The parents of a Jewish Democratic National Committee staffer killed near his Washington, D.C., home over the summer have called on the public to help them find his killer.
Seth Rich, 27, was killed July 10 while walking home before dawn. Police have speculated he was the victim of a robbery gone awry. His body was found about a block from his home with his wallet, watch and cell phone still in his possession.
His parents, Mary and Joel Rich of Omaha, Nebraska, arrived in Washington on Nov. 21 in an attempt to find new leads in the case. They upped the reward for information leading to their son’s killers from $25,000 to $125,000, with the extra $100,000 coming from Washington Republican lobbyist Jack Burkman.
“This could have happened to any one of us,” Burkman told reporters. “It could have happened to my Republican staff. It could have happened to my Democratic staff. I have people working for me and often in those same neighborhoods, so it’s just something that tugs on your heartstrings.”
Rich’s parents revealed new information in the case during a news conference, including that Seth Rich was on the phone with his girlfriend up until a couple of minutes before he was shot dead by at least two bullets, likely from a revolver.
Also, for the second time, the couple asked the public not to traffic in lies and conspiracy theories about their son’s death, including one connected to Wikileaks that points a finger at the Clintons and says that Seth Rich was meeting with the FBI over Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
Seth Rich was the voter expansion data director for the DNC; he worked on databases to help voters identify polling stations, the Washington Post reported. Colleagues told JTA that he was also engaged in Jewish outreach. — jta