MILWAUKEE — The family of Amy Austin is putting up $10,000 of its own money for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the hit-and-run that killed Austin and her longtime friend May Daiber.
49-year-old Austin and 48-year-old Daiber were killed July 12 while crossing Teutonia Avenue near Vienna Avenue. Milwaukee police said a speeding black SUV struck the women and fled. Police have been searching for a black 2007-2014 GMC Yukon believed to have damage to its grille, bumper, and passenger-side headlight and to be missing its front GMC emblem.
Now, Austin’s family hopes the $10,000 reward will give someone who knows what happened another reason to speak up.
”We don’t feel like anybody really wants to say anything. ”Amy’s sister Deborah Austin told 620 WTMJ. ”So we’re trying to give them an incentive to give this person up.”
Family puts up $10,000
The reward is being funded by the family, with Deborah’s son and Amy’s son each putting up $5,000.
”If we can’t reach their heart, then we’ll reach their pocket,” Austin said. The family says the money will be offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
Antonio Torres, who described Amy as his mother even though she was technically his stepmother, said the family is concerned about what could happen if months or years pass without answers.
“We need answers,” Torres told WTMJ. “We don’t want this to go into a year or two, and it turns into a cold case.”
Torres believes someone knows who was behind the wheel. ”I do believe someone knows, and I believe that they’re protecting that person,” Torres said.
His message to that person is simple. “If you know something, please say something,” Torres said. “Just think how you would want justice for your family member as well.”
New clues emerge in investigation
The family’s reward comes as additional details about the police investigation have become public.
Recent reporting based on a search warrant revealed investigators are examining two people’s cellphones and surveillance images of the SUV police say struck Austin and Daiber.
The warrant also indicates investigators are looking into whether the GMC Yukon may have been using two different license plates registered to two different people in the weeks before the crash.
The existence of a search warrant does not mean that the people identified in the investigation were responsible for the crash.
Family notified MPD about the reward
The family has also contacted the Milwaukee Police Department to make investigators aware of its plans for the $10,000 reward.
In an August 4 email provided to WTMJ, an MPD representative expressed condolences and recommended that the family work with Crime Stoppers to help administer the reward. MPD also connected the family with Crime Stoppers representatives.
The family says it has decided to establish its own bank account to hold and manage the $10,000.
For Deborah, the goal is not complicated. “My sister deserves justice,” she said. “Her and May both deserve justice.”
“They were philanthropists through and through“
Deborah Austin wants people to remember Amy and May for more than what happened to them on July 12.
The women had been best friends since ninth grade, she said, and were there for each other throughout their lives.
Austin recalled Amy once learning about a family whose home had burned shortly before Christmas. Even though Amy didn’t know them, Deborah said her sister immediately began organizing help.
She described May as equally giving, recalling that when Amy organized a GoFundMe for someone struggling after the death of her husband, May contributed the first $500.
“Neither one of them were rich, but they were philanthropists through and through,” Austin said.
The women also shared a love of playing pool.
Petition organizer: “We’re trying to save lives“
As the families seek justice, another effort is underway to address what community members say is a longstanding problem with dangerous driving along Teutonia Avenue.
Valetta Bradford-Williams, a friend of Amy Austin who is organizing the safety petition, says she wants as many people as possible to sign.
“We were initially asking for 100 signatures,” Bradford-Williams told WTMJ. “I will take 10,000.”
Bradford-Williams said concerns about Teutonia Avenue existed long before Austin and Daiber were killed. “It’s been dangerous for many years,” she said.
But the deaths of the two women have brought new urgency to the effort.
Bradford-Williams said the petition is seeking safety improvements along Teutonia Avenue and that a roundabout is among the ideas she wants city officials to consider.
She said there is currently no set number of signatures the group has been told it must collect. “At this time, we don’t know how many signatures we need,” Bradford-Williams said. “Maybe I need just one important signature to get me where I need to be at.”
Bradford-Williams said she has contacted Alderwoman Milele Coggs’ office and is waiting to hear more about what can be done. She also wants city engineers to examine possible solutions along the corridor.
For Bradford-Williams, the effort goes beyond the intersection where Austin and Daiber were killed.
“We’re trying to save lives,” she said. “Maybe not just the lives of those who live on there in that area, but the lives of the whole entire city.”
She described Teutonia as a major Milwaukee corridor and believes making it safer should be a citywide concern.
“We’re not just trying to save the lives of our friends and family,” Bradford-Williams said. “We are trying to save every life in Milwaukee.”
Her message to elected leaders is also clear.
“We need to speak to our Congress people. We need to speak to our aldermans,” Bradford-Williams said. “There are alderman all over the city who need to grab each other by the coattails and get on this.”
Community coming together
Friends and community members are also organizing events in memory of Austin and Daiber.
A memorial fundraiser is scheduled for Saturday, August 15 at Romine’s in Greenfield, including a Jack & Jill pool tournament, raffles, and 50/50 drawings. A charity poker tournament is also planned that afternoon.
The events are part of a growing community effort surrounding the families as they continue seeking answers.
Amy had already fought for her life
For Deborah Austin, Amy’s death is especially difficult, because her sister had already survived a years long fight with cancer.
Austin said Amy had battled a rare form of ovarian cancer since 2016, going through two surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation. “She finally beat it out and her doctor told her, now just live your best life,” Deborah said.
Amy had plans. She wanted to start her own travel agency, since she loved traveling and wanted other people to experience different countries and cultures.
The sisters were supposed to leave for Cancun on July 21. Amy was killed nine days before that trip.
“This person took a lot from their own community, and they took a lot from my family,” Austin said. “And I want justice for Amy and May.”
Now the family is putting $10,000 behind that demand for justice and hoping someone with information decides it’s time to come forward.
“If I got to put up a million dollars, if I could come up with it, I will,” Austin said, “because I want this person off the street.”
