More than 30 years after Brian Schuch’s murder, his wife and mother are turning to billboards for answers.
TAMPA, Fla. — A family is renewing calls for justice in the murder of Brian Schuch, more than three decades after he was found dead in Tampa.
Schuch was killed on July 21, 1994. He and another man left a bar on South Howard, stopped by an apartment complex, then left. Later that night, Schuch was found dead, beaten and stabbed, just off Caracas Street in Tampa. No one has been charged.
Now, Schuch’s widow, Lauren, and mother, Barbara, are hoping new billboards across Tampa will bring in information they believe could help solve the case.
“I really didn’t think this was going to go on for 32 years,” Lauren said.
Lauren and Barbara said they have carried the questions surrounding the killing for decades.
“The person that did this took a loving husband, father, hardworking man, and has left his family with only memories,” Barbara said.
Lauren said the family will keep pushing for answers.
“There’s not going to be a stop to it. We need answers,” she said.
One billboard is along Nebraska Avenue, near where the father of three was found beaten and stabbed. Another is near the area where his truck was discovered days later.
Barbara Schuch said the family hopes the billboards will reach someone who remembers something from that time.
“If anything, maybe they’ll look at it and somehow or another realize or recognize or remember something that happened many years ago,” she said.
For Lauren and Barbara, life has kept moving, even when the case didn’t.
“You have children to raise, a job to do. You have to move on in that respect, but you’re also back here,” Lauren said.
The family said they refuse to let hope, or Brian’s memory, fade.
“Enough. Come forward and ease your own conscience,” Lauren said.
Lauren said she wants people to remember her husband for who he was.
“His name is Brian Keith Schuch Sr. That is who he is, and he has been and always will be our life,” she said.
The family said no tip is too small. Anyone with information can call the Tampa Police Department cold case unit at 813-898-1435.