Murder Victim's Family Praises 'USA Today' Ad

Jenna Nielsen

USA Today published a full-page ad Monday about Jenna Nielsen, who was a carrier for the paper and was found murdered in Raleigh. It's one example of the national attention the case is beginning to attract.

Her family said they are grateful for it.

The pain is still raw for Nielsen's father, Kevin Blaine, nearly two weeks after her June 14 murder.

“We're just struggling through day by day. I can't tell you what we're going to do tomorrow, how we prepare ourselves for the rest of our lives, but we keep going,” Blaine said.

Nielsen was eight months pregnant when she was found dead behind a Raleigh convenience store. She had been delivering newspapers for USA Today.

The newspaper’s Monday advertisement asked for information about her death.

“I was grateful USA finally came to bat and posted something in their publication about what happened to someone who was carrying their newspaper, someone who worked for them,” Blaine said.

Nielsen’s husband, Tim, said he was relieved, too.

“After days and days and days of not hearing anything, not seeing anything, it was a big relief knowing that they're stepping up and they're realizing what happened,” Tim Nielsen said.

CBS News, Fox News and others have all shown interest in the investigation.

“The ad and the publicity surrounding the ad is generating additional calls, and that's what we need right now,” Raleigh police spokesman Jim Sughrue said.

Police have no suspects, through they continue to search for a person of interest to whom they want to talk.

For the family, the wait has been nearly unbearable.

“We're always waiting for the phone, and it doesn't ring,” Blaine said.

They're keeping busy by keeping Jenna Nielson's memory alive through a Web site and through her two sons, Schyler, 3, and Kaiden, 11 months.

“He knows mommy's not coming home. He knows she was buried,” Tim Nielsen said of Schyler.

The Web site that Nielsen's family set up is justice4jenna.org. They say their goal is to get as much attention as they can until the killer is behind bars.

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