Missing Ridgefield runner David Riek committed suicide, officials say [The Hartford Courant]

Sept. 10--RIDGEFIELD -- The medical examiner's office said David Riek, a 44-year-old man reported missing Saturday, died of a cut to the neck and ruled his death a suicide.

Riek was reported missing after he did not return from his morning run was found Sunday by volunteers searching for him.

Police said the body of a man matching Riek's description was found off Florida Hill Road about 1:30 p.m. A group of citizens found the man's body in a rocky area about 50 feet away from the road near the Florida Hill Refuge, police Capt. Tom Comstock said.

Foul play is not suspected, Comstock said.

Riek, of Florida Road, was last seen about 7 a.m. Saturday when he headed out for his usual morning run, police said. A skilled triathlete, Riek was known to run long distances and had been wearing his typical running attire when he was reported missing, police said.

He did not have a cell phone or identification with him.

When Riek did not return home, his wife reported him missing, police said.

Police said dozens of volunteers joined police and firefighters in the search for Riek. Severe weather curtailed the search Saturday evening.

More than 500 people, some of who traveled from out-of-state, resumed the search Sunday morning. It was volunteers from that group who found what is believed to be Riek's body about eight feet below a rock ledge in a wooded area Sunday afternoon. Authorities were working to identify the body and the cause of death.

"I'm very sad to report that the missing Ridgefield man, David Riek, that I was helping search for earlier, was found dead," Kayla Jolyssa wrote on her Facebook page. "Our town mobilized so fast hoping to find him alive. My heart breaks for his three kids, wife, family and friends. My thoughts and prayers are with them."

Friends of Riek and his family said the Ridgefield resident had recently received news about a job and was planning to move to Singapore, where he would have been closer to his wife's family. A father of three, it was unlike Riek to intentionally wander off, friends said.

Stephen Wasdick, a spokesman for the insurance company Ace Group, said Riek worked as senior vice president at Ace Tempest Re, an Ace Group reinsurance unit based in Stamford. In July, after eight years with the company, Riek quit, Wasdick said.

"Our whole community is heartbroken by this tragic news and we will do everything we can to help them," said First Selectman Rudy Marconi.

Riek and his wife have three children.

Courant Staff writer Hilda Munoz, FoxCT's Mike Magnoli and David McKay and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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