SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - After 13 years, the murder mystery of Rosie Tapia still puzzles investigators.
Now, they’re again asking the public’s help and are willing to pay for any information that would lead to Rosie’s killer.
It was August 1995, when Rosie Tapia's mother found her daughter's bedroom empty. Rosie was abducted. The next day, her body was found floating in the Jordan River. She had been raped and killed.
"Nobody saw any thing,” said assistant police Chief Scott Atkinson. “It was in the middle of the night. No one's come forward. There weren't a lot of witnesses.”
And after all these years, Rosie's mother has struggled to keep her daughter's murder fresh in public's mind. It still haunts her.
“It’s been hard because my kids are all grown up and she would have been 19 and I don't know what she would have looked like,” said Lewina Tapia.
At one time fifteen detectives worked the case. Police have evidence but can't find a person to link it to.
And after so many dead-ends, police, the FBI and Meadow Gold dairy products want this case solved.
Reward money was upped to $30,000 for information about who killed Rosie.
“I ask anyone out there that has information, for whatever reason has chosen not to come forward to please come forward,” said Salt Lake City mayor Ralph Becker. “We owe that to the family, we owe that to the community."
“Many people believe that law enforcement has forgotten Rosa and her family,” said FBI Special Agent Tim Fuhrman. “I would hope that this announcement would tell this community loudly and clearly that such a heinous crime is never forgotten by law enforcement.”
Nor have Rosie’s family forgotten. Each night her mother prays for a miracle.
“I'm not giving up hope,” said Tapia. “I hope I can live for a long time to make sure that the person who took her is found. And I hope that person is found before I do pass on.”
Anyone with information can contact Salt Lake City police through their “Tips for Cash” hotline at (801)-799-INFO.
