Wanted: A Break in Manhunt : Search: A year after Officer Howard Dallies’ slaying, Garden Grove police still seeking culprit. Chief announces reward for capture has been increased to $100,000.

The yearlong investigation into the slaying of police officer Howard E. Dallies has not led authorities to his killer, but their work on the case has resulted in the arrests of more than 100 people for unrelated crimes, police said Wednesday at a news conference held on the first anniversary of the officer’s death.

“Unfortunately, we cannot report that we have made an arrest,” said Police Chief Stanley L. Knee, who announced that the reward for the killer’s capture has been increased to $100,000. “Obviously, not having the murderer in custody adds a sense of frustration for members of this department and anxiety for the community as a whole.”

In the past 12 months, investigators have followed up on more than 3,200 leads from throughout the nation, including tips from New York and Florida, as well as from Canada and Mexico, said Sgt. Doug Morrell, the lead investigator in the case.

“The leads that we tracked down nationwide have brought us different pieces of information that we may be able to use in the future,” Morrell said. “However, the one or two crucial pieces of evidence that would be required to link the killer to the crime are still missing.”

Police refused to say what crucial evidence they lack and would not comment on the details of their investigation. They have heavily publicized the case, passing out thousands of flyers, providing a toll-free phone line for tips and dramatizing the case on television’s “America’s Most Wanted” program.

Police said they have a description of a man they believe to be Dallies’ killer, but have been unable to identify him. Dallies’ killer is believed to be the same man who shot a uniformed security guard on Jan. 19, 1993, in Santa Ana.

The victim in that shooting provided police with information for a composite drawing that continues to be widely circulated.

Wednesday was an emotional day for Mary Dallies, the slain officer’s 29-year-old widow, who was present at the news conference outside the Garden Grove Police Department. She also attended an earlier middle-of-the night memorial service in the 10100 block of Aldgate Avenue, the quiet residential street where her husband was gunned down by a motorcyclist at close range.

The memorial service, held at 2:45 a.m.--the time Howard Dallies was shot last March 9--was attended by more than 60 police officers and the Dallies’ sons, Christopher, 8, and Scott, 5.

“It’s been a very difficult year,” Mary Dallies said through tears at the news conference. “It’s been an adjustment for all of us. The kids and I are having a very difficult time, today especially. We’re trying to start a new life and taking it one day at a time.”

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Mary Dallies said she and her family are hoping the increase in the reward will lead to the killer’s capture.

“Maybe someone who is motivated by the money will come forward and help bring this to a close,” she said. The Dallies met on the graveyard shift at the Garden Grove Police Department, where she worked as a dispatcher, and were married in 1985.

Howard Dallies was a nine-year member of the department when he was killed by a bullet that tore through his stomach, just below the bulletproof vest that officers are required to wear. He did not radio his position during the encounter with the motorcyclist or call in a description of the vehicle, contrary to the Police Department’s policy. Police recovered the stolen motorcycle used by the gunman the same day as the shooting but they have yet to recover the weapon.

Howard Dallies is one of nine Southland police officers killed in the line of duty since February, 1993.

Mary Dallies, who now works as a dispatcher for the Irvine Police Department, said she has been haunted by the deaths of the other officers, including that of rookie Los Angeles Police Officer Christy Hamilton, who was shot Feb. 22.

“Every time I hear about a new shooting, it just reopens the wound,” she said. “It hurts all over again like it just happened.”

Flags at the Garden Grove Civic Center were flown at half-staff Wednesday, just as they had been a year ago when Dallies became the fifth Garden Grove officer to die while on duty in a little more than three decades.

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“That was probably the blackest morning of my life,” Knee said. “Certainly without apprehending a suspect, there is no closure to this open wound.”

Police said that although many of the leads in the case have turned out to be dead-ends, investigators have numerous other leads that they continue to pursue. “We’ve talked to thousands of people,” Morrell said. “It’s possible that we may have talked to someone who may know something.”

In the meantime, police have arrested more than 100 people on suspicion of theft, burglary, drug possession and vehicle theft, Morrell said.

The suspect in the composite is described as a white male, 20 to 25 years old, between 5 feet, 8 inches, and 6 feet tall, who weighs 160 to 180 pounds. He was clean-shaven, with blue eyes and pimples on both cheeks. At the time of the Santa Ana shooting, the suspect had light blond hair worn in a ponytail past his shoulders. He was wearing light blue jeans, a denim jacket and a denim baseball cap.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Garden Grove police at (800) 404-4888.