Denver police still looking for help solving double murder at American Elm restaurant 3 years ago

Police in Denver sent out a reminder on Friday that they are still looking for the public's help trying to solve a double murder that sent shockwaves through the city's food-service industry.

Emerall Vaughn-Dahler and Ignacio Gutierrez Morales were killed three years ago to the day -- on April 24, 2023.

The crime was committed at the American Elm restaurant in the city's West Highlands neighborhood.

Both people were employees there and were fatally shot at the restaurant in the late part of the morning.

Morales was a 58-year-old prep cook at the restaurant whose nickname was "Nacho." He had three grown children. His family said after his death that he had a kind and gentle spirit and that they couldn't think of anyone who would have wanted to harm him.

Vaughn-Dahler, 34, worked as a general manager at the restaurant. She was married with a 12-year-old son. Her husband Andrew Dahler told CBS Colorado when he learned she had been killed, he was devastated and "didn't want it to be real."

"Three years have passed, and their killer has still not been identified. The families of Emerall and Ignacio continue to live with unimaginable loss and are still searching, still hoping, and still asking for answers," Denver police wrote in a Metro Denver Crime Stoppers bulletin.

The reward for information provided to authorities that leads to an arrest is as high as $32,600. Anyone who might have seen something suspicious on the 4100 block of West 38th Avenue between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. pm April 24, 2023, is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at (720) 913-7867. Tipsters can remain anonymous.