Stacey Seaton, 17, died on a Wednesday afternoon. She was found shot on a Bowie trail leading to her neighborhood, and the family was told then this case could be near closure by the time they held the funeral the following Tuesday.

But despite the heavy media attention the case generated, and despite the commitment by police, and despite the almost unfathomable sum of money offered for information leading to an arrest, this case is wide open. Seaton's funeral was in June. Nearly 200 days later, the end of the year is approaching, and Stacey Seaton stands as still another unanswered brutality in Prince George's County.

''That's the last thing we want is for this to stagnate," said father Michael Seaton, who with his wife Gale has been investigating since June 1, when their daughter was first found.

Their effort began with publicity. When word first spread about the crime, it was evident the family had a story to tell, to the Washington Post, the Gazette, the television stations and even America's Most Wanted. It was the story of a petite young woman, a troubled-but-loving young lady who was on the verge of turning her life around and pursuing a career. All she had to do was shed those harmful elements that had trailed her for a great deal of her life. And she was nearly free from that past, when it found her, and wouldn't let her go.

As the possibility of an arrest or conviction fell farther and farther into the future, the reward fund built along with publicity. Contributions from private donors, the Seaton family, the county police, Crime Solvers and the city of Bowie put the reward for information at over $40,000. The Seatons estimate they posted over 1,000 flyers announcing this fact. That money is still there, waiting.

''It just floors me that that is not enough," Michael Seaton said. ''That's a lot of money." Enough money, he reasoned, for someone to skip town, ''and do the right thing at the same time."

''There are a lot of kids who have the information to solve this case," Gale Seaton said.

The family even paid for a giant blue and yellow billboard on Route 450 that displays a picture of their daughter and asks drivers to ''Please Help Find My Killer." It gives a number to call.

But no arrests yet. That billboard comes down Jan. 1.

If this case is stagnating, the Seatons say it's because parents will not let their children talk.

''There are people out there that are afraid to come forward," Michael Seaton said. ''I don't know if it's overprotection ... maybe it's just they don't want to get involved."

But he insists people know a lot more than they're letting on. He insists that his daughter was ''set up," the victim of a pre-meditated atrocity. He, along with his wife, claim to know which individuals were involved.

''I think what they've gotten, they've gotten other iterations of what they've gotten before," Seaton said of the police investigation. ''I guess that's good in a way, but they're still lacking the linchpin that they need ... it's really, really frustrating, needless to say."

Police investigators could not be reached for comment at press time, but police and family have learned a few things about Stacey Seaton's last moments: She left the house that Wednesday to pick up a couple items at the Giant at Free State Mall. She took the path she normally does, through the woods by Bowie Forest, and made a purchase at the grocery store. She came back through the path, but was stopped there, almost in view of her parent's townhouse.

Stacey's friend Jessica Quigley, 18, believes guilt is chipping away at someone, and that somebody will come forward with information.

''Multiple people were involved," she said. ''Of course it only takes one person to pull a trigger, but we have a pretty good idea" about who was involved. As for motive, Quigley does not claim to know, but she will say this: ''The only thing that comes to my mind is jealousy."

Stacey Seaton's parents have often spoken about their daughter's ''aura," and Quigley spoke about the same.

''Her pictures keep us going. The memories, the smiles that we all had together keep us going," she said. ''[Stacey] found the good in everything and everyone."

For her friends, fond memories mix with frustration.

''It's hard to deal with, because most of my life was her," said lifelong friend Amanda Eveler, 19, who reminisces about their trip to Cancun, Mexico, and other good times. She asks those with information to come forward.

''I just don't understand how they're going to look their parents in the face," she said, ''knowing they killed my friend."

Life has changed for the Seaton family as well. Their other daughter, Allison, recently moved to Kansas with her son, and is waiting for her husband to return from Iraq. They have sold their townhouse in Bowie Forest, near where the crime occurred. (Some of that money has gone toward the investigation.) And they are now working their way through the holidays for the first time without Stacey.

''The holidays are not the holidays. They're just other days," Michael Seaton said. ''It will be a relief to see them come and go."

He described the open case as a ''burden" that will not go away. Gale Seaton knows exactly how many days it's been since the crime - 196 as of Tuesday. Two-hundred this weekend.

But they say they will continue to maintain their Web site, www.staceyseaton.com, launched shortly after the crime. Regardless of the police investigation, the site's message board seems to be attracting useful clues of its own. Contributors air chatter, as recently as this month, about rumors that someone might take the reward. They take shots at Bowie, a town the message boards say is full of wanna-be gangsters, fakes who kill a small, pregnant girl and think they're hard. (Stacey Seaton was pregnant at the time of her death, a fact not lost on the media.) The boards post heartfelt messages to a former friend and daughter, but they also forecast justice.

The family's message to viewers is equally confrontational.

''There are people out there that know exactly what happened that day," the site reads. ''...Every piece of information we get is so very important.

Stacey considered a lot of people her friends. If you were her true friend you (sic) tell what you know. Stacey was a tiny 17 year old girl. If this could happen to her, it can happen to anybody."