Reward upped in unsolved murder of Ky. mom, daughter
BARDSTOWN, Ky. - A year after a mother and her teenage daughter were murdered in their Kentucky home, a reward for information leading to an arrest in the case has been raised to $50,000.
Kathy Netherland, a 48-year-old special education teacher at an elementary school, and her 16-year-old daughter Samantha - a high school sophomore - were found slain in their Botland home on April 22. Investigators say the two were killed around 8 p.m. the night before. Their causes of death have not been released and no arrests have been made.
The initial reward in the case was $2,500.
On Tuesday, the one year-anniversary of the murder, Holly Netherland, Kathy's oldest daughter who was away at college at the time of the crime, pleaded for anyone who knows anything about the case to come forward.
"A year ago, on April 22, I got a call that shattered my life. My mother and sister were dead," Holly Netherland said, according to CBS affiliate WLKY. "The first thought that ran through my head was, 'God, you can't take them. You took my daddy. You can't have them, too.'"
The killings of Kathy and Samantha Netherland came less than a year after Kathy's husband, who was also father to her two girls, died of cancer, according to the station.
"If you know something, I am begging you to please come forward. Please give us closure," Holly Netherland said.
Kathy Netherland's sister, Stacey Hibbard, told 48 Hours' Crimesider in October that she couldn't think of anyone who would want to harm her family members.
"It really is a who-dunnit. They just both seem to live lives that didn't put them in contact with people who would wish them harm," she said.
"It's like someone went into the 'Leave it to Beaver' household and attacked the family."
Kentucky State Police Trooper Jeff Gregory previously told Crimesider that while authorities hadn't identified any suspects or motive -- based on evidence, it seemed the victims were targeted.
Gregory said in October that authorities were searching for what they believed to be key to solving the case -- a black Chevy Impala that was seen on surveillance driving away from the scene of the murders.
WLKY reported Tuesday that police are still looking for that car.
Anyone with information the case is asked to contact authorities at (270)-766-5078.
