For Immediate Release
Wednesday, August 20, 2003

Johnson City, TN-The family of James Robert "Robbie" Nottingham today announced that they are doubling to $50,000 the reward being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for his possible murder on the ETSU campus in March of this year. The family first offered a reward in June after the official investigation, conducted by the ETSU Department of Public Safety, yielded no explanation in the suspicious death.

"The tremendous outpouring of support we've received from our friends and family has allowed us to offer this larger reward," said Jim Nottingham, Robbie's father. "We all owe it to his memory to never give up until we find out exactly what happened that night, and we aren't going away until we do."

Robbie Nottingham, 22, an ETSU student was found dead in a puddle of blood on the sidewalk outside Building H of ETSU's Buccaneer Ridge Apartments where he lived. Authorities believe that he died as the result of a fall from an overhang on the front of the building, but the death certificate says that the actual manner of death could not be determined conclusively.

ETSU's Department of Public Safety, the sole law enforcement agency investigating the death, ended their investigation on April 24th. They found no evidence of suicide, and a toxicology test found no alcohol or drugs in Robbie Nottingham's system that might have caused him to fall accidentally leading his family to suspect that he may have been murdered.

The family has established a web site http://www.robbienottingham.com/ and phone number (423) 288-6502 to accept tips which may be submitted anonymously. Ads announcing the reward will also be running this weekend, beginning Thursday, in Tri-Cities area newspapers in hopes that students returning to ETSU who might have seen something that night, or know something about Robbie's death will provide the critical information that is needed to find out the truth.

A high-resolution color photograph of Robbie Nottingham suitable for publication is available on the web site for download at http://www.robbienottingham.com/robbie_hires.jpg