DENVER – A Denver father is adding to the reward fund to help find his son’s killer. Jose Marquez said, “Someone called him up one night, he left the house and never came back. That was the night he was murdered.”

That was Sept. 21. Seventeen-year-old Diego Marquez was found dead in the Green Valley Ranch West park.

Marquez described his son as caring and kind-hearted. He said he was well-liked by everyone and doesn’t know why anyone would’ve wanted to hurt him.

“A couple times he told me he had friends struggling didn`t have food to eat. As a matter of fact, he mentioned that to me and took food from my house to take to his friends. That`s the kind of person he was.” He added, “A woman told me Diego played basketball with her son at school and that she was very grateful for that. She said a lot of times people are just bullying people, and Diego took the time to play with her son and talk to him. Made me proud.”

Diego’s death has left a hole in his heart.

“I just miss him, I really do. It`s even worse around the holidays. I had my son as a single parent, I was mother and father since he was five,” Marquez says.

The loss is even worse not knowing who killed Diego or why.

“It’s very hard, not sure exactly what happened to him. If someone would just have the heart to speak out and say what they know. I`m sure there`s several individuals that know what happened,” Marquez said.

Now, he is donating his own money to help catch his son’s killer, hoping to prevent it from happening again.

“Bring justice for my son, not to mention get those individuals off the streets because if they did it to my son, they could do it to other people. I wouldn`t want to see any other family going through the grief I`m going through.”

If you have information that could help bring this family some answers and justice, call our partners at Metro Denver Crime Stoppers. 720-913-STOP (7867). You can remain anonymous and still be eligible for a cash reward. The amount will be released in the next few days.