HOUSTON — The family of Austin Kanuch unveiled a memorial bench bearing a QR code at Cypress Park in Houston to seek tips in his unsolved 2023 killing. The bench is part of the We Remember Memorial, created by Commissioner Tom Ramsey's office in partnership with Crime Stoppers of Houston.

The QR code links to details about the case and allows community members to submit tips. A $40,000 reward for information leading to an arrest remains unclaimed.

Loved ones gathered at the bench in rainy weather to remember Kanuch, a father of three. Investigators said someone entered the couple's home on Greenleaf Lake Drive and stabbed Kanuch in his sleep in 2023. His wife and baby were in the home at the time and were not harmed. The only known evidence of a suspect is surveillance footage showing a person on a mountain bike near the home, and no suspects have been identified.

Speaking publicly for the first time since her husband's death, Mary Kanuch, his wife, recalled the start of their relationship. "At one point during that time, I gave him a leather teak keychain. I had no idea something so small would mean so much to him." Sixteen years after a month-long college relationship, the couple reunited, and he had kept the keychain. "He meant so much to all of us," she said at the unveiling.

Austin Kanuch's mother, Celene Miller, described how she used to greet her son. "I would always tell him, 'There's my Awesome Austin' or, 'Go have an Awesome Austin day,'" Miller said. She said she continues to wait for word of an arrest. "I wake up every morning, and it's a new day wondering. I keep waiting for that phone call to come: 'We've made an arrest.'"

Miller urged anyone with information to come forward. "We do have 40,000 good reasons for them to call Crime Stoppers with a $40,000 reward. We will never, ever give up," she said.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office says investigators are following every tip and every lead in the case. Anyone with information can report anonymously to Crime Stoppers of Houston at 713-222-8477.