Memorial Service for Realtor Ashley Okland Set for Monday

Sunday marked the one-year anniversary of the murder of Realtor Ashley Okland in West Des Moines, and her colleagues have planned a memorial service for Monday, reports KCCI.com.

Tim Meline of Iowa Realty said real estate agents will hold a memorial service for Okland at 10 a.m. Monday. The memorial service at in West Des Moines will also be an opportunity to talk about Realtor safety, he said.

"Bottom line is that people are still a little bit afraid," Meline told KCCI. "The fear of the unknown. We don't know what happened to Ashley, why it happened, but we have some agents that are still skeptical of conducting open houses."

 recently said the reward for information leading an arrest of the person responsible has increased to $150,000.

Okland, an agent with Iowa Realty, was fatally shot twice on April 8, 2011, at a model home in West Des Moines. Investigators have followed up on more than 700 leads, have sifted through 550 names in its database and have executed a number of search warrants, which remain sealed.

But they’re no closer to solving the mid-day murder than they were a year ago, so authorities increased the reward Wednesday.

“Investigators know that someone has information concerning the case and they have not yet come forward,” said Lt. Jim Barrett, the West Des Moines Police Department’s public information officer. “We believe the increase it in the reward will encourage the person to do so.”

The case continues to be the department’s top priority and investigators remain confident the crime eventually will be solved, Barrett said.

Have you changed your routine in response to the Ashley Okland murder a year ago? 

Barrett said the additional $75,000 in reward money came from Okland's family members, friends, Iowa Realty co-workers and other private donors.

Anyone who has any pertinent information concerning Okland’s murder is asked to report the tip to Polk County Crime Stoppers at (515) 223-1400, submit the tip online at polkcountycrimestoppers.org or text "PCCS plus your message" to CRIMES (274637).