Post by Scumhunter on Nov 24, 2015 8:36:17 GMT -5
KANSAS CITY, KS (KCTV) -
A Kansas City mother is praying this will be the year her son's killer will be caught with the help of tips.
The community is rallying around her to raise money in hopes that a larger reward will break the silence that is making the case grow cold.
Nearly four years ago, someone shot Guadalupe Rennau's son, John Valdivia, in the 1700 block of Richmond Avenue in Kansas City, KS.
Rennau says the unsolved murder holds her hostage in a sense, but she is not ready to give up on finding her son's killer.
For many people, Valentine's Day is a day to celebrate love. But for Rennau, it is now a day that she is forced to remember what she lost.
"It is hard to move on when you have this shadow hanging over you," Rennau said.
On Feb. 14, 2010, someone killed her son while he was trying to deliver Valentine's Day gifts to his girlfriend.
"He stopped and got a heart-shaped pizza and never made it in the door. He was killed. It is a hard thing because we were so close," Rennau said.
After her son's death, Rennau decided she had to change the way Valentine's Day made her feel.
"I knew I had to turn that day around for me, because it was so hard and painful. The sorrow overtakes you. It breaks your heart. Now I know what a true broken heart is because my heart was so broken," she said.
With the help of Valdivia's family and friends, Rennau has raised a $12,500 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of her son's killer.
"We know someone out there knows something with some information, and there is $12,500 waiting for them to give that information that would help them as well as help us. I'm very hopeful someone will come forward. I'm not going to give up," she said.
They are holding a fundraiser that includes several raffle drawings as well as a taco dinner to raise money for the reward for information.
The event will be held Saturday at Our Lady of the Angels, located at 4232 Mercier Street, in Kansas City, Mo, from 12-6 p.m.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.
Tips may also be submitted electronically at kccrimestoppers.com, or by texting TIP452 and your information to 274637.
Thoughts? Found this case while searching Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers. The reward for information leading to an arrest is now $15,000. This case strikes me as particularly tragic as Valdivia just moved in with his girlfriend and their 10-day old son. It seems personal since Valdivia was gunned down right in front of his girlfriend's house, so the question is who would want to gun down a new father?
www.kctv5.com/story/24613108/kck-mom-hopes-increased-reward-helps-find-sons-killer
fox4kc.com/2015/02/12/mom-hopes-increased-reward-will-turn-up-the-heat-on-her-sons-cold-case-murder/
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