain and the body wrapped in plastic.

The official also said it appeared that Reid had been killed in New Hampshire at least a week ago and his body driven to Saugus. The source said Reid was beaten after he died.

''There were very obvious signs of trauma, but the injuries were post mortem," the official said.

A second official involved in the investigation said police have not identified any suspects and were not anticipating an arrest any time soon. ''We're not even close," the official said.

Police found Reid's body after a stranger spotted one of Megan's posters and called to say he recognized Reid's black and red dump truck parked outside a Target store in Saugus, Megan Reid said.

An autopsy performed earlier this week did not determine cause of death, said Steve O'Connell, spokesman for the Essex district attorney's office. More tests, including a toxicology screening, are being performed in the hopes they yield more information, said O'Connell.

For Megan Reid and her five siblings, what happened to their father remains a heart-wrenching mystery.

Jack Reid had always been responsible and hard-working, so punctual that you could practically set a watch by him, Megan Reid said. He was devoted to his children, and would never take off without telling them first, she said. ''I couldn't imagine why someone would do this to him," she said.

Reid lived in a small apartment tucked behind a car repair shop, Auto Choice Warehouse, where he operated his own moving and hauling business, said the owner of the repair shop, who declined to give his name.

Police are at a loss as to why anyone would want to kill Reid, the law enforcement official said.

''That's the real issue. We're trying to think of a motive. At this point, no one really knows," the official said.