The Denver Post, Saturday, June 21, 1986

East Germans closed-mouthed on entertainer's death

By The Associated Press

DENVER - The cause of death of Colorado native Dean Reed an entertainer who was one of the best known Americans in Eastern Europe, remained unknown today, his mother said.

"He did not die of a heart attack," Ruth Anna Brown of Honolulu said from East Berlin, where she is staying with Reed's wife and other family members. She said she received that information from a coroner's report, although a full complete report is due Monday.

She also discounted a report from unnamed "friends" that Reed hanged himself. "That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life."

A service was planned Tuesday at the crematorium in Berlin, Mrs. Brown said.

She said details remained sketchy - "I think everything is still very confused" - and East German authorities were "very closed-mouthed."

In Berlin, the state-run ADN news agency reported that Reed died in a "tragic accident."