MUSKEGON, Mich. -- Family and friends of Rebekah 'Becky' Bletsch are taking a new approach for answers in what is now a nearly year-old unsolved murder.
The 36-year-old mother was jogging less than a mile from her home in rural Dalton Township when she was shot in the head on June 29, 2014. Police said none of the valuables on her were stolen.
Family members are hopeful new billboards being posted across the Muskegon area offering a $10,000 reward for information that could lead to an arrest will prompt someone with information on the case to come forward.
“I can’t sit back and do nothing," said Jessica Josephson, one of Becky's sisters. "We have to be involved, we have to keep putting the word out, we have to talk about it."
There will be five billboards in total, which will be posted through at least the end of June. The Muskegon Motorcycle Gang, the biker club Becky and her husband Kevin rode with for nearly a decade, is covering the costs.
"If this was Becky, she would’ve done something for us," said Patty Metuzeski, whose husband helped come up with the idea. "We’re sitting here and nothing’s happening and we can’t sit by any longer.”
Metuzeski said the billboards ranged in price from $500-1000 each, depending on location. But it was a small price to pay considering the possible outcome, she said.
“I thought this would’ve been solved a long time ago," Metuzeski said. "I never thought we’d be looking at almost a year and we’re just not hearing anything."
While the help is welcomed by Bletch's family, the billboards also serve as a painful reminder that her killer has yet to be brought to justice.
“I never thought in a million years I’d see my sister on a billboard," said Nicole Winberg, Becky's sister. "You grow up hearing about the faces on a milk carton and it’s now our family member. It breaks my heart."
One billboard is strategically posted along U.S. 31 N heading toward Rothbury, Mich. where the annual Electric Forest Music Festival is slated to take place beginning June 25. Bletsch was killed on the final day of the festival last year near the route many festival goers would've taken to leave town. While it's a small chance, family and friends said they're holding out hope someone coming in from town again might know information about what happened that weekend.
“There’s not a day that goes by that you don’t think about it, or who did it. What more can we do," Winberg said.
"But this is one step closer. Call, speak to somebody, help us find justice because somebody knows something.”
Bletsch's family is also planning 5K in Becky's memory on June 13. Money raised through the race and silent auction will go toward the college fund for Becky's daughter.
The Muskegon County Sheriff's Office is still actively investigating. Anyone with information is asked to call the Muskegon County Sheriff's Office at 231-724-6658 or Muskegon County Silent Observer at 231-72-CRIME.
