A reward of up to $50,000 is now being offered for information leading to the conviction of whoever is responsible for the shooting death of a Hot Springs teen whose body was found on the side of the road Christmas morning last year.
Ethan Mathis, 18, was found shortly after 8 a.m. on Christmas Day in the 1400 block of Bald Mountain Road after the Garland County Communications Center received a phone call about a possible deceased person, the Garland County Sheriff's Office previously said in a news release.
Misty Ely, Mathis' aunt and former legal guardian, told The Sentinel-Record Monday a friend of hers donated the money for the reward but wished to remain anonymous.
"He just wanted to help our family get justice, closure, and help make sure the person or persons that did this cannot hurt anyone else," Ely said.
Deputies found Mathis unresponsive lying next to the road in a driveway and noted he "appeared to have suffered from multiple gunshot wounds," the release said.
"I talk to the detectives at least once a week normally, either through phone calls or emails and all they say is they are still working on it and following up on leads and evidence," Ely said.
No arrests have been made in the case.
Ely previously told the newspaper Mathis was "a really good kid" who had "never been in any trouble," and it was a mystery what he was doing in that area of the county.
"I still stand by the fact that Ethan was either taken out there and murdered or dumped," Ely said Monday. "It was way out there and he had no reason to be out there on Christmas morning or any morning for that matter."
Ely said Mathis had lived in Hot Springs previously and then moved to Florida to be with his father. He returned to Hot Springs at the beginning of August last year "to be with his girlfriend" and had been living with his grandfather at Home Harbor apartments, 501 Malvern Ave.
She said Mathis wasn't enrolled in school but was pursuing his GED while working a construction job. She said Mathis was "super friendly" but also "super trusting" and almost gullible sometimes.
"I worry he had started hanging out with some of the wrong people," she said.
Ely last physically saw Mathis on Dec. 4, 2020, but had talked to him on the phone on Christmas Eve and he was getting ready to move back to Florida. She said he had gone to a friend's house on Christmas Eve but left around 11 p.m. and it is unknown what happened to him between then and being found Christmas morning.
"This is not only for the peace of mind of my family but also knowing that whoever did this can't do it again," Ely said of the reward being offered.
"Ethan deserves justice as well as all the other unsolved murders that have happened in Hot Springs," she said.
Ely has been distributing a flyer about the reward which includes a tip line, 501-777-9805, and an email for tips at [email protected]. She noted Sheriff's investigators Charlie Mowery and Kenny Ford have been handling the case and anyone with information can call the sheriff's office at 501-622-3660 or the criminal investigation division at 501-622-3690.
"The sheriff's office has a tip line as well at 501-622-3674 that is just a voicemail line, they can call that or the main line and ask for detective Ford or Mowery," Ely said.
