A half-million-dollar reward is being offered to help solve the case of a missing mother thought to have been murdered more than 15 years ago.
Laura Haworth has not been seen since January 2008, when she was last in contact from a house in Queanbeyan, near the NSW-ACT border.
The then-23-year-old mother of two has not been in touch with any family members or friends since then.
A week after her disappearance, Ms Haworth's red Mazda 121 hatchback was found in a suburb in Canberra’s inner north.
Suspecting she has been met with foul play, NSW and ACT police launched a joint strike force in July to re-examine her disappearance.
NSW officials have further raised the stakes in the investigation, on Monday announcing a $500,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for her death or disappearance.
“Laura’s family have been without their loved one for over a decade and we hope this reward goes some way toward providing answers,” Police Minister Yasmin Catley said.
“My appeal to the public is; if you know something, there are now five hundred thousand more reasons to come forward.”
Ms Haworth’s family made a public plea for help in January and police suggested similar call-outs had previously resulted in new information being uncovered.
"Laura is a mother, a daughter, a sister and a friend and we ache to know what has happened to her," the family said in a statement at the time.
"Every day we live with what ifs, whys and maybes.
"The pain of not knowing what has happened to Laura is brutal and has a huge impact on our daily lives.”
Noting the disappearance happened during the summer holidays, Detective Chief Inspector Neil Grey said the transient nature of Queanbeyan and Canberra meant people from a number of regions could hold crucial information.
“In addition, with Summernats on the weekend Laura disappeared, there could be people out there from other parts of the state who may have been in the ACT and have information,” he said.
“We plead for those people to help bring Laura home and provide some closure for Laura’s family who have now been forced to celebrate 16 birthdays and special holidays without Laura.”
