No certificate for elevator where musician died

ST. LOUIS -- The elevator where a St. Louis musician fell to his death was registered with the state of Missouri but an operating certificate had not been issued.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reviewed the Missouri Department of Public Safety database after Bob Reuter's death Saturday. Reuter, a musician and radio show host, died after falling down an elevator shaft while moving into a downtown loft.

Police say Reuter opened the door to the nearly 100-year-old elevator and stepped into the shaft, falling about 18 feet.

State regulations require each elevator to be registered with the Division of Fire Safety and be inspected annually. The elevator was registered in February, but a state registry shows no record of inspection or operating certificate.

A spokesman for the Missouri Department of Public Safety, which handles elevator inspections in the city of St. Louis, declined to comment.

The Otis brand elevator was installed in 1918. Fire Capt. David Neighbors said it has a swing door that manually opens. He said it was dark inside the elevator shaft and Reuter apparently thought the elevator car was there. The city inspected the property in May.

St. Louis musicians are organizing a service and a memorial fund, said Chris Baricevic, a friend of Reuter and a member of his band.