"I just promised her I wouldn't give up," said Wayne's aunt Dawn Adams.
Wayne Elliss, Jr. was honorably discharged from the Navy and was working as an EMT in Philadelphia. He also had a three year old daughter.
"Wayne was a great kid he loved everybody, would do anything for anybody," said Adams.
A look at his Facebook tribute page shows how beloved he was, and annual sports tournaments have been held in his name.
His big sister misses her very best friend.
"They took the only person I ever talked to. The only person I was ever closed to. I never talked to anybody else. I never bothered with anybody else. It was always me and him," said Amy Elliss.
A week before his 22nd birthday, he was shot to death in the 200 block of Belgrade Street near Crease Street in Fishtown shortly before 3:30am on July 28, 2002.
He had been robbed.
The family says Wayne was coming home from a popular night spot, then called Club Deco, on Front Street after celebrating at two other clubs called Handle Bar and Tiki Bob's.
Nearly 9 years later, and the case is still unsolved. That's why a $12,000 reward is being offered. The family hopes it will job memories of that fateful night.
"Every little detail, even something you think wouldn't matter, call the Crime Commission, tell somebody something," says Adams.
"Somebody knows something," says Amy Elliss. "He was out with people that night. They have to step up and say something. Basically, man up."
Again, that reward is $12,000. Make that anonymous phone call to 216-546-TIPS.
