FARMINGTON — The family and friends of Grace Burton have started a reward fund for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who brutally murdered her on June 21 in her apartment on the Fairbanks Road.

They are looking to the public for donations to enlarge the fund, which will expire in three years if the killer is not caught. If not used, the funds will be given to the Cancer Society, Burton’s son, Robert Butterfield, said on Monday.

An account has been established at Franklin Savings Bank where donations may be sent for the Grace Burton Reward Fund, he said.

Family members were looking to Facebook to ask for help with donations while Butterfield contacted the local media about their efforts to establish a fund. The amount of the fund will be determined by donations, Butterfield said.

“I understand it’s hard times. People need money for gas and food. We’ll be grateful for any donations,” he said.

While police are feeling frustration as DNA testing and crime databases are not finding a match for the killer’s blood left at the scene, the family is also feeling frustration, Butterfield said.

Recounting unsolved murders in the area dating back to 1969, Butterfield doesn’t want to see his mother’s death added to the list.

The family is going to take responsibility for the reward and members have started planning benefits such as a supper, silent auction and dance to help raise funds, he said. Friends are putting donation canisters in local businesses and the local media is being contacted, he said.

“Everyone wants it over,” he said, while talking about one local senior who told him she puts pots and pans on her window sill so she’ll wake if someone tries to get in.

Butterfield contacted a lawyer on how to phrase the reward. The lawyer also suggested a time limit of three years be established, he said. 

Since his mother was overcoming a second bout with cancer — she first survived breast cancer and then was recovering from treatments for bone cancer — Butterfield wants the funds to be given the Cancer Society if it’s not used as a reward.

“She was doing well,” he said of her health prior to the homicide. “Cancer didn’t scare her.”

The birth of her first great-grandson and then other great-grandchildren spurred on her recovery, he added.

Some donations given to the family were sent to the Farmington Police Department last week, Butterfield said. 

Police were planning to announce a reward this week, Farmington police Chief Jack Peck said Friday, but then a sibling changed his mind.  Peck said he would return the funds to donors who could give them to the family and let them decide whether to move forward with a reward.

The family is coping with their loss but feel frustrated over the lack of information from investigators, he said.

Donations may be sent to the Grace Burton Reward Fund, Franklin Savings Bank, 197 Main St., Farmington, ME 04938. For more information contact Butterfield at 778-3599.

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