$50,000 reward offered for information leading to arrest
SACRAMENTO, Calif.
Officials announced Friday they're offering a $50,000 reward to help find the killers responsible for the slayings nearly 30 years ago of a former California Department of Justice employee and her family.
Former California DOJ employee Marcy Jacobs, 31; her husband Michael, 33; and their 9-year-old daughter Jenny were found dead in their Land Park home on Jan. 14, 1991.
"Over the years, this case has been very challenging for multiple investigators," Sacramento Police Chief Hahn said. "Due to forensic advances, detectives working with the California Department of Justice have again begun actively working this case."
A safe in the home -- which may have contained "a large sum of money and perhaps gold" -- is believed to have brought the killers to the Jacobs' home, said Sacramento Police Det. Patrick Higgins.
That safe, according to investigators, belonged to Ricky McCarthy, an ex-convict. McCarthy, presumed dead, disappeared in the fall of 1990 and only a week after being released from jail in Yolo County. His body was never found, Higgins said.
DNA was recovered at the murder scene. Investigators believe at least two people were involved, Higgins said. They know people of interest but don't have enough evidence to make an arrest, he said.
"We're on the right track," Higgins said. "We know we have people that are definitely people of interest, and we know that they're involved and that we're coming for them."
Prior to her death, Marcy Jacobs worked as a staff services analyst at the California DOJ and was taking night classes to become a crime scene investigator. Her husband worked as a contractor and carpenter, and their daughter was in the fourth grade at Crocker/Riverside Elementary School.
"You know, my baby brother, still thinking about him. I just miss him," said Marie Murata, the sister of Michael Jacobs. "You know, there are times when things happen now, where I wish I could call him and talk to him."
Murata is the last surviving sibling of the Jacobs family,
"It's been difficult," she said. "Probably, the most difficult was the fact that both of my parents passed during those 27 years."
Murata said she and her family grew up near Lawrence Park in south Sacramento. It was there that Michael Jacobs became friends with McCarthy's sister, as well as McCarthy.
"This particular case strikes very close to home to those of us from the Department of Justice," California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said.
Officials ask anyone with information that may lead to a suspect to call Sacramento police at 916-264-5471.
---
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
COMMENTS