San Leandro Council Raises Reward for Unsolved Homicides to $150,000 Each

The San Leandro City Council voted to increase the reward for each of four unsolved homicides to $150,000, council members said during Monday’s meeting.

Council members approved the change after public pleas from families and a recommendation from police leadership intended to encourage witnesses to come forward. The motion passed 6-0 with Council member Bowen absent.

The increase applies to the unsolved murders listed in the resolution on the consent calendar, bringing parity among the four cases. Supporters said raising the reward could renew public attention and prompt new information; some family members and neighbors urged the council to do more than the proposed amount.

Emily Rich, who identified herself as a neighbor and advocate for one of the victims, asked the council to double the reward and said the families had waited years for arrests. “After a decade, we’re realistic about the chances of an arrest,” Rich said, urging the council to “send a powerful message both to the victims’ families and to those who would perpetrate violent crime in our community.”

Chief Averett, representing the San Leandro Police Department, told the council that larger rewards sometimes encourage people with critical information to come forward. “Sometimes it does encourage people that have information to come forward, and we need that critical information in order to have enough to charge someone,” the chief said.

Vice Mayor Fred Simon proposed raising reward amounts earlier in the meeting. During council debate the proposal was amended and advanced to the $150,000 level; members cited the need to keep these cases in the public eye and the limited evidence available for charging in older investigations.

City Manager staff told council that, from the city’s perspective, staff supported increasing the allocated funding for rewards and could place the funds in the budget. Council members discussed fiscal stewardship but said the allocation was reasonable given the goal of solving violent crimes.

The council did not identify a specific suspect or investigative breakthrough in the meeting and made no changes to police operations. Following the vote, the resolution was recorded as approved; staff said the measures will be posted and publicized as part of the city’s investigative outreach.

The four cases remain open. The police department did not provide an investigative timeline during the council meeting; the chief said that solving such cases depends on receiving actionable evidence from the public.

Next steps: staff will finalize the resolution language and post notices about the increased rewards. The police department encouraged anyone with information to contact investigators or Crime Stoppers.