Iowa Cousins Disappeared 9 Years Ago Today, Reward Now $100,000+

On Friday, July 13, 2012 cousins Elizabeth Collins and Lyric Cook of Evansdale, Iowa went for a bike ride. They were last seen that day at Meyers Lake, with their bikes found on a nearby trail.  It would also be the last time the two were seen alive.

I remember receiving the awful news just under five months later that their bodies had been found in a wooded area about 20 miles away. Announcing the news that day is probably the most difficult thing I've ever had to share on the air in my many years in broadcasting. In all honestly, I barely got through it. Everyone had hoped that somehow, someway, the girls with those sweet faces would be found safe.

Nine years after their disappearance, so many questions still remain. The most obvious is who could've done something so incredibly awful?

Earlier today, on the ninth anniversary of their disappearance, it was announced that the reward for information leading to an arrest in the case is now more than $100,000. The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier says two anonymous donors last weekend helped raise the reward offered by Crime Stoppers of the Cedar Valley over the six-digit mark.

Waterloo Police Department investigator Bruce Lippert told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier “We are just waiting for that one person to take five minutes out of their life and contact Crime Stoppers or the DCI and get some closure for these families."

A conviction isn't required to collect the reward, only an arrest. If you know anything please email ourmissingiowagirls@dps.state.ia.usDPS.STATE.IA.US.You can also submit tips HERE or HERE.