NEW ALBANY, MS — The reward money keeps growing as police in New Albany, Mississippi hunt down a killer. New Albany’s mayor is spearheading efforts to collect the money. The reward is now at $25,000.

There’s little evidence and police are depending on tips from the public to find Amanda Price’s killer. Many are hoping a generous reward will start someone talking.

The night Amanda was murdered, Mayor Tim Kent said the town would offer a reward. Kent set it at $20,000 believing he’d find some way to raise the money. Since then the mayor’s phone hasn’t stopped ringing.

“The community’s saying we’ll give whatever you need,” Kent says. “It got to five or six and basically all of them said put us down for a couple thousand, but if you need more we’ll give it.”

“Everybody just wants the guy caught or the persons caught,” says Mike Verrell, manager at New Albany’s McAlister’s Deli.

McAlister’s is the latest to pledge money, offering $5,000 and bringing the reward total to $25,000.

“We’d gladly give up the $5,000 to catch the persons,” says Verrell.

Verrell, like many others in the town of 9,000, knows the Prices personally. Mayor Kent also counts the family as friends.

“I know there’s not any such thing as a perfect couple,” Kent tells abc24.com. “But they were as close as you can get in my opinion.”

“We want to see swift and quick justice,” says her brother, Jay Cossey. “We’re also praying God gives us patience.”

Monday night, December 5th, Amanda and Ron were both shot at their home. Amanda was hit in the chest as she opened her backdoor to let out her dog.

Ron heard Amanda screaming, came running, that’s when he was shot. Police need tips to crack the case.

“We’re hoping someone out there has seen something and decides to come forward and give us the info we need,” says New Albany Police Chief David Grisham.

“For $25,000 you’d think someone, if they weren’t doing it out of the goodness of their heart, $25,000 would make a difference,” says Kent.

A scholarship fund has been started for Molly Addison Price, the three-year-old daughter of Ron and Amanda Price. You can make a donation at Renasant Bank in New Albany.

Molly Addison Price Scholarship Fund
Renasant Bank
701 Coulter Drive
New Albany, Mississippi 38652

This entry was posted on Friday, January 20th, 2012 at 10:58 am and is filed under Mississippi, Unsolved Crimes, Unsolved Murder. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.