It took eight long years, countless unanswered questions, and a mother who never came home, but justice has finally caught up.
This week, Frederick Reer, 42, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for the killing and disappearance of Amanda Dean, a 36-year-old mother of four who vanished back in July 2017. Her body has never been found.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced the sentence, calling it a hard-fought victory after nearly a decade of investigation.
“A killer has been brought to justice,” Yost said, praising investigators who refused to let the case go cold.
A Case That Refused to Die
Amanda Dean was last seen on July 11, 2017, in Townsend Township, just outside Norwalk. For years, her disappearance haunted her family and the community. There were no arrests. No remains. Just silence.
Behind the scenes, investigators kept digging.
According to the investigation, Frederick Reer killed Dean inside the home they shared, then cleaned the crime scene and disposed of evidence, attempting to erase her existence. Despite those efforts, detectives were eventually able to piece together what happened.
Guilty Plea Ends Years of Waiting
Reer pleaded guilty on December 8 to:
- Involuntary manslaughter (first-degree felony)
- Two counts of tampering with evidence
- Gross abuse of a corpse
He was formally indicted in February 2024, nearly seven years after Dean disappeared, following an intensive investigation led by Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation at the request of the Huron County Sheriff’s Office.
Justice—Even Without a Body
Prosecutors say the lack of a body didn’t stop them from proving the case. The Attorney General’s Office served as special assistant to James J. Sitterly, ensuring the long-delayed case against Frederick Reer finally made it to court.
For Amanda Dean’s family, the sentence doesn’t bring her home—but it does bring accountability.
After eight years of waiting, a mother’s disappearance is no longer a mystery—and the man responsible is finally behind bars.
