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Realtor finds body in Minneapolis garage
The victim, found in a garbage bin wrapped in a tarp, has been identified as Reid Charles Johnson, 51.
MINNEAPOLIS — A body was found in a garbage bin inside a garage at a vacant north Minneapolis home on Sunday. A real estate agent made the startling find as he was getting ready for an open house. He believes he narrowly missed the killer.
The victim is now identified as 51-year-old Reid Charles Johnson. No one has been arrested yet for shooting him to death — but the man who found the body provided police with some good leads.
With two open houses scheduled over the weekend for this vacant home for sale on 30th Avenue North in Minneapolis, realtor Josh was making sure everything was in order.
“I opened the garage door and I saw an unfamiliar vehicle there,” he said. “I snapped a photo of it, then I called the Minneapolis Police because we obviously needed to get it out of there.”
An officer came and ran the plates of the Jeep inside the detached garage. It wasn’t reported stolen. The back end was filled with tarps and a garbage can, but what Josh and the officer didn’t realize on Saturday was that there was also a body inside.
“I had no idea. It just looked like a mass of construction debris in the back of a vehicle,” Josh said.
The next day — getting ready for his second open house — Josh noticed the vehicle was gone. But the tarp-wrapped garbage can remained.
“The owner asks me to help tip the garbage can up. I do. It was super heavy. We tipped it up. And I peeled the tarp back and that’s where we found the gruesome discovery,” Josh said. “I was just shocked. I looked at Bill and said, ‘There’s an effing body in here. There is a body in here.’ He went and looked and his face went the same way and at that time we called the police.”
The victim, Johnson, a lifelong Minnesota resident died from multiple gunshot wounds.
“They murdered him. And they wrapped him up in a tarp and threw him in a garbage can and dumped him at a random house,” Josh said.
Johnson has a long criminal history, but Josh — who has experience as a social worker and drug and alcohol counselor — says no one deserves what happened to Johnson.
“I don’t care how big of a hole someone digs in their life, you can dig your way out and nothing like this needs to happen. And I just think of that poor family and what they’re going through right now. It’s just sad. It’s really sad,” Josh said.
Besides police having photos and the license plate number of the suspect vehicle there is a church right next door to this house with surveillance cameras on it. Police are hoping the combination of evidence can lead them to the culprit.
At least one of the sites was immediately cleared in response to the shootings.
MINNEAPOLIS — By Monday afternoon, there wasn’t a tent in site along the railroad tracks off of E 44th St between Hiawatha and Snelling Avenues. There was only some leftover crime tape.
Just 24 hours prior, two men were killed and a woman was critically hurt in a triple shooting there.
Sunday, a neighbor told KARE what started with one tent in August grew in recent weeks. Police Chief Brian O’Hara and Mayor Jacob Frey held a press conference that day.
“The Third Precinct, this part of the city, has the greatest concentration of homeless encampments so it remains a very serious public safety issue,” O’Hara said. “As soon as these encampments move in, we have a significant increase in crime in the general area and once we’re able to clear them, crime generally does go down.”
Monday, a City of Minneapolis spokesperson confirmed the encampment was “closed earlier today” and that “debris was cleared” from a smaller encampment where yet another triple shooting occurred early Saturday morning.
This one was near E 21st St and 15th Ave S. Three men were shot and one of them died.
Monday afternoon, there was a small fire going and a couple of adults seated outside. A memorial was also placed beside the fencing. The city says there weren’t any structures to remove from the location.
Frey’s office confirmed the immediate closure of the E 44th St encampment was a result of the shootings. However, there were prior discussions about closing it in the near future.
The Mayor’s Office sent KARE 11 the following statement Monday evening:
“The tragic and unacceptable loss of life at homeless encampments underscores the need for immediate action. Encampments are plagued by fentanyl abuse, drug trafficking, and gun violence, and they do not provide a dignified way to live—not for encampment residents and not for the neighbors in surrounding communities.”
“As new encampments form, we are committed to closing them while continuously offering shelter, addiction recovery resources, and support to our homeless residents.”
– Office of Mayor Jacob Frey
A city spokesperson also sent a statement saying the “Minneapolis Homeless Response Team is working right now with the Minneapolis Police Department, Hennepin County and other service providers to offer unsheltered individuals at both locations the necessary resources, services and shelter.”
“We want to help our residents find suitable arrangements in the most supportive and humane way we can. All of our Minneapolis residents deserve better,” the statement continued.
A police spokesperson confirmed no arrests have been made in either case.
The suspect was 17 at the time of the shooting, but he was charged as an adult.
A St. Paul man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, more than two years after a drive-by shooting left a 17-year-old dead.
Casimir Semlak, of St. Paul, was charged with shooting 17-year-old Anthony Skelley in May 2022 during an apparent drug deal in South St. Paul. Police say a search of Skelley’s cell phone uncovered that the last number he was in communication with was linked to the suspect.
Semlak was also 17 at the time but was charged in the adult court system.
Following his death, family members told KARE 11 in a statement that Skelley was a junior attending St. Paul Public Schools’ Gateway to College program, and had “a beautiful soul with a cheerful presence and a joyful spirit.”
Semlak will be sentenced in January 2025.
The Moorhead Police Department said Paige Reinke was last seen Sunday wearing a blue sweatshirt and gray sweatpants.
MOORHEAD, Minn. — Officials are asking for the public’s help locating a 17-year-old Moorhead girl that is believed to be endangered.
According to the Moorhead Police Department, Paige Reinke was last seen Sunday near the 2600 block of River Drive North wearing a blue sweatshirt and gray sweatpants. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) describes her as 5-foot-4, 155 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Moorhead Police Department at 701-451-7660.
