By Janice Morse
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HAMILTON - Before children spotted the body of Paul Wesley Brown face-down in a creek, rain had washed away many clues to the person who stabbed him at least two dozen times.

Now, almost two years later, after examining 83 pieces of evidence and interviewing hundreds of people in the 33-year-old man's slaying, investigators say they need just a little more help to crack the case.

To encourage tipsters, city police and Butler County Prosecutor Robin Piper on Tuesday said they were launching an unprecedented campaign. They added $15,000 to a reward fund, bringing the total to $25,000. They also began blanketing the city with billboards and posters.

Next month, fliers will be mailed with city utility bills to 18,000 households.

"We are not desperate," said Police Chief Neil Ferdelman. "This is somewhat akin to solving a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle - and there are a few pieces that remain to be put into place."

The Brown case is among eight unsolved cases in the past 20 years, Lt. Scott Scrimizzi estimated.

While police have doggedly followed each lead, Piper said, "Paul Brown was a young man, and it pains this community every day that goes by that we do not have the perpetrator in custody."

The Brown investigation presented unusual challenges, Scrimizzi said, partly because heavy rain destroyed evidence in the four days that elapsed between Brown's disappearance and the discovery of his body in Two Mile Creek, behind the Washington Square apartments, on March 27, 2002.

Within weeks, his relatives had handed out 12,000 leaflets. By last February, they had raised $9,000 to add to a $1,000 Crime Stoppers reward. They also rented ads on six billboards and passed along resulting tips to police.

Two detectives have been assigned to work solely on the Brown case in recent months, Scrimizzi said.

Brown, a 1991 Miami University public administration graduate, was described as a mild-mannered man with no known enemies.

Leanne Bowling, Brown's sister, said she wants her brother's killer caught for justice's sake - and "for the safety of the rest of the community also."

Police ask anyone with information to call Detective James Cifuentes at 868-5811, ext.1249, or Crime Stoppers at 352-3040.

E-mail jmorse@enquirer.com.