DENVER — One year has passed since Emerall Vaughn-Dahler and Ignacio Gutierrez-Morales were found shot and killed inside the American Elm restaurant, and the person responsible remains a mystery.
Wednesday, April 24, marks one year since the double homicide in Denver's Highland neighborhood. Vaughn-Dahler and Gutierrez-Morales were working at the restaurant at the time.
"It’s surreal," said Danica Woolard, Vaughn-Dahler's sister. "It’s still almost still hard to accept that she’s not here."
Denver Police previously said it was a robbery, but investigators haven't been able to confirm that motive or much of anything else.
In a statement to 9NEWS this week, a police spokesperson said, "Investigators are still actively investigating this double-homicide and continue following leads as they are developed by detectives or are submitted as tips. That being said, there are no updates to share regarding suspect information. We still very much encourage anyone with information about this case to provide us with tips."
No arrests have been made. Woolard said that's what keeps her up at night.
"I know the police are working day in and day out on it. I talk to them every week, you know. I know they're working hard," Woolard said. "But we want justice for both of them."
Both of them. Woolard said she talks to Gutierrez-Morales' son-in-law regularly.
"I don't want Ignacio to be forgotten, either," she said. "It happened to him, too. It happened to his family, too, and that hurts."
Woolard and her family have created social media pages to try and bring more attention to the case. The reward for any information that leads to an arrest is up to $32,600. Woolard hopes someone comes forward.
"If you know something, that money’s yours — call them. We want it to go to somebody that helps us solve this case," she said. "[Emerall and Ignacio] had families, they were friends to everybody — they did not have enemies — and for this to happen to them, it's still just unfathomable, and if anybody knows anything, just please reach out to the detectives."
Metro Denver Crime Stoppers works by assigning a code to people who anonymously submit a tip. Information is shared with law enforcement, and Crime Stoppers is notified at the conclusion of the investigation.
From there, an awards committee reviews the information provided and, if the information leads to an arrest, the tipster will be notified. Rewards can be collected using the code numbers received when the tip was originally submitted.
> More information about Metro Denver Crime Stoppers can be found here.
> Additional Crime Stoppers bulletins can be found here.
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