Rachel Glass choked back tears as she looked up at her daughter’s smiling face on an electronic billboard near downtown Phoenix on Saturday afternoon.
It was the 14th year she stood in a parking lot at the corner of Seventh and Lincoln streets, pleading with the public to send in tips that could help solve the mystery of who killed Nicole Glass and Melissa Mason.
The 27-year-old roommates were found strangled in their East Phoenix home on December 3, 2010. Mason was pregnant and the incident is being ruled a triple homicide.
There has been little movement in the case since then, with no suspects named or a motive suggested. The billboard urges passersby to call Silent Witness with information, and advertises an $8,700 reward for anyone who provides a tip that leads to an arrest.
Phoenix police Sgt. Brian Bower said officials receive tips every year, but so far none have led to new information. He confirmed that the police have not had active leadership in the case for years, making it a so-called ‘cold case’.
“We’re just waiting for that one person,” he said. “We know they’re out there. We know they have information.”
But Rachel Glass still holds out hope that her daughter’s killer can be found – and justice will be served. That’s why she has continued to show up in the parking lot to talk to local media about the case, even though it worries her and the crowd of cameras, friends and family around her for the annual event has dwindled.
“I’ll never give up,” she said, looking at her daughter.
What happened to Melissa Mason and Nicole Glass?
The bodies of the two women were discovered in a one-story brick home near 40th Street and Thomas Road that Nicole purchased in 2006. Police said there was no sign of forced entry and the doors to the house were locked.
The two had been friends for years. They met while working together as bartenders at local nightclubs. Nicole was a junior at Phoenix Community College studying communications. Melissa aspired to become a dental hygienist.
A few months before her death, Nicole was embroiled in a massive wiretapping investigation that resulted in dozens of arrests and charges related to drugs, street gangs, weapons and money laundering.
She became involved after police recorded her calling a friend and asking to buy marijuana, court documents show. She took a plea deal in April 2010.
Rachel Glass gives an interview about her daughter Nicole.
The day Nicole and Melissa were found dead, Rachel said she had to go to the house to help set up a printer. She left a voicemail to reschedule. Later, she received a frantic call from one of her daughter’s friends, who said she had seen Nicole’s house on the news.
Rachel turned on the television. She recognized the house and the two cars parked in the driveway when a news anchor reported that bodies had been found inside.
“I knew it,” she said. “I knew what that meant.”
Hoping for answers
Bower said Rachel has shown “a lot of courage” in the years since her daughter’s death. She doesn’t just show up to the annual news conference, he said.
“She’s year-round,” Bower said. ‘She’s calling me. She is in constant contact with my office.”
Rachel said she won’t give up on finding her daughter’s killer. She said she will keep looking “forever” if she has to. She and other members of Nicole’s family started a GoFundMe last year to increase the reward amount for tips leading to an arrest, setting a goal of $100,000.
“I’m in a wheelchair and I’ll be here asking people if they know anything to say something,” Rachel said.
Anyone with information about the case can contact Silent Witness to submit anonymous tips at 480-WITNESS or on the website.
Reach the reporter sasha.hupka@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X: @SashaHupka. Follow her on Instagram or Threads: @sashahupkasnaps.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: It was a triple homicide in Phoenix in 2010, but still no answers
