GILBERT, AZ — The holidays are especially hard for the family of 19-year-old Rachel Hansen. Special stockings, pictures, and memories fill her family's home in December. The teen's absence is still felt daily, and her loved ones long for answers in her murder case.
Now, they are hopeful that an increase in the Silent Witness reward will help bring key information to light.
"It's really hard, because you realize the number of pictures of her are limited," said Rachel's mom Kim Hansen. "There are no more."
Rachel was shot and killed over three years ago inside her gated Gilbert apartment. So far there have been no arrests in the case.
The Hansen family has worked to raise awareness and increase the reward amount from $2,000 to now $20,000.
"I think there are multiple people somehow involved that obviously know something, and it would just take one of them to come forward," said Kim.
There are so many details that are still unknown, but the Hansen family said there has been better communication with police.
Gilbert Police has already released body camera video from that June 2022 night and a 300-page police report, which details multiple strange occurrences at Rachel's apartment in the days before the shooting.
"We just had a request filled last week, another one two weeks ago," said private investigator Justin Yentes.
Yentes said he's been requesting and pouring through any public records he can get.
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He said when it comes to the new reward amount, every bit helps.
"Honestly, we find people pretty regularly that either didn't know about the case or who hadn't been interviewed and had some small piece of information," said Yentes.
The Hansen family was able to raise the reward amount by five thousand dollars using their own funds and donations specifically to help solve Rachel's murder.
"We'll work to continue to raise it," said Kim.
Over the years, ABC15 has asked Gilbert Police for updates on Rachel's case. This month, the department sent a new statement in response to our team's questions.
"Gilbert PD continues to actively investigate Rachel’s case as we work to bring justice to her and her loved ones. While we remain limited in what we can share publicly to protect the integrity of the ongoing case, detectives remain in regular contact with her family and are committed to keeping them informed as the investigation progresses."
Rachel's family, in 2026, already has plans to raise awareness through more podcasts and other forms of media.
"I just think people need to be aware that this kind of tragedy can happen anywhere, and it happened to be in Gilbert," said Kim.
She told ABC15 finding the person or people who killed her daughter would be a "huge relief."
"The bottom line is we promised her we would keep fighting until we have answers," said Kim. "Yeah, we'll never stop."
The teen's family is encouraging anyone with information to reach out to Silent Witness 480-948-6377 or to Yentes at Arizona Investigative Associates.
Rachel's case was the focus of an episode of ABC15's streaming series, Arizona's Coldest Cases.
The episode also details the animal rescue that the teen's family runs in her honor.
