The reward for information about the disappearance of Christina Morris is now $25,000. The 23-year-old-woman disappeared without a trace from the Shops at Legacy in Plano on August 30.
The added funds come at an increasingly tense time in the search for the Allen High School graduate. Although police are not naming any persons of interest or suspects in Christina's disappearance, her family says it wants to talk to the last person seen with her.
According to them, a fellow Allen High School graduate was the man seen on video surveillance walking with Christina in the parking garage at the Shops at Legacy. She would never make it to her car.
Although police are not naming any suspects in Christina's disappearance, her family says it wants to talk to the last person seen with her.
Plano police public information officer David Tilley says he could not confirm who was with Christina the night she went missing.
"We are not confirming any names that have been brought up. At this point in time, we don't have any evidence that a crime has been committed. What we have is a missing persons investigation," Tilley says. "We don't have a suspect because we don't have a crime."
CultureMap Dallas is not naming the man because he is not a suspect. Christina Morris' stepmother, Anna Morris, says she's not accusing the man of anything. She just wants to talk to him.
"We have tried to speak to him to find out what he knows, and he won't speak to us. He said his lawyer told him not to talk to us," Anna says.
The family had previously refrained from identifying the man "out of respect for his privacy," but they broke their silence this weekend with signs and a peaceful demonstration outside his Allen home. Christina's mother, Jonni McElroy says it felt empowering to finally call him out. She says he initially lied about walking Christina to the parking garage. "He told police they parted ways at the sidewalk, but we know for a fact that wasn't true," McElroy says. "When the video tape came out, he changed his story."
McElroy believes he knows more details that he hasn't shared. "We're not saying he did it, but he had to have seen something," she says.
Christina's mom and stepmom are united in the search for their daughter, and Christina's father and many friends are also actively involved in efforts to find the missing girl. They all believe this one man could help them, if only he would speak up.
"We are just doing everything we possibly can to encourage him to give us the information that he has," Anna says. "It's been almost two months and he has not contacted us. He has not come out to any of the searches or fundraisers, and if he's not comfortable doing that, it's okay. But somehow we need the information. We believe that he is the key to finding her. That there's some little something that he knows that will make the difference and we just desperately want him to tell us."
Anna says with so many people coming forward to donate their time and money to search for Christina, she is even more baffled by someone who knew her daughter declining to help. The reward has been increased twice. First, from $5,000 to $10,000 with donations from Christina's family and friends, and now an anonymous donor has come forward with an additional $15,000.
"We have total strangers who have done so much to help us find her and yet he was the last one known to have been with her and he can't help us. That's just wrong."
Anyone with information on Christina's disappearance should call Crime Stoppers at 877-373-TIPS or the Plano Police Department at 972-424-5678.
Christina Morris, 23, went missing August 30.
