BENTONVILLE — The family of two women missing since June increased a reward for information about their whereabouts, a family member said Monday.
The reward for information regarding the disappearance of Louise Bishop, 81, and daughter Christina Bishop, 40, is now up to $25,000, said George Skupien, Louise Bishop’s nephew.
Family members are concerned people may be afraid to get involved and hope the reward will work, Skupien said. People can e-mail tips to [email protected].
“Possibly $5,000 wasn’t enough for someone to tun in their friend and $25,000 is,” Skupien said. “Times are tough.”
The Bishops were last seen June 18. Surveillance footage from that day shows them leaving Sam’s Club in Bentonville in their black 1997 Toyota Tacoma. Skupien spoke with both on the phone that night. That was the last known contact with them.
Police recovered the Tacoma in August. It sat for some time in the parking lot of HOTS, a gentleman’s club in McDonald County, Mo.
Bentonville police sent the truck to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory so officials could search it for evidence.
Police are waiting on resultsfrom the lab, Lt. Jon Simpson said.
“As far as the investigation goes, what I can comment on is that it’s still active,” he said. “We’re working on it pretty much every day.”
On Monday morning, a resident called Rogers police and reported seeing two women matching the Bishops’ description driving in a vehicle on Walnut Street, spokesman Steve Mankin said. Officers searched the area but didn’t find any vehicles with a similar description.
Skupien, a retired suburban Chicago detective, said someone may know something they think is unimportant but could solve the case.
Tips about people who changed their appearance or emphasized they were out of town during the time of the Bishops’ appearance are helpful, he said.
Skupien went to the Bishops’ house at 2910 S.E. “J” St.
on June 20 after not hearing from Christina, with whom he usually spoke daily. The house looked normal but the dog, which knows Skupien, cowered in the corner.
Boxed groceries stood on the counter. The door wasn’t locked and the alarm was off. Louise Bishop turned on the alarm when she was home.
Their bank accounts have shown no activity.
“We just want closure,” Skupien said. “We just want to know what happened.”
News, Pages 22 on 11/18/2009