Reward increased in slaying

HOPE — The reward is increasing for information that leads to the apprehension and arrest of those responsible for the shooting death of Shirley Ann Ramey.

Ramey’s husband, Daryl, offered a $5,000 reward. Bonner County residents Dave Reynolds and Bruce Stutzke have chipped in $1,000 and $500, respectively, the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office announced on Tuesday. The Hope City Council pledged another $500, bringing the total reward to $7,000, according to sheriff’s officials.

Ramey, 78, was found shot to death at her Trestle Creek Road home on April 5. Shell casings from a 9-milimeter were found at the scene, according to court documents.

The slaying remains an unsolved homicide.

Sheriff’s officials arrested Ramey’s neighbor shortly after she was killed, although the suspect had a verified alibi which placed him outside the state of Idaho when Ramey died, according to court documents. Vigilantes later riddled the man’s trailer with bullet holes, rendering it uninhabitable.

The killing has put area residents on edge for the past several months and prompted some to urge the sheriff’s office to keep the public updated on the investigation. Those pleas have fallen on deaf ears, however.

Tips in the killing can be called into the Bonner County Sheriff’s Office at 208-255-COPS.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.