The reward in the case had stood at $40,000 until a group of oil producers from the Tulsa and Kiefer areas decided to pledge an additional $120,000, hoping the amount would lead to a break in the investigation.

At a press conference at the Okfuskee County Courthouse, Jessica Brown, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, said the agency is still receiving leads in the year-old case.

“By no means is this near a cold case,” Brown said.

Taylor Paschal-Placker, 13, and Skyla Jade Whitaker, 11, were shot 13 times on June 8, 2008, as they walked along County Line Road not far from the Placker home, about four miles northeast of Weleetka.

The crime shocked the nation and made headlines around the world.

Since then, the OSBI has tracked down hundreds of leads in the case and questioned more than 100 people.

The agency tested guns of some of the gun owners in the area.

Two guns were used in the killings, one of them a .40-caliber Glock pistol.

Thursday, Brown introduced Lee Levinson of Tulsa, a partner in LPD Energy Corp., and Eddie Rongey of Kiefer, owner of Dexxon Inc., spokesmen for a group of area oilmen who pledged the $120,000.

Levinson, who called the killings a “shocking and unbelievable crime,” said the oil producers met in Kiefer more than a month ago to decide what they could do to help out with the case.

“It’s shocking to think two little girls were killed like that,” Levinson said, noting that it’s equally shocking knowing their killers are still on the loose.

“We work in these counties,” Levinson said of the oil producers, so the people who did this “need to be off the street.”

Appealing to anyone who might have knowledge of the crime, Levinson said, “Please come forward. We’ll be more than happy to pay. I’ll even pay cash.”

He, along with Rongey, each pledged $10,000 to the reward.

Brown noted that the quadrupled reward may be just the right incentive for someone who has vital information about the killings to come forward.

“If they didn’t do it before, now is the time,” Brown said.

Brown said anyone with information in the case is urged to call the state Crimestoppers hotline at (800) 635-8477. Callers can remain anonymous.

Brown said state law puts a 90-day time limit on the reward, but it can be renewed, as has been the case with the Weleetka killings.