Search Efforts for Samantha Koenig Grow, Reward Triples

A local restaurant is helping in the search for Samantha Koenig by distributing fliers through pizza delivery boxes and to dine-in customers, as Anchorage police urge anyone who was at the Midtown location of the Alaska Club's parking lot Wednesday night to call investigators.

Muldoon Pizza in Anchorage says the family of Samantha Koenig came to the restaurant, asking if they could pass out the fliers. Employees decided to tape a flier to each pizza box, with hopes of spreading the word.

"They're all going out. All of them are going out. The drivers take out the fliers, customers that leave get the fliers, everybody," says Renee Hathaway, waitress at Muldoon Pizza.

Hathaway says even though the restaurant is quiet on Super Bowl Sunday, it's a busy time for pizza delivery -- up to 80 pizzas in one day.

The abduction of Koenig has an entire community concerned. Ashton Stoltzfus-Avis, a barista at The Hot Spot, says she usually works alone, and became even more aware of potential dangers of the job after hearing about the Samantha Koenig case.

"As a fellow barista, it's always been in the back in my mind, but for it to actually happen, and happen so out of the blue, I mean it's scary. It is, for anybody. Even not as a barista, just as a young lady," says Stoltzfus-Avis.

Anchorage Police say investigators are working around the clock. Samantha's family says the reward for her return is at $41,000.

APD spokesperson Lt. Dave Parker says detectives would like to speak with anyone who was in the parking lot of the Alaska Club Midtown at Tudor Road and Fairbanks Street -- the location of the Common Grounds Espresso stand from which Koenig was abducted at about 8 p.m. Wednesday -- between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. that evening.

"Anyone passing by on Tudor Road or frequenting neighboring businesses that may have seen anything suspicious in that time frame should contact detectives as well," Parker said in a statement Monday, asking potential witnesses to call investigators directly at 786-2460.

Police urge anyone with general information about Koenig's abduction to call APD at 786-8900.