Clearwater family hopes $25K reward will unmask gunmen in 20-year cold case

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Detectives in Clearwater are pleading for tips to help them solve a 20-year-old cold case. 

Clarence Bolden was 37 when he was murdered on February 7, 2002, but with little physical evidence, the family has been left without answers for two decades. The Clearwater Police Department hopes the anniversary will help generate news leads.

"It's been 20 years, but there's not a day that goes by where we don't think of Clarence," Bolden's, sister Connie Bolden said. "He was our heart. Clarence was just a good person."

Clarence's family says he was a loving husband and devoted father.

Bolden was playing poker at friend's house on Fulton Avenue in Clearwater when police say two masked men barged in demanded cash. In the midst of the chaos, Bolden was shot. He died the next day. 

Detectives say the two men ran from the house to a white car parked down the street and took off.

"If you didn't know him, he still would give you the shirt off of his back. For doing the crime that you did, he would have gave it to you. He never deserved that," Bolden's wife, Andrea Bolden said.

As each year passes, Andrea says the family's determination to get justice only grows stronger.

"We need justice. I know the area is very small and somebody knows something out there," she said.

Through the years, the Bolden family has held vigils. Two decades later, Clearwater police say they need evidence and they need someone to speak up.

"I just hope whoever it is that did it or whoever participated in helping whoever did it, you know, one day just come forward. Just give us peace," Connie said.

A $25,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest.