From The Associated Press: The reward fund for information in the shooting death of a Hutchinson woman has grown to at least $16,000.
The Hutchinson City Council voted Tuesday to add $5,000 to the fund seeking information leading to the conviction of anyone responsible for the June 14 death of Jennifer Heckel, who was shot at her home. Her 5-year-old son was home but was not harmed.
Heckel's husband was working out of town at the time. Police say nothing was stolen from the home.
The Hutchinson News reports that police chief Dick Heitschmidt said four city detectives and one KBI agent are working full time on the case. He says new leads and information is still coming in.
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The group calls itself "Justice for Jenny," and that's what they intend to get.
"You have someone that's murdered, and three or four days later it's not something you think about because you, yourself, don't know the person," explains Troy Weekley.
His niece, Jenny Heckel, was murdered last month in Hutchinson. So far, police have no suspects.
The group has been making and hanging purple ribbons around Hutchinson. It's also selling magnets and bracelets. The goal is make sure no one forgets what happened, and so far, they say it's working.
Teresa Rose tells Eyewitness News, "I can't tell you how many times I've heard the question, "have you heard anything? Is there anything new?"
And the efforts of the group got a big boost on Monday. Governor Brownback announced a $5,000 reward for anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of someone in Heckel's murder.
"She was special to us and that made me think it meant something to someone else, and that they want someone to talk, and it made me feel good," adds Rose.
The group plans to continue doing fundraisers, with the money going to the Justice for Jenny Memorial Fund.
"She was our Jenny, and it just hurts us so bad. I think if we can just catch the person, it won't bring her back, but I know she's smiling on us and she knows we're trying so hard but we want to find out what happened."
