Vest Increases Reward to $100,000 For Relevant Information Surrounding Father's Murder

CBS to Re-air Hour Long Episode on 60-Year-Old Mystery

DALLAS – June 23, 2005 – Dallas entrepreneur Herb Vest remains vigilant in uncovering information surrounding a mysterious murder that occurred more than 60 years ago in Gainesville, Texas. Although the investigation has been underway for nearly two years, the truth behind the untimely death of a war veteran, father, husband and small town businessman, remains unsolved.

Harold Eugene "Buddy" Vest, owner of Vest's Cabinet Shop was found dead in the restroom of his place of business at 805 East California Street, Gainesville, Texas, between midnight and 2 a.m. the morning of Friday, June 28, 1946. While originally called a suicide, the district attorney of Cooke County, Texas reclassified the case as a homicide. Further investigation by leading forensic pathologists would reveal that Buddy Vest may have been tortured. In October 2003, Herb Vest received an anonymous letter from M. Smith, a woman who claimed to have firsthand knowledge of the cause of Buddy Vest's death and incidents that occurred the night of June 27, 1946.

Today, Herb Vest, his mother and widow of the deceased, Ruth Vest, and their team of investigators, publicly released a copy the inquest record conducted by Cooke County Justice of the Peace L.V. Henry. Additionally, Herb Vest has increased the financial reward for relevant information in the assessment of Buddy Vest's murder to $100,000*. This comes on the heels of the re-airing of CBS 48 Hours Mystery's episode, "Postmarked for Murder," an hour-long documentary detailing the investigation, body exhumation, forensic studies, information gathering interviews, and heartache that has impacted a family, community and thousands of concerned citizens. The episode airs Saturday, June 25, 2005 at 8 p.m. EDT on CBS.

Anyone with information on this case should contact Patricia Bellows at 972.402.4806. For further details, and to review the "M. Smith Letter," inquest record, recently updated case history and other related documents, visit www.murderingainesville.com.

*Herb Vest has sole discretion to determine the amount of the reward.