Lori Heimer was found "brutally murdered" in her Assaria, Kansas home in June of 2016.
"It really appears to us and [the Kansas Bureau of Investigation] that someone came in with full intentions of killing my mom," said Genell Heimer, one of Lori's four daughters. "It looked like there was some struggle to it. They were pretty relentless."
Nearly seven months have passed since that devastating day, and Heimer's daughters are no closer to answering the question "Why?"
Lori Heimer with her family
"Why was she targeted? What did she do to make someone so mad? What made our house a target?" asked Genell. "My mom was loved by many. Didn't know a stranger. There's nothing that makes sense about it."
Genell said it didn't appear to be a robbery.
"Nothing looked like it was turned over or gone through, drawers weren't open, everything was just as mom had left it," remembered Genell.
Her family said she had no known enemies, but she was expecting a visitor the day of her murder.
"Dad had come in for lunch around 11 a.m., it was during wheat harvest so he was working a few miles from the house," said Genell. "He talked to mom and she had said someone was coming out to see the dogs."
Lori was dog breeder and owner of Lori's Poodle Patch.
"She described it as, 'I have city people coming to the farm to look for a puppy.' We knew that she had an appointment at some point either that afternoon or evening."
But still to this day her family doesn't know who that person was or whether they have any connection to Lori's death. The Saline County Sheriff's Office says no one has come forward claiming to be the person who was meeting her that day.
"We are trying to focus on Kansas City right now because it's a bigger city, bigger population. Mom did business here in Kansas City," said Genell. "She frequently would take road trips up here and bring puppies and so we're really looking to know if anyone talked to mom or bought puppies from her."
The KBI and Saline County Sheriff's Office want to speak to anyone who was connected with Lori in any way during the month of June. You can contact the KBI at 1-800-KSCRIME or the Saline County Sheriff's Office at 785-826-TIPS. The reward now sits at $37,000 for any information that leads to the arrest of the murderer.
"My mom was an awesome mom, I mean I call her if I have problems," said Genell. "And then she's just not there and it's not due to a health problem, it's not anything you saw coming, it's not an accident. It was another human being that killed my mom on purpose and why would anyone do that?"
Investigators are still looking for two vehicles that were seen in the area that day. The first vehicle was an older maroon flatbed pickup truck. They describe it as being "beat up" with a white front bumper and silver grill. The man driving it was in his 50s with 'salt and pepper' hair.
"Assaria is a very small town, maybe 400 people," said Genell. "Everybody knows everybody. You recognize a vehicle that doesn't normally drive through."
The second vehicle was an older-style dark and light blue small pickup. The back bumper was silver, but the tailgate was blue and seemed to be newer than the truck. There were two animal cages or crates in the back. The driver of the second vehicle was described as a white male, approximately 40 years of age with shoulder length hair and wore glasses.
The case is ongoing at the KBI. If you have any information on the vehicles or people of interest, please contact the KBI at 1-800-KSCRIME.
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Jade DeGood can be reached at Jade.DeGood@KSHB.com.
