Kristin O'Connell came to the Finger Lakes town of Ovid in 1985 to visit a friend. The twenty year old college student from Minnesota went for a late night walk one night on a rural country road and never came back. Her body was found two days later.
OVID, NY -- 25 years later police and Kristin's mother are still looking for answers.
"Your whole world caves in and it's 25 years but it's still difficult," said her mother Phyllis O'Connell. "I've had to live with no resolution."
Phyllis O'Connell hopes someone in the area knows what happened to her daughter on that night she was brutally murdered. On Friday, Phyllis O'Connell joined with New York State Police and the Seneca County District Attorney to announce a $10,000 reward for information that would close the case.
"She was my daughter and I'll do anything - anything - to have this resolved," said O'Connell.
State Police said there has been a lot of recent activity on Kristin O'Connell's case. Police are also hoping someone will be able to identify the voice on a 1985 tips call. That caller implied he knew who killed Kristin O'Connell.
Seneca County District Attorney Barry Porsch wants Richard and Selma Eikelenboom, considered two of the foremost DNA experts in the world, to be allowed to test evidence from the case at their lab in the Netherlands. SO far the New York State Department of Health has refused to grant the Eikelenboom's lab a waiver to work on a New York case. On Friday, Porsch said he was confident that DNA testing will solve the case and said it could be "the final link."
State Police investigators said the amount of incoming tips has increased in recent years and they are confident the case will be solved.
"There is no shortage of work. I mean we could assign three or four investigators to this case full time and have a difficult time keeping up with the leads that are coming in," said Investigator Jeff Arnold.
On Friday, Kristin's mother met with friends and supporters at a Seneca Falls restaurant. She said it is difficult coming back to the Finger Lakes area but she was planning to return to the location in Ovid where her daughter's body was found.
"I just want her to know, and she does know obviously, that I will always be there for her and to have this resolved because she didn't deserve this at all," said Phyllis O'Connell.
Click here to hear the full audio of the tips call from 1985.
Click these links for previous coverage CNYCentral coverage of this story: Evidence Issues Could Affect O'Connell Case and Senator Schumer Supports DNA Testing in O'Connell Case.
