Peter Achermann Cass County authorities and the family of a missing Leader-area man are increasing and extending the reward in the hopes it may lead to new clues about his disappearance.

Peter Achermann, age 82, was last seen in the Staples Motley area July 24, 2009. His vehicle was located the following day on a minimum maintenance road roughly five miles northeast of Staples in Becker Township in Cass County.

Peter walks with a wooden cane and wears a red, white and blue Swiss floppy hat. Extensive searching in the area where his car was found have not turned up a single shred of evidence he was there.

The reward of up to $20,000 is offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of person(s) responsible for Achermann’s disappearance, if it is determined it happened as the result of

foul play. This increase is

made possible due to the “For Pete’s Sake” benefit

and contributions to the Achermann family.

The reward will remain in effect until Sept. 15, 2010. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Cass County Sheriff’s Office at 218-547-1424 or 1-800-450- 2677.

The reward has been doubled with funds raised last October, according to Desiree Greenwaldt, Peter’s daughter and one of his eight children.

The Achermann family has hopes the reward offer will jog someone’s memory. “We are asking people to think back, to try to remember if they saw someone walking along that dirt road or along the Warner Road that day. They may have noticed someone having vehicle problems, some unusual traffic that day - anything about that day may be helpful. It may not seem important but maybe with someone’s help we can find our dad and bring him home.”

The hours of waiting to hear something have taken a heavy toll on Delaine

Achermann and her children,

her daughter said. “She keeps busy, but dreary

days like today (Monday) are hard. “She keeps extremely busy making mittens and rugs, keeping her hands occupied.”

Both the family and authorities have become increasingly inclined to treat the case as a criminal matter, not just a missing person case. However, without any hard evidence or good clues that there were criminal actions, the case remains an active missing person case, Desiree said. “while they cannot officially treat it as a crime, they have felt for some time that there is a high probablility of foul play involved.”

Desiree said the state Burea of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) has become involved with the Cass County Sheriff’s Office. The authorities are in contact with the family, she said, but understandably they are not able to share everything they know with the family.