Investigators Still Seek Answers In 2005 Lansdale Killing

LANSDALE, PA — Investigators are renewing interest in a 16-year-old cold case involving a man who was found dead in a local baseball field with the hopes that the public can help bring about closure in the matter.

Lansdale police put out a bulletin Wednesday saying they are still seeking to find the person or persons responsible for killing 49-year-old Michael Ewer, whose body was found inside a sleeping bag on the dugout floor of the baseball field at Memorial Park back on Oct. 20, 2005.

Authorities are offering a $5,000 reward for any information that leads to an arrest and conviction in connection with the case.

"Police are still seeking leads in the Michael Ewer Homicide," the Lansdale Police department states in the bulletin issued this week.

Ian Hood, a forensic pathologist with the Montgomery County Coroner's Office, had determined that the cause of death was blunt trauma to the head and that the manner of death was homicide, following an autopsy on Oct. 21, 2005, the day after the lifeless body of Ewer was found inside the sleeping bag, according to Lansdale police.

Investigators said that it appeared from the position of his body that Ewer had been attacked and killed while he had been asleep.

Montgomery County prosecutors had increased the reward amount just last year to $5,000. They were originally offering a reward amount of $1,000.

“We want to find Michael’s murderer and bring justice to this family that has been grieving for 15 years," Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said at the time. "Do the right thing and share anything you know.”

In a D.A.'s Office news release last year, prosecutors said that "sometimes a seemingly small fact that someone remembers might be helpful to detectives as they work to find the killer and clear this murder."

Lansdale Police detectives say anyone with information about the old case can call the department at 215-368-1801. Tipsters can also call the Montgomery County Detective Bureau at 610-278-3368.